Littler turned the youngest world champion, aged 17, when he beat Dutchman Van Gerwen in January’s last.
{The teenager}, now 18, has gone on to win 5 extra televised titles in 2025, together with the Gamers’ Championship in Minehead on Sunday.
Littler and Humphries are on completely different sides of the draw and seeded to satisfy within the last once more.
Of his first-round opponent Labanauskas, Littler stated: “He is not the quickest participant however it’s all about getting previous that first spherical
“Gary Anderson was the final participant to return to again (champion in 2015 and 2016) so I am trying ahead to making an attempt to do this.”
The highest 32 seeds enter within the first spherical this 12 months, reasonably than the second, with the ultimate happening on Saturday, 3 January 2026.
The entire of 128 gamers is up from 96 in 2024-25, with the winner taking dwelling £1m – double what Littler picked up in January. The runner-up wins £400,000 from a complete £5m prize fund.
The 32 seeds have been joined by gamers ranked 33-64, and drawn at random into the left facet of the draw in opposition to the remaining 64 qualifiers.
First-round matches will happen from Thursday 11 to Friday 19 December,
All second-round matches will happen from 20-23 December, with the third spherical starting 27 December and the fourth spherical on 29-30 December.
The quarter-finals are on New Yr’s Day, with the semi-finals a day later.
