Luke Littler begins his World Darts Championship defense against Darius Rabanaskas with Beau Greaves taking on Darryl Gurney and Fallon Sherlock taking on Dave Chisnall in the first round at Alexandra Palace.
The world’s number one littler is the player to beat when the annual darts extravaganza returns at Ally Pally from December 11 to January 3, live on Sky Sports Darts.
Lithuanian Rabanauskas will be the first player to try to disrupt Littler’s defense, something no player has been able to do in the last decade.
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Watch Luke Littler’s first round opponent Darius Rabanaskas hit a nine darter at the 2021 World Darts Championship.
“The defense is different,” Littler told Sky Sports. “I’ve won the last few majors and the big one is just around the corner.
“Gary Anderson was the last person to do a back-to-back and that was 10 years ago. I’m going to try a back-to-back. Only three people have done it before and the last one was 10 years ago. So I want to do a back-to-back.”
“I’m very happy with the draw. He’s not the fastest player in the world, but the important thing is to get through the first round. It’s not easy, but we just have to work hard to get through the first round.”
“If you’re nervous, you’ll know how to handle it. Last year you didn’t know anything, but this year you know what’s going to happen.”
Gerwyn Price is likely to be his opponent in the quarter-finals, while world number four Stephen Bunting is the highest-ranked player Littler could face in the semi-finals.
Luke Humphries has vowed to lift the Sid Waddell Trophy once again after victory at Ally Pally moves him back to the top of the rankings.
He begins his campaign against Ted Evetts, while three-time winner Michael van Gerwen is set to face Mitsuhiko Tatsunami.
“For the past two years I’ve been No. 1 in the world and now I’m No. 2 in the world,” Humphries said. “It’s up to me to find the hunger to challenge him – to regain the number one spot.
“I knew it was going to happen because if I didn’t win this year’s World Championship, I wouldn’t be number one in the world anyway. Nothing really changed. If I win the world championship, I have a chance to be number one in the world again, but if I don’t win, I have to fight hard and work harder. It will make me a better player, but this is a new chapter in my career.”
“I’m going to work hard to get it back. I’m not going to let him have it forever.”
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Highlights of the Grand Slam of Darts match between Michael Van Gerwen and Beau Greaves
One of the standout draws in the first round will see three-time women’s world champion Greaves take on World Cup winner Gurney.
Greaves has performed well against Van Gerwen and Anderson in the recent Grand Slam of Darts and will be a test for the Northern Irishman.
Former world champion Michael Smith will take on Lisa Ashton, while ‘Queen of the Palace’ Fallon Sherlock will take on Dave Chisnall.
Only Phil Taylor, Adrian Lewis and Gary Anderson have previously defended their titles at Ally Pally, with the Scot winning in 2015 and 2016.
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Luke Humphries says arch-rival Luke Littler is also in his league as the world’s top two prepare for the World Darts Championship
Alexandra Palace will feature a luxurious £5m prize pot, with the winner receiving £1m. This is the biggest payday in darts history. But Littler insists his focus is firmly on making history, not money.
“After losing[to Luke Humphries]in the Premier League, people were saying I was going to go under the radar and start losing things,” Littler added. “I won the World Match Play and the last three majors. I never had a bad patch!”
“All I have to do now is play back-to-back and then think about the money. I still have to get to the World Masters in Milton Keynes and the European Championships.”
