This year the 2026 PDC Winmau World Masters at the MK Arena in Milton Keynes, will see a brand new dart board in action as Winmau released the Blade X board last week. The Masters will take place between Thursday 29th January – Sunday 1st February 2026. Here’s all you need to know before the competition gets going.
Last year saw the revamped World Masters in action, which became a ranking event for the first time. An expanded format which featured 32 players instead of 24, and an increased prize fund totaling £500,000.
What was historically the first televised competition of the year, the Masters often handed the winner a place in the premier league line-up as Joe Cullen and Chris Dobey both joined the touring line-up after their successes in 2022 and 2023 respectively.
Which players are involved?
The top 24 ranked players, post World Darts Championships, automatically enter round one.
The other eight players were decided on Wednesday 28th January, where all non-qualified PDC Tour Card Holders, the top eight players from each of the PDC’s 2024 Secondary Tours, and Global Affiliate Tours, plus four players from the Junior Darts Corporation competed across a group phase and two rounds of knockout stages.
Niels Zonneveld, Jeffrey De Graaf, Madars Razma, Wessel Nijman, Shane McGuirk, Connor Scutt, Jimmy van Schie, James Hurrell were the eight players who qualified over the likes of Beau Greaves, Krzysztof Ratajski, Michael Smith, Justin Hood, Dimitri Van den Bergh, Peter Wright, and 2022 masters winner, Joe Cullen.
Credit: PDC
What matches standout from the draw bracket?
Where else to start, other than the defending masters champion Luke Humphries. ‘Cool Hand’ faces a tough test with world no.22, Dave Chisnall, standing in his way in round one.
‘Chizzy’ hasn’t been in the best of form over the past 12-months however, he’s a very high scorer and can be unstoppable if he throws his doubles right.
Stephen Bunting vs Danny Noppert could be an interesting match up in the second round if both players get there. There has been a widely shared view across darts fans, that Noppert deserved a place in this year’s premier league line-up over Bunting. It will be interesting to see if Bunting’s critics will be proved wrong.
Competition favorite and world number one, Luke Littler, faces Mike De Decker in his opening match. Littler made his world masters debut last year, losing against runner-up Jonny Clayton in the quarter-final.
Don’t be surprised if there are repeats of the 2026 World Darts Championship semi-finals as Gian van Veen and Gary Anderson feature in the same quarter draw bracket, as do Luke Litter and Ryan Searle.
Littler tends to be ‘second time lucky’ when it comes to playing in ranked televised competitions and will fancy his chances this year. A potential fixture to look out for could be Luke Littler vs Josh Rock in the quarter finals. It would be a fast paced game with plenty of quality arrows. If it’s anything like the epic World Matchplay semi-final, which included a nine-darter and a big fish, then you’ll be in for a treat.
Predictions
Winner: Luke Littler
Runner-up: Gary Anderson
Dark horse: Jermaine Wattimena
How to watch
The Winmau World Master 2026 will be available to watch and stream live in the UK on ITV4 and ITVX.
Thursday 29th Jan – 19:00 (Round 1, pt1)
Friday 30th Jan – 19:00 (Round 1, pt2)
Saturday 31st – 13:00 (Round 2, pt1) & 19:00 (Round 2, pt2)
Sunday 1st Feb – 13:00 (Quarter-finals) & 19:00 (Semi-finals + Final)
ITV4 channel numbers by platform:
- Freeview: 26 (SD), 59 (+1)
- Sky : 117 (SD/HD)
- Virgin Media: 118 (HD), 154 (SD), 318 (+1)