Luke Littler made to work for first-round victory in World Darts Championship

The last time somebody retained the World Darts Championship, Luke Littler was eight years old. Gary Anderson’s back-to-back victories in 2015 and 2016 made him only the third person to retain the world title in the PDC era.

Phil Taylor did it routinely – eight in a row from 1995 to 2002, then 2004-06 and 2009-10 – and Adrian Lewis was champion in 2011 and 2012. Since Anderson’s wins, only two defending champions have even reached the final.

Littler is all grown up, the best player on planet darts, and hopes to change all that in the next three weeks. He may not turn 19 until the end of January but he has the aura of a grizzled champion: he’s the reigning champion, world No1 and won three of the four majors in October and November.

Littler’s defence starts against the Lithuanian Darius Labanauskas, a decent player who reached the quarter-finals of this competition in 2020 before losing to Michael van Gerwen. But he has slipped down the rankings in recent years and is currently No95; it will be a shock if he takes a set off Littler, never mind three. The pair are due on the oche at around 9pm.

That match is the highlight of opening night at Ally Pally. Michael Smith, the 2023 champion, meets Lisa Ashton in another eye-catching match shortly. We’ve already had the opening game of the 2026 World Championship: the debutant Arno Merk has beaten the world No53 Kim Huybrechts 3-1 in sets.