2025/26 PDC World Darts Championship Lottery
upper half
Luke Littler (1) vs Darius Labanaskas
Mario Vandenbogaarde vs David Davis
Joe Cullen (32) vs Bradley Brooks
Mensur Suljovic vs David Cameron
Damon Heta (16) vs Steve Lennon
Raymond van Berneveld vs Stefan Belmont
Rob Cross (17) vs Coe Decker
Ian White vs Mervyn King
Chris Dobey (8) vs Xiaochen Zhong
Andrew Gilding vs Cam Crabtree
Luke Woodhouse (25) vs Boris Krutschmar
Martin Lukeman vs Max Hopp
Gerwyn Price (9) vs Adam Gaulas
Lukas Wenig vs Wesley Plesier
Ryan Joyce (24) vs Owen Bates
Krzysztof Ratajski vs Alexis Toiro
Stephen Bunting (4) vs Sebastian Bialecki
Richard Veenstra vs Nitin Kumar
Dirk van Duijvenbode (29) vs Andy Baetens
James Harrell vs Stow Bunts
Martin Schindler (13) vs Stephen Barton
Keene Barry vs Tim Pusey
Ryan Searle (20) vs Chris Landman
Brendan Dolan vs Travis Dewdney
Johnny Clayton (5) vs Adam Lipscomb
Dom Taylor vs Oscar Lukasiak
Michael Smith (28) vs Lisa Ashton
Niels Sonnefeld vs Haupai Puha
Ross Smith (12) vs Andreas Harrison
Thibault Trichole vs Yumu Sakai
Dave Chisnall (21) vs Fallon Sherlock
Ricardo Pietrezko vs Jose de Souza
lower half
Luke Humphries (2) vs Ted Ebbets
Jeffrey de Graaf vs Paul Lim
Wessel Nyman (31) vs Karel Sedlacek
Gabriel Clemens vs Alex Spellman
Nathan Aspinall (15) vs Lawrence Ilagan
Mickey Mansell vs Leonard Gates
Mike Decker (18) vs David Munyua
Kevin Deutz vs Matthew Dennant
James Wade (7) vs Ryusei Kemoto
Ricky Evans vs Man Lok Leung
Cameron Menzies (26) vs Charlie Manby
Matt Campbell vs Adam Sebada
Jan van Veen (10) vs Cristo Reyes
Alan Sarter vs Teemu Haju
Dimitri van den Bergh (23) vs Darren Beveridge
Madas Razma vs Jamai van den Herik
Michael van Gerwen (3) vs Mitsuhiko Tatsunami
William O’Connor vs Krzysztof Kicuk
Peter Wright (30) vs Noah-Lynn van Leuven
Kim Huybrecht vs Arno Merck
Gary Anderson (14) vs Adam Hunt
Connor Scutt vs Simon Whitlock
Jermaine Wattimena (19) vs Dominic Gruelich
Scott Williams vs Paolo Nebrida
Danny Knoppert (6) vs Jurjen van der Velde
Nick Kenny vs Justin Hood
Richie Edhouse (27) vs Johnny Tata
Ryan Meikle vs Jesus Zarate
Josh Locke (11) vs Gemma Hayter
Nico Springer vs Joe Comito
Darryl Gurney (22) vs Beau Greaves
Callan Riz vs Patrik Kovac
When will the 2026 World Darts Championship be held?
The expanded 2026 tournament will open at Alexandra Palace on Thursday 11 December, with four first round matches to be played on the opening night.
This kicks off 13 consecutive days of darts action, with afternoon and evening sessions held every day until December 23, before competition pauses on Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and Boxing Day.
The tournament will resume on December 27th, with the third and fourth rounds to conclude by December 30th, before being suspended again on New Year’s Eve.
The quarterfinals will be held over two sessions on New Year’s Day, with the semifinals on January 2nd and the final on Friday, January 3rd.
The complete schedule for each day of this year’s tournament can be found here.
Full schedule at Alexandra Palace from December 11th to January 3rd
Thursday 11th December – 4 x Round 1 7pm Friday 12th December – 4 x Round 1 12:30pm Friday 12th December – 4 x Round One 7pm Saturday 13th December – 4 x Round One 12:30pm Saturday 13th December – 4 x Round One 7pm Sunday 14th December – 4 x Round One 12:30pm Sunday 14th December – 4 x Round One 7pm Monday 15th December – 4 x Round 1 12:30pm Monday 15th December – 4 x Round One 7pm Tuesday 16th December – 4 x Round One 12:30pm Tuesday 16th December – 4 x Round One 7pm Wednesday 17th December – 4 x Round One 12:30pm Wednesday 17th December – 4 x Round One 7pm Thursday 18th December – 4 x Round One 7pm 12:30pm Thursday 18th December – 4 x Round 1 7pm Friday 19th December – 4 x Round 1 12:30pm Round 2 7pm Monday 22nd December – 4 x Round 2 12:30pm Monday 22nd December – 4 x Round 2 7pm Tuesday 23rd December – 4 x Round 2 12.30pm Tuesday 23rd December – 4 x Round 2 7pm Saturday 27th December – 3 x Round 3 12.30pm Saturday 27th December – 3 x Round 3 7pm Sunday 28th December – 3 x Rounds 3 at 12:30pm Sunday 28th December – Round 3 at 7pm Monday 29th December – Round 3 at 12:30pm Monday 29th December – Round 3 x 1 at 7pm, Round 4 at 7pm Tuesday 30th December – Round 4 at 12:30pm Tuesday 30th December – Round 4 at 7pm Thursday 1st January – 7pm Round 4 x 2 12:30pm Thursday 1st January – 2 Quarter Finals 7pm Friday 2nd January – Semi-finals 7:30pm Saturday 3rd January – Final 8pm
Who will win the Paddy Power World Darts Championship? Watch every match live and exclusively on Sky Sports’ dedicated darts channel from December 11th to January 3rd (Sky channel 407 from December 10th). Stream darts and other top sports now.
