World number one and former champion Luke Littler is slated to headline the roster of Tour Card Holders and International Qualifiers who will take part in the upcoming Winmau World Youth Championship on Monday. The tournament’s full complement of 128 competitors will be confirmed once the Development Tour season wraps up this weekend, after Events 21 through 24 are contested in Wigan on October 3‑4.
The 2026 edition of the World Youth Championship will unfold over two distinct phases. The opening round‑robin stage and the subsequent knockout rounds, beginning with the last 64 and culminating in the semi‑finals, are scheduled for Monday, October 5, at the Robin Park Leisure Centre. Organisers recommend using the Chrome browser for optimal video‑player performance. Littler’s path to the event has been eventful.
He withdrew from Players Championship events 29 and 30 after a loss at the World Series Finals in Amsterdam, effectively ending his bid to qualify for the Minehead finals in November. Nevertheless, his standing as a top‑ranked player guarantees his presence at the venue. The championship’s final will be staged on Sunday, November 29, at Butlin’s Minehead Resort as part of the Ladbrokes Players Championship Finals. A heightened top prize of £15,000 will be on offer for the winner.
The 128‑player field will be composed of all age‑eligible PDC Tour Card Holders who accept an invitation, alongside 26 international representatives. The remaining slots will be filled by the highest‑ranked players from the Development Tour Rankings after the season concludes.
During the group stage, the competitors will be divided into 32 groups of four, each group containing one seeded player. Seedings are determined first by the PDC Werner Rankings Ladder and then by the Development Tour Rankings.
The top two finishers in each group will advance to the knockout phase, which commences at the last‑64 stage. Littler, who captured the World Youth Championship title in 2023, enters the tournament as the top seed, reflecting his world‑number‑one status. He is followed in the seedings by Poland’s Sebastian Bialecki and Ireland’s Keane Barry. Former runner‑up Jurjen van der Velde, who finished second in 2024, will also be back, joined by notable names such as Cam Crabtree, Charlie Manby, Owen Bates, and Czech Republic’s Adam Gawlas.
Among the younger talent, 16‑year‑old Lewis Cook from the Junior Darts Corporation (JDC) circuit will make his debut, while rising stars Kaya Baysal, Archie Self, and Ben Townley have stepped up to the Development Tour this season. From the PDC Women’s Series rankings, Eleanor Cairns and Kyana Frauenfelder will also be represented. Two‑time reigning champion Gian van Veen has opted not to defend his title, and former runner‑up Beau Greaves, who lost to Van Veen a year earlier, along with Yorick Hofkens, have also chosen to sit out the Monday competition.
Match play will begin at 11:30 a.m. on Monday at the Robin Park Leisure Centre. Group‑stage encounters will be contested over the best of nine legs.
The two qualifiers from each group will then move on to the last‑64 knockout round, which will be played over the best of eleven legs. The official lineup for the 2026 Winmau World Youth Championship includes age‑qualified Tour Card Holders such as Luke Littler, Sebastian Bialecki, Keane Barry, Cam Crabtree, Dominik Gruellich, Charlie Manby, Leon Weber, Tavis Dudeney, Adam Gawlas, Owen Bates, Jurjen van der Velde, and Tyler Thorpe, among others. International qualifiers span a broad geographic range: Liam Maendl‑Lawrance (Germany), Mika Donnevert (Germany), Mio Varila (Finland), Alexander Thorvaldsson (Iceland), Daniel Kortbek (Denmark), Ky Smith (Australia), Bailey Marsh (Australia), Jayden Wedemeyer (Australia), Mitchel Beswick (Australia), Jack Sheppard (New Zealand), Hunter Eyles (New Zealand), Zacarno King (New Zealand), Zachary Meeks (USA), Conner Olson (USA), Liam McNeil (Canada), Benjamin Goddard (Canada), Craig Galliano (Gibraltar), Hayden Moodley (South Africa), Jason Britz (South Africa), Eleanor Cairns (England), Kyana Frauenfelder (Netherlands), Lewis Cook (England), Jaichen Song (China), Hiroyuki Tanaka (Japan), Zhijun Cui (China), and Duyana Decena (Philippines). Darts fans can continue to follow the sport’s premier events on Sky Sports, which remains the primary broadcaster for the World Grand Prix (running until October 4), the Grand Slam of Darts (November 14‑22), and the World Darts Championship (December 10‑January 3).
For those who prefer streaming, NOW offers live darts coverage without a contract requirement.