Winmau World Masters draw: Luke Littler opens against Mike De Decker as defending champion Luke Humphries faces Dave Chisnall
Luke Littler has been drawn against Mike De Decker in the opening round of the Winmau World Masters, as Luke Humphries begins his title defence against Dave Chisnall.
Littler will arrive at Arena MK as back-to-back world champion and having already enjoyed success this year at the inaugural Saudi Darts Masters, leaving him the pre-tournament favourite to claim one of only two remaining major televised events he has yet to win.
'The Nuke' suffered a quarter-final exit to Jonny Clayton on debut last year but will look to improve on that record against De Decker, who lost to African qualifier David Munyua at the World Championship last month.
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Humphries looks to become the first back-to-back winner since Michael van Gerwen and opens against Chisnall, a two-time runner-up at the World Masters, while five-time champion Van Gerwen takes on Damon Heta.
The world's top 24 were automatic qualifiers for the event, running from Thursday to Sunday in Milton Keynes, with the preliminary rounds taking place on Wednesday to find the eight additional players to complete the 32-player field.
Last year's runner-up Clayton will face one of Wednesday's qualifiers in the opening round, as will sixth seed Gary Anderson and seventh seed James Wade, while World Championship runner-up Gian van Veen opens his debut in the main draw against Ryan Joyce.
All matches at the 2026 Winmau World Masters will be played in a sets format over the best of three legs per set, in keeping with the tournament's traditional structure.
Winmau World Masters draw
Luke Littler (1) v Mike de Decker (19)
Ross Smith (16) v Qualifier 7
Ryan Searle (8) v Rob Cross (20)
Josh Rock (9) v Qualifier 6
Michael van Gerwen (4) v Damon Heta (17)
Chris Dobey (13) v Jermaine Wattimena (18)
Jonny Clayton (5) v Qualifier 4
Gerwyn Price (12) v Qualifier 8
Luke Humphries (2) v Dave Chisnall (22)
Martin Schindler (15) v Luke Woodhouse (21)
Stephen Bunting (7) v Qualifier 2
Danny Noppert (10) v Daryl Gurney (23)
Gian van Veen (3) v Ryan Joyce (24)
Nathan Aspinall (14) v Qualifier 5
Gary Anderson (6) v Qualifier 1
James Wade (11) v Qualifier 3
2026 World Masters - Schedule
Wednesday January 28 (12pm)
Preliminary Rounds
Thursday January 29 (7pm)
Round One x8
Friday January 30 (7pm)
Round One x8
Saturday January 31
Afternoon Session (1pm)
Round Two x4
Evening Session (7pm)
Round Two x4
Sunday February 1
Afternoon Session (1pm)
Quarter-Finals
Evening Session (7pm)
Semi-Finals
Final
Format
Round One
Best of five sets, best of three legs per set
Round Two
Best of seven sets, best of three legs per set
Quarter-finals
Best of seven sets, best of three legs per set
Semi-finals
Best of nine sets, best of three legs per set
Final
Best of 11 sets, best of three legs per set
Prize money
- Winner - £100,000
- Runner-up - £50,000
- Semi-finalists - £30,000
- Quarter-finalists - £17,500
- Round Two losers - £10,000
- Round One losers - £5,000
- Preliminary Round L16 - £2,500
- Preliminary Round L32 - £1,000
- Preliminary Round L64 - £750
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