Luke Littler is gearing up for his first defense of the PDC World Darts Championship as he prepares to face Darius Labanauskas at Alexandra Palace next month. The draw for the tournament was conducted on Monday afternoon.
Having clinched the 2025 world champion title by defeating Michael van Gerwen at Ally Pally in January, the 18-year-old Littler has since added victories in the UK Open, World Matchplay, World Grand Prix, Grand Slam of Darts, and Players Championship to his list of accolades.
Recently ascending to the world No.1 spot, surpassing Luke Humphries, Littler is currently in stellar form ahead of his upcoming title defense at the World Championship. His first-round opponent will be Lithuanian No.1 Labanauskas.
In other matchups, Luke Humphries is set to take on Ted Evetts, Michael van Gerwen will face Mitsohiko Tatsunami, and Beau Greaves is scheduled to compete against Daryl Gurney in the initial rounds of the revamped 128-player tournament.
The complete list of first-round ties for the 2026 PDC World Championship includes matchups such as Mario Vandenbogaerde vs David Davies, Joe Cullen vs Bradley Brooks, and Mensur Suljovic vs David Cameron, among others. Fans can expect an exciting start to the championship with these matchups set to unfold.