World Darts Championship attract full as Luke Littler learns his opponent
Luke Littler has discover his first opponent for the World Darts Championship as the Nuke has been drawn up against Lithuanian Darius Labanauskas
The draw for the Paddy Power PDC World Darts Championship has been made – with Luke Littler kicking off his defence against Darius Labanauskas.
The Nuke, 18, completed his rise to the top of the darting world 12 months ago, when he beat Michael van Gerwen at the Ally Pally to win his first world title. And he faces a difficult task against the Lithuanian as he opens up his title defence.
Van Gerwen, meanwhile, will open his account against Mitsuhiko Tatsunami. The 52-year-old, dubbed the ‘Japanese Stephen Bunting’, booked his ticket to the famous stage through the Steel Darts Japan Tour.
Luke Humphries, the current World No.2 after being dethroned by Littler, was keen to stake his claim to winning a second world title after losing to Littler at the Grand Slam of Darts.
He will face Ted Evetts in the opening round.
Other standout clashes include Rob Cross vs Cor Dekker, Gerywn Price vs Adam Gawlas and Stephen Bunting vs Sebastian BIalecki.
German star, and Littler’s rival, Ricardo Pietreczko faces a tough clash against Jose De Sousa while fan favourite Ricky Evans will square off with Man Lok Leung, who starred at the World Cup of Darts over the summer.
Littler will main event the opening night – which kicks off at the Ally Pally on December 11.
World Darts Championship draw in full:
Luke Littler vs Darius Labanauskas
Mario Vandenbogaerde vs David Davies
Joe Cullen vs Bradley Brooks
Mensur Suljovic vs David Cameron
Damon Heta vs Steve Lennon
Raymond van Barneveld vs Stefan Bellmont
Rob Cross vs Cor Dekker
Ian White vs Mervyn King
Chris Dobey vs Xiaochen Zong
Andrew Gilding vs Cam Crabtree
Luke Woodhouse vs Boris Krcmar
Martin Lukeman vs Max Hopp
Gerywn Price vs Adam Gawlas
Lukas Wenig vs Wesley Plaisier
Ryan Joyce vs Owen Bates
Krzysztof Ratajski vs Alexis Toylo
Stephen Bunting vs Sebastian BIalecki
Richard Veenstra vs Nitin Kumar
Dirk van Duijvenbode vs Andy Baetens
James Hurrell vs Stowe Buntz
Martin Schindler vs Stephen Burton
Keane Barry vs Tim Pusey
Ryan Searle vs Chris Landman
Brendan Dolan vs Tavis Dudeney
Johnny Clayton vs Adam Lipscombe
Dom Taylor vs Oskar Lukasiak
Michael Smith vs Lisa Ashton
Niels Zonneveld vs Haupai Puha
Ross Smith vs Andreas Harrysson
Thibault Tricole vs Motomu Sakai
Dave Chisnall vs Fallon Sherrock
Ricardo Pietreczko vs Jose De Sousa
Luke Humphries vs Ted Evetts
Jeffrey de Graaf vs Paul Lim
Wessel Nijman vs Karel Sedlacek
Gabriel Clemens vs Alex Spellman
Nathan Aspinall vs Lourence Ilagan
Mickey Mansell vs Leonard Gates
Mike De Decker vs David Munyua
Kevin Doets vs Matthew Dennant
James Wade vs Ryusei Azemoto
Ricky Evans vs Man Lok Leung
Cameron Menzies vs Charlie Manby
Matt Campbell vs Adam Sevada
Gian van Veen vs Cristo Reyes
Alan Soutar vs Teemu Harju
Dimitri van den Bergh vs Darren Beveridge
Madars Razma vs Jamai van den Herik
Michael van Gerwen vs Mitsuhiko Tatsunami
William O’Connor vs Krzysztof Kcuik
Peter Wright vs Noa-Lynn van Leuven
Kim Huybrechts vs Arno Merk
Gary Anderson vs Adam Hunt
Connor Scutt vs Simon Whitlock
Jermaine Wattimena vs Dominik Gruellich
Scott Williams vs Paolo Nebrida
Danny Noppert vs Jurjen van der Velde
Nick Kenny vs Justin Hood
Ritchie Edhouse vs Jonny Tata
Ryan Meikle vs Jesus Salate
Josh Rock vs Gemma Hayter
Niko Springer vs Joe Comito
Daryl Gurney vs Beau Greaves
Callan Rydz vs Patrik Kovacz
