The WDF World Championship at the home of World Darts, the Lakeside will return between 27 Nov 2026 – Sun, 6 Dec 2026 at Frimley Green.
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Mitchell Lawrie will be top seed in the Open category after the youth prodigy who is yet to become 16 as of time of writing reached the final last year. He plans to make the move over to the PDC when he is able to in January so will attempt to win this for the first and final time.
He is joined by Dutch Open winner Paul Krohne, Leonard Gates, Matthew Edgar, Ross Montgomery, World Master Chris Lim and former champion Neil Duff.
In the ladies, it is Deta Hedman who leads the way after she finally won the title last year. Rhian O'Sullivan, Aileen de Graaf and Nicole Regnaud are among those who will test her. While the youth and girls also take place, the former again including Mitchell Lawrie. As well as youth prodigy and his rival Kaya Baysal - who has lit up the Development Tour in his part debut season.
WDF Men’s World Championship 2026 Draw
Last 32
| Player 1 | Player 2 | |
| Mitchell Lawrie (1) | v | Harry Lane/Declan Bailey |
| Scott Robertson (16) | v | Alex Williams/Dmitrii Rogov |
| Kaya Baysal (8) | v | Stefan Schroeder/Pat Scurfield |
| Mursel Yavuz (9) | v | Daniel Zapata/Jack Drayton |
| Leonard Gates (4) | v | Ben Townley/Shane Sakchekapo |
| Chris Lim (13) | v | Franko Giuliani/Joey Lynaugh |
| James Beeton (5) | v | Petri Rasmus/Ryusei Azemoto |
| Jarno Bottenberg (12) | v | Liam Maendl-Lawrance/Berry Pater |
| Jenson Walker (2) | v | Mark Cleaver/Blake Hatchett |
| Neil Duff (15) | v | Lewis Gurney/Ron Meulenkamp |
| Moreno Blom (7) | v | Carsten Hoffmann/Dennis Nilsson |
| Ross Montgomery (10) | v | Sean Fisher/Jitse van der Wal |
| Paul Krohne (3) | v | Matt Clark/Terry Jun Hao Tan |
| Brian Raman (14) | v | Anthony Brown/Paul Lewis |
| Matthew Edgar (6) | v | Haupai Puha/Tomoya Goto |
| Corne Groeneveld (11) | v | Jeff Smith/David Davies |
WDF Women’s World Championship 2026 Draw
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Last 16
| Player 1 | Player 2 | |
| Deta Hedman (1) | v | Cali West/Lovely-Mae Orbeta |
| Nicole Regnaud (8) | v | Irina Armstrong/Chris Richardson |
| Maria Carli (4) | v | Lorraine Hyde/Mayumi Ouchi |
| Kirsi Viinikainen (5) | v | Aurora Fochesato/Steph Clarke |
| Rhian O’Sullivan (2) | v | Emine Dursun/Kim Holden |
| Aileen de Graaf (7) | v | Lerena Rietbergen/Sophie McKinlay |
| Priscilla Steenbergen (3) | v | Jitka Cisarova/Eve Watson |
| Paula Jacklin (6) | v | Anca Zijlstra/Paula Murphy |
WDF Boys World Championship 2026 Draw
Quarter-Finals
| Player 1 | Player 2 | |
| Mitchell Lawrie (1) | v | Jack Nankervis/Cori Wiltshire |
| Mason Teese (4) | v | Ben Townley/Addison Hefferon |
| Kaya Baysal (2) | v | Toby Clements/Christian Ennis |
| Kai Burger (3) | v | Mika Donnevert/Benjamin Dopfer |
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WDF Girls World Championship 2026 Draw
Semi-Finals
| Player 1 | Player 2 | |
| Paige Pauling (1) | v | Ruby Grey/Rebecca Allen |
| Macy Gibbons (2) | v | Zehra Gemi/Celina Glaser |
Field WDF Lakeside World Championship
Open – Men
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| Rank | Player | Country | Notes |
| 1 | Mitchell Lawrie | SCO | 2026 Denmark Open winner, UK & Ireland regional ranking race table |
| 2 | Jenson Walker | ENG | |
| 3 | Paul Krohne | GER | 2026 Dutch Open winner |
| 4 | Leonard Gates | USA | USA regional ranking race table |
| 5 | James Beeton | ENG | |
| 6 | Matthew Edgar | ENG | 2026 Hungarian Masters winner |
| 7 | Moreno Blom | NED | |
| 8 | Kaya Baysal | TUR | |
| 9 | Mursel Yavuz | TUR | East Europe ranking race table |
| 10 | Ross Montgomery | SCO | |
| 11 | Corne Groeneveld | NED | |
