After a pre-Christmas fortnight that felt less like a darts tournament and more like a full-scale psychological stress test, the 2026 PDC Paddy Power World Championship has done what it always does – chewed up reputations, spat out seeds, and left us with thirty-two survivors blinking into the Ally Pally lights with a few wondering how on earth they got here.
From the original field, barely half the seeded royalty have managed to justify that comforting little number in brackets beside their name. The rest? Packed their bags early and joined the long winter queue of what might have been.
So, with the carnage complete, Darts World turns its gaze to the four remaining sections – each one destined to produce a semi-finalist. We begin, naturally, at the top of the tree.
Section One. Home of the reigning World Champion. Oh – and a former one too:
SECTION ONE
(1) Luke Littler v Mensur Suljovic
(16) Damon Heta v (17) Rob Cross
Andrew Gilding v Luke Woodhouse
Wesley Plaisier v Krzysztof Ratajski
Let’s not dance around it – the gravitational pull of this section is Luke Littler. Everything bends towards him. Form, fear factor, inevitability. Listing the reasons he should win it would take longer than some first-round matches. But… darts rarely reads the script. Enter Mensur Suljovic, a man who doesn’t just play at his own pace – he insists everyone else does too.
In the previous round, Joe Cullen didn’t so much lose as combust, taking to social media afterwards to accuse the Austrian of cheating by grinding the match down to geological speed.
Now here’s the intrigue. If Littler has a vulnerability – and it’s a relative one – it’s rhythm disruption. Push him outside his natural tempo and things can get… uncomfortable. He’s not alone in that, but Mensur has made a career out of weaponising it.
If – and it’s a big if – Suljovic can burrow under the reigning champion’s skin and tug him off-beat, suddenly the impossible becomes thinkable. It would be seismic. But this World Championship has already laughed in the face of logic, so don’t rule it out entirely.
A Littler exit here would be the equivalent of dropping a bowling ball into a paddling pool. Every remaining player in that quarter would instantly fancy themselves. None scream semi-finalist – but all would smell blood.
Should Littler navigate the Mensur factor, the next hurdle could be Damon Heta, one of the select few who can claim a major ranking win over him – courtesy of ending Littler’s 2024 UK Open run. That’s their only big-stage clash, meaning the Aussie holds the head-to-head bragging rights.
Alternatively, it could be Rob Cross. Voltage’s overall record against Littler isn’t glowing, but he did win their most recent meeting – albeit at a Players Championship in August. Still, confidence doesn’t ask where it came from.
And then there’s the bottom half of the section – Gilding, Woodhouse, Plaisier and Ratajski – all staring longingly at what is arguably the most inviting £100,000 cheque in the building. With respect to all four, none are global superstars. But all are elite professionals – and every single one of them would have bitten your hand clean off if offered a mini-group among themselves with six figures guaranteed at the end.
Reality check though.It’s hard to see past Littler. The chaos variable exists, yes – but it would still be a shock of the highest order if he doesn’t come through. The only real mystery is who he’d meet in the quarter-final. You could toss a four-sided coin and feel no wiser.
But if you want a lean, Ratajski feels overdue another deep run. Overdue – but likely still terminally blocked by one immovable object. Luke Littler. Still standing. Still looming….
—–Ends—–
Images: PDC
