Darts Legends And Rising Stars Set For World Masters Showdown

The anticipation is building as darts fans from around the globe turn their attention to Milton Keynes, where the 2026 Winmau World Masters is set to ignite the Marshall Arena with four days of high-stakes drama and darting brilliance. This isn’t just another tournament on the calendar—it’s a storied event with roots stretching back to 1974, a competition layered with decades of memory, reinvention, and the kind of tradition that transforms mere matches into moments of sporting folklore.

Back in 1974, the West Central Hotel in Fulham, West London, played host to the inaugural World Masters. The late Cliff Inglis claimed the first title, pocketing £400—a sum that, in that era, was no small feat. The British Darts Organisation (BDO) was the steward, and the event quickly became a proving ground for legends. Over the years, titans like John Lowe, Eric Bristow, and Bob Anderson etched their names onto the trophy, but it was Phil Taylor’s 1990 triumph over Jocky Wilson that signaled a seismic shift in the sport’s balance of power.

The 1990s brought turbulence, with the sport splitting between rival organizations. Yet, the Winmau World Masters largely retained its prestige, weathering the storms of change and continuing to be televised as one of the last bastions of BDO and later World Darts Federation (WDF) excellence. The event’s lineage survived the BDO’s collapse in 2020, when the WDF revived the tournament and Wesley Plaisier twice lifted the title before Jimmy van Schie, who will not defend this year due to his PDC status, claimed the crown.

But the winds of change kept blowing. In 2013, the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) launched its own Masters, with Phil Taylor once again reigning supreme. The dual existence of the Masters ended with the BDO’s demise, and in 2025, the PDC’s partnership with Winmau sparked a transformation: the tournament became a ranked event, adopted a sets format, and opened its doors to international qualifiers. The result? A new identity for a competition with a venerable past.

Last year’s final was a nail-biter for the ages. Luke Humphries, known as "Cool Hand," edged out Jonny Clayton in a last-set decider, clinching the £100,000 top prize and adding another chapter to the Masters’ rich history. As Humphries said after his victory, "That was the most tense final I’ve ever played. To come through in the last set against a player like Jonny means everything." According to tournament officials, the 2026 edition will see the top 24 players on the Order of Merit, with the top 16 seeded, joined by eight more qualifiers emerging from a global lattice of tours and affiliates, including the Junior Darts Corporation.

This year, the spotlight shines brightly on two names: Luke Littler and Luke Humphries. Littler, a two-time world champion and fresh off a dazzling win at the inaugural Saudi Arabian Darts Masters, is chasing his maiden World Masters title—a trophy that would complete his collection of major honors. The young phenom has been in red-hot form, and as many observers note, the World Masters remains one of the last gaps in his already glittering résumé.

"I want this one badly," Littler told reporters earlier this week. "It’s a trophy with so much history, and to be able to say I’ve won it would mean a lot to me and my family." Standing in his way, however, is a field stacked with talent and ambition. Humphries, determined to bounce back from recent World Championship disappointment, is eager to defend his Masters crown. Gian van Veen, riding high after his stunning run to the World Championship final at Alexandra Palace, is set for his World Masters debut, adding another layer of intrigue to the proceedings.

The line-up reads like a who’s who of the modern darts scene: Michael van Gerwen, the Dutch maestro who won the Masters in 2015 and then retained the title four times; Stephen Bunting, Josh Rock, Gerwyn Price, Jonny Clayton, Chris Dobey, Damon Heta, Jermaine Wattimena, Ryan Joyce, Nathan Aspinall, Gary Anderson, James Wade, Ross Smith, Ryan Searle, Rob Cross, Dave Chisnall, Martin Schindler, Luke Woodhouse, Danny Noppert, and Daryl Gurney. With so many top-tier contenders, picking a favorite is a fool’s errand.

The format itself promises drama at every turn. Round One matches will be best of five sets, with each set best of three legs—no tiebreaks. The intensity ramps up in the Quarter-Finals (best of seven sets), Semi-Finals (best of nine), and the Final (best of 11). The preliminary rounds kick off on Wednesday, January 28, and are available to watch on PDCTV, while the main tournament runs from Thursday, January 29, to Sunday, February 1, broadcast on ITV4 and streamed free via ITVX. Fans unable to catch the action live can follow comprehensive coverage through SunSport’s live blog.

The schedule is packed with marquee matchups from the outset. Thursday’s opening round features Michael van Gerwen against Damon Heta, Chris Dobey taking on Jermaine Wattimena, Jonny Clayton facing a qualifier, and Gerwyn Price battling another qualifier. Gian van Veen meets Ryan Joyce, Nathan Aspinall challenges a qualifier, Gary Anderson squares off with a qualifier, and James Wade faces yet another qualifier. Friday brings more fireworks: Luke Littler vs. Mike De Decker, Ross Smith vs. a qualifier, Ryan Searle vs. Rob Cross, Josh Rock vs. a qualifier, Luke Humphries vs. Dave Chisnall, Martin Schindler vs. Luke Woodhouse, Stephen Bunting vs. a qualifier, and Danny Noppert vs. Daryl Gurney.

Saturday’s sessions will whittle the field further, with Round Two matches in both the afternoon and evening, before Sunday’s grand finale: Quarter-Finals in the afternoon, followed by the Semi-Finals and the much-anticipated Final in the evening. With so much at stake and so many storylines converging, it’s no wonder the World Masters remains a crown jewel in the darts calendar.

The tournament’s evolution is a testament to the sport’s resilience and its ability to honor tradition while embracing change. The Masters has survived organizational upheavals, format overhauls, and the shifting sands of global darts politics, yet it continues to draw the world’s best to its oche. For Littler, Humphries, van Gerwen, and the rest, the 2026 edition offers a chance to carve their names into the annals of darting history—or perhaps, for a new champion to emerge and seize the moment.

As the action gets underway in Milton Keynes, one thing is certain: the Winmau World Masters remains darts’ grand old stage, where legends are made and dreams are realized. The next chapter is about to be written, and fans everywhere are ready for the first dart to fly.