| 12 | Jarno Bottenberg | NED | |
| 13 | Chris Lim | USA | 2026 World Masters winner |
| 14 | Brian Raman | BEL | |
| 15 | Neil Duff | NI | |
| 16 | Scott Robertson | SCO | |
| 17 | Haupai Puha | NZL | New Zealand ranking race table |
| 18 | Daniel Zapata | CAT | West Europe ranking race table |
| 19 | Mark Cleaver | NZL | 2026 New Zealand Open winner, New Zealand ranking race table |
| 20 | Carsten Hoffmann | GER | |
| 21 | Ben Townley | ENG | |
| 22 | Stefan Schroder | NED | |
| 23 | Lewis Gurney | ENG | |
| 24 | Jeff Smith | CAN | 2026 Toronto Area Open winner, Canada ranking race table |
| 25 | Sean Fisher | WAL | |
| 26 | Matt Clark | ENG | |
| 27 | Alex Williams | WAL | |
| 28 | Anthony Brown | ENG | |
| 29 | Harry Lane | ENG | UK & Ireland ranking race table |
| 30 | Liam Maendl-Lawrance | GER | Las Vegas Qualifier |
| 31 | Petri Rasmus | FIN | North Europe ranking race table |
| 32 | Franko Giuliani | AUT | East Europe ranking race table |
| 33 | Declan Bailey | AUS | Australia ranking race table |
| 34 | Dmitrii Rogov | ISR | |
| 35 | Pat Scurfield | ENG | |
| 36 | Ron Meulenkamp | NED | |
| 37 | Paul Lewis | ENG | Lakeside Qualifier |
| 38 | Dennis Nilsson | SWE | North Europe ranking race table |
| 39 | Terry Jun Hao Tan | MLY | 2026 Philippines Open winner, Asia ranking race table |
| 40 | Tomoya Goto | JPN | Asia ranking race table |
| 41 | Shane Sakchekapo | CAN | Canada ranking race table |
| 42 | Jack Drayton | ENG | 2026 Isle of Man Open winner |
| 43 | David Davies | WAL | 2025 Irish Open winner |
| 44 | Joey Lynaugh | USA | USA ranking race table |
| 45 | Ryusei Azemoto | JPN | 2026 Steel Masters winner |
| 46 | Blake Hatchett | AUS | 2026 Pacific Masters winner |
| 47 | Berry Pater | NED | Las Vegas Qualifier |
| 48 | Jitse Van der Wal | NED | Lakeside Qualifier |
Open – Women
| Rank | Player | Country | Notes |
| 1 | Deta Hedman | ENG | 2025 World Championship winner, 2026 Las Vegas Open winner, 2026 Denmark Open winner, 2026 Toronto Area Open winner, UK & Ireland regional ranking race table |
| 2 | Rhian O'Sullivan | WAL | 2025 Irish Open winner, 2026 Hungarian Masters winner |
| 3 | Priscilla Steenbergen | NED | 2026 Dutch Open winner |
| 4 | Maria Carli | CAN | Canada regional ranking race table |
| 5 | Kirsi Viinikainen | FIN | North Europe regional ranking race table |
| 6 | Paula Jacklin | ENG | |
| 7 | Aileen de Graaf | NED | |
| 8 | Nicole Regnaud | NZL | 2026 New Zealand Open winner, New Zealand regional ranking race table |
| 9 | Irina Armstrong | GER | West Europe ranking race table |
| 10 | Lerena Rietbergen | NED | |
| 11 | Emine Dursun | TUR | |
| 12 | Anca Zijlstra | NED | |
| 13 | Lorraine Hyde | SCO | |
| 14 | Cali West | USA | USA ranking race table |
| 15 | Jitka Cisarova | CZE | East Europe ranking race table |
| 16 | Aurora Fochesato | ITA | |
| 17 | Paula Murphy | USA | |
| 18 | Eve Watson | WAL | |
| 19 | Steph Clarke | ENG | |
| 20 | Mayumi Ouchi | JPN | 2026 Steel Masters winner, Asia ranking race table |
| 21 | Lovely-Mae Orbeta | PHI | 2026 Philippines Open winner |
| 22 | Chris Richardson | AUS | 2026 Pacific Masters winner |
| 23 | Sophie McKinlay | SCO | Las Vegas Qualifier |
| 24 | Kim Holden | ENG | Lakeside Qualifier |
Youth – Boys
| Rank | Player | Country | Notes |
| 1 | Mitchell Lawrie | SCO | 2025 World Championship winner |
| 2 | Kaya Baysal | TUR | |
| 3 | Kai Burger | NED | |
| 4 | Mason Teese | ENG | |
| 5 | Jack Nankervis | ENG | |
| 6 | Mika Donnevert | GER | |
| 7 | Toby Clements | ENG | |
| 8 | Ben Townley | ENG | Las Vegas Qualifier |
| 9 | Addison Hefferon | ENG | Las Vegas Qualifier |
| 10 | Benjamin Dopfer | GER | 2026 World Masters winner |
| 11 | Cori Wiltshire | ENG | Lakeside Qualifier |
