It’s that time of year again, and the draw for the PDC 2026 World Darts Championship has been made. Round one will see some interesting ties. Limerick’s own William O’Connor will take on Krzysztof Kciuk, while the standout round one match features Northern Ireland’s Daryl Gurney facing female superstar Beau Greaves.
Defending champion and world number one, 18-year-old Luke Littler, will play Darius Labanauskas. Second in the rankings, Luke Humphries will play against Ted Evetts. Third seed Michael van Gerwen faces Mitsuhiko Tatsunami, while fan favourite Stephen Bunting will come up against Sebastian Bialecki.
“I can’t wait to return to the Palace!”
Luke Littler reacts to the 2025/26 World Championship draw, where he will face Darius Labanauskas in Round One. pic.twitter.com/rQrMNrIdhS
— PDC Darts (@OfficialPDC) November 24, 2025
Other Irish interest’s include Keane Barry who will play Tim Pusey and Steve Lennon faces Damon Heta. Northern Irishman and world number 11 Josh Rock will play Gemma Hayter, while fellow Northern Irish player Mickey Mansell faces Leonard Gates. Fermanagh’s Brendan Dolan faces Tavis Dudeney.
There are some other interesting ties in round one including the battle of experience in Ian White v Mervyn King, Joe Cullen facing Bradley Brooks, Johnny Clayton v Adam Lipscombe, Michael Smith v Lisa Ashton, Dave Chisnall drawing the ‘Queen of the Pally’ Fallon Sherrock, Nathan Aspinall v Lourence Ilagan and Jefferey de Graaf coming up against the iconic Paul Lim.
The action gets underway on December 11 at Alexandra Palace. The final will take place on January 3 where the winner will be presented with the Sid Waddell Trophy. For the first time ever, the champion will receive £1million, which is double the previous prize pot of £500,000.
The draw builds the excitement for the main event of Darts each year and also for the festive period. Some of the first-round pairings will certainly catch the eye of darts fans which only will further build anticipation for what is sure to be yet another brilliant festival of darting skill and drama over the Christmas period.
THE DRAW BRACKET
Luke Littler starts his World Championship title defence against Darius Labanauskas1
Here’s how the 2025/26 @paddypower World Darts Championship draw bracket shapes up…
The First Quarter pic.twitter.com/gxtpxbnm7z
— PDC Darts (@OfficialPDC) November 24, 2025