The line-up for the 2026 PDC World Youth Championship has been confirmed provisionally, with the full 128-player field set to be finalised after the conclusion of the Development Tour season this weekend. The big highlight is Luke Littler, who will play this Monday, October 5, at the Robin Park Tennis Centre in Wigan.
The round-robin phase and the knockout phase from the last 64 down to the semi-finals will all be staged on Monday, with play beginning at 11:30am. The final will then be held at Butlin's Minehead at the Players Championship Finals, with a top prize of £15,000 on offer. The 128-player line-up includes all age-qualified PDC Tour Card holder representatives, with the remaining places set to be filled from the final rankings. The group stage sees the 32 split into groups of four, with one seed per group, and the top two from each group move into the Last 64.
The surprise news is that Littler will be involved ahead of Sebastian Bialecki, who at times this season has dominated the Development Tour, as well as Keane Barry. Jurjen van der Velde will return alongside Cam Crabtree, Charlie Manby, Owen Bates and Adam Gawlas. The field also includes Kaya Baysal, Archie Self and Ben Townley, who have impressed on the Development Tour, while Eleanor Cairns and Kyana Frauenfelder qualify through the PDC Women's Series.
Gian van Veen will not defend the title, while Beau Greaves, who was runner-up to Van Veen 12 months ago, and Yorick Hofkens have also opted out. The age-qualified tour card holders in the line-up are 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.
The international qualifiers include 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).