| 12 | Christian Ennis | NI | Lakeside Qualifier |
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Youth – Girls
| Rank | Player | Country | Notes |
| 1 | Paige Pauling | ENG | |
| 2 | Macy Gibbons | ENG | |
| 3 | Ruby Grey | ENG | 2026 World Masters winner |
| 4 | Zehra Gemi | TUR | 2025 World Championship winner |
| 5 | Rebecca Allen | IRE | Lakeside Qualifier |
| 6 | Celina Glaser | AUT | Las Vegas Qualifier |
History WDF Lakeside World Championship
Open
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| Year | Champion | Score | Runner-up |
| 2022 | Neil Duff (87.73) | 6–5 | Thibault Tricole (86.95) |
| 2023 | Andy Baetens (93.69) | 6–1 | Chris Landman (86.47) |
| 2024 | Shane McGuirk (90.31) | 6–3 | Paul Lim (83.76) |
| 2025 | Jimmy van Schie (93.21) | 6–3 | Mitchell Lawrie (93.18) |
Women
| Year | Champion | Score | Runner-up |
| 2022 | Beau Greaves (92.05) | 4–0 | Kirsty Hutchinson (72.53) |
| 2023 | Beau Greaves (84.64) | 4–1 | Aileen de Graaf (77.69) |
| 2024 | Beau Greaves (83.92) | 4–1 | Sophie McKinlay (73.81) |
| 2025 | Deta Hedman (72.01) | 4–1 | Lerena Rietbergen (70.07) |
Youth
| Year | Champion | Score | Runner-up |
| 2022 | Bradly Roes (71.34) | 3–1 | Charlie Large (71.56) |
| 2023 | Bradley van der Velden (69.93) | 3–0 | Adam Dee (66.68) |
| 2024 | Archie Self (81.34) | 3–2 | Jenson Walker (84.76) |
| 2025 | Mitchell Lawrie (89.35) | 4–2 | Florian Preis (88.45) |
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Girls
| Year | Champion | Score | Runner-up |
| 2022 | Eleanor Cairns (52.45) | 2–0 | Wibke Riemann (52.22) |
| 2023 | Aurora Fochesato (59.43) | 2–0 | Krisztina Turai (51.07) |
| 2024 | Paige Pauling (73.88) | 2–0 | Sophie McKinlay (71.92) |
| 2025 | Zehra Gemi (77.07) | 3–0 | Rebecca Allen (65.54) |
Format WDF Lakeside World Championship 2026
Open
| Round | Format |
| First Round | Best of 5 sets |
| Second Round | Best of 5 sets |
| Last 16 | Best of 5 sets |
| Quarter-Finals | Best of 7 sets |
| Semi-Finals | Best of 9 sets |
| Final | Best of 11 sets |
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Women
| Round | Format |
| First Round | Best of 3 sets |
| Last 16 | Best of 3 sets |
| Quarter-Finals | Best of 5 sets |
| Semi-Finals | Best of 5 sets |
| Final | Best of 7 sets |
Youth
| Round | Format |
| First Round | Best of 3 sets |
| Quarter-Finals | Best of 3 sets |
| Semi-Finals | Best of 5 sets |
| Final | Best of 7 sets |
Girls
| Round | Format |
| First Round | Best of 3 sets |
| Semi-Finals | Best of 3 sets |
| Final | Best of 5 sets |
When is the draw confirmed for WDF Lakeside World Championship
The draw for the 2026 WDF World Championship will be conducted on Tuesday, November 3rd. Nick Rolls, WDF Secretary General as well as S4C presenter Sioned Dafydd and former Lakeside World Champion Scott Mitchell will do the draw on their YouTube channel on November 3rd. Prize money and format has been set too.
When is the schedule confirmed for WDF Lakeside World Championship?
The playing schedule will then be finalised no later than Monday, November 9th.
Samuel GillChief Content Officer
Samuel Gill is the Chief Content Officer (CCO) of DartsNews.com, a role he has held since 2020. He is responsible for editorial governance across the platform, including setting content standards, overseeing accuracy and consistency, and guiding long-term editorial strategy across professional darts coverage. Since joining, he has contributed more than 10,000 articles and editorial pieces, playing a central role in the development and daily operation of the site.
Based in Leicester, Samuel has extensive experience in darts media and has been closely involved in coverage of the professional darts circuit for several years. Within the UK darts community, he is a recognised figure known for his consistent editorial output and ongoing reporting on major tournaments and developments across the PDC calendar.
