Sky Sports viewers witnessed an explosion of darting drama on Monday afternoon as the much anticipated draw for the 2025/26 Paddy Power World Darts Championship was unveiled in front of a buzzing crowd of media, players and twitchy-fingered pundits. And right at the top of the bracket, centre stage, spotlight blazing like an omen — the defending king, Luke Littler, now bracing himself for battle against former quarter-finalist and Lithuanian sharp-shooter Darius Labanauskas.
A year ago, Littler rewrote every record in the book by becoming the youngest world champion in PDC history — a teenager ruling the palace like a seasoned emperor. Now the newly crowned world number one begins another crusade, hunting immortality as he aims to join Phil Taylor, Adrian Lewis and Gary Anderson in the exclusive club of players who’ve successfully defended the Sid Waddell Trophy.
Should Littler safely earn safe passage to round two, he will face either be Mario Vandenbogaerde or David Davies which should prove as much of a huge incentive in terms of media scrutiny as it will surely be an unenviable task on the oche.
This year’s championship boasts a record-breaking field of 128 players, a colossal £5 million in prize money, and a jaw-dropping £1 million cheque waiting for the eventual winner. But here’s the twist: every single one of those 128 gladiators must start in round one, including the top 32 seeds. No shortcuts. No staggered entries. Just 128 hopefuls in the cauldron from dart one.
Among the storyline-rich opening ties is 2023/24 champion Luke Humphries, desperate to reclaim the crown after Littler prevailed twelve months earlier. Cool Hand’s route begins against former World Youth Champion Ted Evetts, a man more dangerous than his babyface demeanour suggests.
Three-time champion Michael van Gerwen, snarling as always, opens his assault on the title against Japanese newcomer Mitsuhiko Tatsunami, while world number four Stephen Bunting faces Poland’s fearless next-generational star Sebastian Bialecki.
Fifth seed Jonny Clayton draws rising English talent Adam Lipscombe which is certainly a banana skin for the Ferret, and Dutch number two Danny Noppert must contend with fellow countryman Jurjen van der Velde, the 2024 World Youth runner-up who won’t be intimidated in the slightest.
Perhaps the best to have never lifted the title, four-time semi-finalist James Wade begins his 22nd consecutive Worlds against Asian Tour qualifier Ryusei Azemoto, while last year’s semi-finalist Chris Dobey squares up to Chinese powerhouse Xiaochen Zong — a man who throws like he’s trying to crack the treble 20 in half.
Former champion Gerwyn Price has been handed Czech talent and former UK Open semi-finalist, Adam Gawlas, as newly crowned European Champion Gian van Veen takes on the returning Spanish sparkplug Cristo Reyes. Two-time World Champion Gary Anderson faces his former protégé Adam Hunt, while Peter Wright — whose attire is usually worth the admission cost alone — meets Women’s Series qualifier Noa-Lynn van Leuven.
Speaking of the women’s scene, the tie that everyone circled instantly was Beau Greaves versus Daryl Gurney — one of the tastiest first-round encounters in years. Gurney’s World Cup partner Josh Rock also faces a Women’s Series qualifier in debutant Gemma Hayter.
The global flavour is stronger than ever. Kenya’s David Munyua and Argentina’s Jesus Salate both make history as the first players from their nations to grace the World Championship stage. Munyua meets Mike De Decker, while Salate faces Ryan Meikle.
Recent last-gasp qualifier José de Sousa — rescued from the very edge of elimination just hours earlier — now finds himself thrown straight into a tungsten fistfight with Germany’s colourful firecracker Ricardo Pietreczko.
Elsewhere, other fascinating highlights include:
• Michael Smith takes on Lisa Ashton.
• Out of form, Dave Chisnall has drawn Queen of the Palace, Fallon Sherrock
• Rob Cross faces Norwegian newcomer Cor Dekker.
• Red hot Jermaine Wattimena handed German opposition in Dominik Gruellich
• Raymond van Barneveld, entering his 33rd World Championships, meets Challenge Tour champ Stefan Bellmont.
