Luke Littler will begin his defence of the World Darts Championship against Darius Labanauskas after the draw for the 2025-26 tournament was made on Monday afternoon. The 18-year-old, who secured his eighth major TV title at the Players Championship Finals on Sunday, is the top seed and world number one heading to Alexandra Palace next month.
Littler defeated Michael van Gerwen in the final last January to claim his first world crown, and has since added the UK Open, World Matchplay, World Grand Prix, Grand Slam and Players Championship Finals to his ever-growing collection. His recent form has been described as unstoppable, having leapfrogged Luke Humphries to become world number one just last week.
Labanauskas, a Lithuanian, will be the first to try and halt Littler's momentum when the tournament gets underway in December. The draw also sees Luke Humphries drawn against Ted Evetts, Michael van Gerwen facing Mitsuhiko Tatsunami, and Beau Greaves taking on Daryl Gurney in other notable first-round ties.