In his current role, Samuel works closely with editors and writers to ensure content meets clear journalistic standards, with a focus on source verification, editorial consistency, and timely updates when new, confirmed information becomes available.
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- Such a shame that lakeside has been reduced to this. Fantastic venue,and previously a great tournament. Not any morerick6703-11-2026
- Seems to me that the top 16 players pick and choose whatever they want to play. Good,all the money will get spread out more. They get more money from exhibitions than tournaments so let them all withdrawrick6703-11-2026
- Play all legs and the winners split the pot. Luke gets the lot of he wins them all. If your occupation is darts player you can't enter, regardless of ability.BandB01-11-2026
- I'm quite a jaded person all things considered, but to be honest I found Beat Luke Littler to be pretty entertaining. It certainly wasn't seamless, which is to be expected given the lack of precedence, but I actually think the pacing was pretty good, the production was impressive, and there was a good sense of humour and levity to it. I think it was a very ambitious undertaking but one that, for the most part, paid off. I liked the system with the four pots and I think it added to the drama and intrigue. I enjoyed seeing the diverse range of entrants and learning about their backstories. I think the interactivity was pretty clever and well-integrated. The panel was a little incoherent at times; Lee Mack shone however, and his improvisational skills were appreciated during some more awkward interstitial moments. As far as the darts is concerned, it was a shame that the format didn't allow Littler to get into full flow. You obviously don't want him to steamroll everyone but you want to feel like you're getting the full Littler package rather than seeing him struggling to get out of first gear. I will say that his leg against Jayden Walker was very impressive, but it was mostly downhill from there. The attraction revolves around Littler being this untouchable, indomitable force, yet the format doesn't really allow him to fulfil that characterisation. As for Fallon Sherrock, she was mightily impressive and deserved the victory. It is a testament to her unshakeable character that she was able to bang in a 14-darter under such mind-bending pressure. Everything that has been said about the misleading marketing is valid, though they were clear about their eligibility criteria and were able to offload the responsibility somewhat by bringing the viewers into the decision-making process in real time. What is clear though, is that Fallon played the game according to the rules, and she should not be criticised for that, much less abused. I will admit though that it is a kick in the teeth for those true amateurs who committed time and money to the course, and I would also question those who think pub players would have no chance, given that some of Littler's winning legs were dispatched in 7 visits to the board! The great thing about darts is that it isn't so much that amateurs cannot replicate the feats of brilliance pulled off by professionals of the sport, than it is that they simply cannot replicate the consistency of their output, something that this format almost entirely removes from the equation. It should also be noted that, financially, Fallon certainly stands to benefit much less in relative terms from the paycheque than would your average pub thrower, as I'm sure she nets a fair income from the lucrative