• Andrew Gilding will go one on one with the man who topped the Development Tour ladder, Cam Crabtree.
• Joe Cullen draws Bradley Brooks in an all Northern English battle
• Simon Whitlock, fresh off ANZ Premier League glory, clashes with Connor Scutt.
The tournament runs December 11th to January 3rd, broadcast live on Sky Sports and across the world via DAZN, Viaplay and PDCTV. Alexandra Palace is braced. The players are loaded. The draw is explosive.
And with Littler defending his crown, Humphries hunting revenge, Van Gerwen snarling for redemption and an entire field of 128 ready to set the stage on fire, this year’s World Championship might just be the most volcanic one yet. One player will be the first in history to collect a darting prize fund of seven digits – but who?
2025/26 Paddy Power World Darts Championship
Draw Bracket
(1) Luke Littler v Darius Labanauskas
Mario Vandenbogaerde v David Davies
(32) Joe Cullen v Bradley Brooks
Mensur Suljovic v David Cameron
(16) Damon Heta v Steve Lennon
Raymond van Barneveld v Stefan Bellmont
(17) Rob Cross v Cor Dekker
Ian White v Mervyn King
(8) Chris Dobey v Xiaochen Zong
Andrew Gilding v Cam Crabtree
(25) Luke Woodhouse v Boris Krcmar
Martin Lukeman v Max Hopp
(9) Gerwyn Price v Adam Gawlas
Lukas Wenig v Wesley Plaisier
(24) Ryan Joyce v Owen Bates
Krzysztof Ratajski v Alexis Toylo
(4) Stephen Bunting v Sebastian Bialecki
Richard Veenstra v Nitin Kumar
(29) Dirk van Duijvenbode v Andy Baetens
James Hurrell v Stowe Buntz
(13) Martin Schindler v Stephen Burton
Keane Barry v Tim Pusey
(20) Ryan Searle v Chris Landman
Brendan Dolan v Tavis Dudeney
(5) Jonny Clayton v Adam Lipscombe
Dom Taylor v Oskar Lukasiak
(28) Michael Smith v Lisa Ashton
Niels Zonneveld v Haupai Puha
(12) Ross Smith v Andreas Harrysson
Thibault Tricole v Motomu Sakai
(21) Dave Chisnall v Fallon Sherrock
Ricardo Pietreczko v Jose de Sousa
(2) Luke Humphries v Ted Evetts
Jeffrey de Graaf v Paul Lim
(31) Wessel Nijman v Karel Sedlacek
Gabriel Clemens v Alex Spellman
(15) Nathan Aspinall v Lourence Ilagan
Mickey Mansell v Leonard Gates
(18) Mike De Decker v David Munyua
Kevin Doets v Matthew Dennant
(7) James Wade v Ryusei Azemoto
Ricky Evans v Man Lok Leung
(26) Cameron Menzies v Charlie Manby
Matt Campbell v Adam Sevada
(10) Gian van Veen v Cristo Reyes
Alan Soutar v Teemu Harju
(23) Dimitri Van den Bergh v Darren Beveridge
Madars Razma v Jamai van den Herik
(3) Michael van Gerwen v Mitsuhiko Tatsunami
William O’Connor v Krzysztof Kciuk
(30) Peter Wright v Noa-Lynn van Leuven
Kim Huybrechts v Arno Merk
(14) Gary Anderson v Adam Hunt
Connor Scutt v Simon Whitlock
(19) Jermaine Wattimena v Dominik Gruellich
Scott Williams v Paolo Nebrida
(6) Danny Noppert v Jurjen van der Velde
Nick Kenny v Justin Hood
(27) Ritchie Edhouse v Jonny Tata
Ryan Meikle v Jesus Salate
(11) Josh Rock v Gemma Hayter
Niko Springer v Joe Comito
(22) Daryl Gurney v Beau Greaves
Callan Rydz v Patrik Kovacs
—–ENDS—–
Images: T Lanning / PDC
