Luke Litter To Play First Day Of The 2026 World Darts Championship
Written by Katie Snowdon on 27th November 2025
The 2026 PDC World Darts Championship is almost here, all 128 players have been confirmed, the draw has been announced and all players are aiming for one thing, to be crowned 2026 World Darts Champion.
The winner will earn the biggest amount of prize money ever offered at £1 Million.
However, one player that has stood out among the rest, coming to defend his title is world number one Luke Littler.
Who is Luke Littler?
Luke “The Nuke” Littler was just 17 when he was crowned World Champion for the first time beating three time World Champion Michael Van Gerwen 7-3 last year in the final of the 2025 PDC World Darts Championship.
Littler has been on an excellent run of form this year winning his sixth major title last weekend beating Nathan Aspinall 11-8 to become the Players Champion Final winner. Now he is ready to defend his title as he is set to play Lithuanian darts player Darius Labanauskas on the opening day, December 11.
Other contenders for the crown
The second quarter features world number four Stephen Bunting who made a strong start to the 2025 darts season winning the Bahrain Darts Masters at the start of February. Bunting has also won two players championships and the Swiss darts trophy proving this year to be quite successful for ‘The Bullet’. Bunting is set to play Polish player Sebastian Bialecki on December 14.
The third quarter has all eyes on world number two and former World Champion Luke Humphries. Despite losing his position as world number one, Humphries has had a very successful year. ‘Cool Hand Luke’ was crowned the 2025 Bet MGM Premier League champion, beating rival Luke Littler 11-8 in the final at the O2 Arena. As well as this, Humphries has made it to several finals of major tournaments this year including the Grand Slam, the European Championship and the World Grand Prix. Humphries is set to play Ted Evetts in this years opening round.
Finally in the fourth quarter, world number three Michael Van Gerwen is playing Mitshuiko Tatsunami. Despite not winning loads of titles this year, MVG is set to put that all behind him and is eyeing up his fourth World Darts Championship title. MVG won the World Series Finals this year defeating Luke Littler in the final which should be a boost of confidence for the three times World Champ as he looks to make his second consecutive World Darts Championship final.