exhibition circuit alone. What I do hope is that she might use this as an opportunity to really build up a head of steam heading into the new season, as it seems long overdue that she come through Q-School and really take it to the pros on a week-in week-out basis, but whatever she chooses to do, she has certainly achieved enough already for one if not several lifetimes, so who am I to dictate terms? To conclude though, I will state once again that I found Beat Luke Littler to be a pretty enjoyable evening of entertainment. I do feel for the contestants who never actually had the chance to try their luck against the world #1, although I suppose it comes with the format, but all which inevitably raises the question: will Netflix be tempted to do it all again next year? It's hard to say. Whether it would be financially viable, I can't weigh in there. One point I have been making though, and which I touched on earlier, is that the entire concept relies on a public perception that Littler is more or less unbeatable, and that certainly hasn't been the case of late. If the execs had been trying to pitch the show in recent months while Littler has seemed vulnerable, rather than when he was mopping up almost every major title on the calendar, it would certainly be a tougher sell. We will have to see in about 6 months' time whether Littler can still reliably command perception as a near-unstoppable force in darts, and then we'll have a clearer idea about whether we should expect a second helping. Even as a one-off experiment though, and with all the controversy taken into account, I still don't think they disgraced themselves by any means, and that will probably be my lingering assessment of the event when all is said and done.Deduce635801-11-2026
- Fair play to Fallon. But...shows the mockery when a professional players wins what was meant to be an amateur v Pro event, Littlers performance was poor, and what about the players who didn't get a game? Would have been better if the pot was split amoungst all the winners and they all got a leg.BandB31-10-2026
- Not even slightly interestedrick6730-10-2026
- And yet the PDC has decided to aggravate this problem by doubling the Players Championship Finals field from 2027. I can't imagine there will be fewer withdrawals next year with even less reason to turn up. I can only hope that a whole slew of Challenge Tour top-up players receive enough prize money in the absence of much of the elite, that some of the more complacent among them struggle to scrape into even a heavily diluted field! More semi-pro players will get to test their mettle, but the standard of competition will be much inferior. It could hardly be said that the Players Championship series will provide an opportunity for darts' second string to test their Tour Card credentials anymore, but at least it will underscore the achievements of those Challenge Tour players of current and previous years, who were able to prove themselves as more than capable of competing with, and beating, the elite of the sport on a consistent basis, and reaping the due rewards.Deduce635828-10-2026
- No point in being there? Champions want to win.Deduce635828-10-2026
- Littler lost to crabtree in the youth/junior/whatever you call it. He had no point in being there. He's unfortunately now got to the stage,he feels all he has to do is get on the stage to win. Well,I hope he realises part of his fear factor has gone. Happened to Taylor,then van gerwen,and it's causing him to realise pretty sharp,he isn't unstoppable. It's good for the sport,not 1 single player in my 60 years has ever,or will ever be, unbeatable.rick6725-10-2026
- I think it's great to see Mark Webster looking good,good ladrick6725-10-2026