Luke Littler: World No 1 to headline World Youth Championships with chance to reach final at Minehead
Luke Littler will compete at the 2026 World Youth Championships but reigning champ Gian van Veen will not attend in the final year he is eligible; you can watch the conclusion of the World Grand Prix Darts live on Sky Sports this weekend
Friday 2 October 2026 22:11, UK
World No 1 and former champion Luke Littler will headline the list of Tour Card Holders and International Qualifiers competing in Monday's Winmau World Youth Championship.
The full 128-player field for this year's showpiece will be finalised following the conclusion of the Development Tour season this weekend, with Events 21-24 taking place in Wigan on October 3-4.
The 2026 World Youth Championship will see the round-robin phase and the knockout phase from the last 64 down to the semi-finals staged on Monday October 5 at the Robin Park Leisure Centre.
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Littler, who withdrew from Players Championship 29 and 30 after his defeat at the World Series Finals in Amsterdam effectively ended his chances of qualifying for the finals in Minehead in November, but he could still play at the venue.
The final will be held on Sunday November 29 at Butlin's Minehead Resort during the Ladbrokes Players Championship Finals, with a boosted top prize of £15,000 also on offer.
The 128-player line-up will include all age-qualified PDC Tour Card Holders who have accepted the invitation to compete and 26 international representatives, with the remaining places set to be filled from the final Development Tour Rankings.
The group stage sees the players split into 32 groups of four, with one seed per group for the round-robin action - with seedings based on the PDC Werner Rankings Ladder and then the Development Tour Rankings.
The top two players in each group will subsequently progress to the knockout stages, which begin from the last 64 onwards.
World Champion Littler - who lifted the World Youth Championship in 2023 - will be the top seed given his status as world No 1, ahead of Poland's Sebastian Bialecki and Ireland's Keane Barry.
Jurjen van der Velde - the 2024 runner-up - will also return alongside the likes of Cam Crabtree, Charlie Manby, Owen Bates and Czechia's Adam Gawlas.
The field also includes 16-year-old Lewis Cook from the JDC circuit - along with fellow stars Kaya Baysal, Archie Self and Ben Townley who have stepped up to the Development Tour this year - with Eleanor Cairns and Kyana Frauenfelder featuring from the PDC Women's Series rankings.
Reigning two-time champion Gian van Veen will not return to defend his title while Beau Greaves - runner-up to Van Veen 12 months ago - and Yorick Hofkens have also chosen not to compete in Monday's event.
The Winmau World Youth Championship will begin from 11.30am on Monday at the Robin Park Leisure Centre, with group games being played over the best of nine legs.
The top two players from each group will then advance to the last 64, which will be contested in a knockout format over the best of 11 legs.
2026 Winmau World Youth Championship
Monday October 5, Robin Park Leisure Centre
Age Qualified Tour Card Holders
Luke Littler
Sebastian Bialecki
Keane Barry
Cam Crabtree
Dominik Gruellich
Charlie Manby
Leon Weber
Tavis Dudeney
Adam Gawlas
Owen Bates
Jurjen van der Velde
Tyler Thorpe
International Qualifiers
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)
Duyana Decena (Philippines)
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