Entries Preliminary-round Winmau World Masters 2026 announced: Peter Wright, Michael Smith set to battle it out in group stages today
PDC
The entries for the preliminaries of the Winmau World Masters 2026 have been officially confirmed. On Wednesday, January 28, no fewer than 122 players will battle in the prelims for just eight coveted spots in the main event of this first major of the new season. The tournament takes place at Arena MK in Milton Keynes and boasts a prize fund of no less than £500,000.
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The prelims serve as the prelude to the televised event, which runs from Thursday, January 29 through Sunday, February 1. The top 24 players on the PDC Order of Merit are seeded straight into the main draw and therefore do not feature in the preliminaries. All other PDC Tour Card holders do, however, get the chance to qualify for the big stage via the prelims.
In addition to PDC Tour Card holders, invited players from the Challenge Tour, Development Tour and PDC-affiliated Tours of 2025 are involved, supplemented by four talents from the JDC Advanced Tour. This creates a varied field where established names and emerging talents collide.
Format of the Preliminary Rounds
The format for the prelims of the Winmau World Masters is clear but unforgiving. The top-ranked 32 players are seeded and enter directly at the last 64 stage. They are joined there by 32 group winners from the preceding group phase.
In the group stage, 32 players are also seeded, one per group. The remaining entrants are randomly allocated across the groups. Only the group winners advance to the knockouts, which means every match counts and mistakes can be punished immediately.
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All matches in the prelims are played in a best of five sets format, with each set being best-of-3 legs. This short format guarantees tension, upsets, and little room to play your way into a match.
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Big names in action
Several big names will take to the oche on Wednesday. Peter Wright, two-time world champion and Masters winner in 2020, makes his bow in Milton Keynes. Former world champion Michael Smith also returns to the big stage.
In addition, the line-up includes Joe Cullen, Masters champion in 2022, and Dimitri Van den Bergh, a World Masters semi-finalist last year. Also involved include Wessel Nijman and Dirk van Duijvenbode, while Krzysztof Ratajski and Justin Hood, both quarter-finalists at the last World Championship, aim to extend their strong form.
Dirk van Duijvenbode features in the qualifying tournament of the Winmau World Masters 2026
Notable absentees
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Not all familiar names are present in Milton Keynes. Five-time world champion Raymond van Barneveld is one of eight PDC Tour Card holders not taking part in the prelims this year. Mickey Mansell, Ryan Meikle, Maximilian Czerwinski, Adam Leek, Jurjen van der Velde, Filip Bereza and Matthias Ehlers are also missing from the entry list.
Live on PDCTV
There is good news for darts fans worldwide: full coverage of the prelims is available live on PDCTV. Play takes place on two stages, with the first matches starting at 12:00 PM.
2026 Winmau World Masters
Top 24 seeded directly into the main draw
Luke Littler
Luke Humphries
Gian van Veen
Michael van Gerwen
Jonny Clayton
Gary Anderson
Stephen Bunting
Ryan Searle
Josh Rock
Danny Noppert
James Wade
Gerwyn Price
Chris Dobey
Nathan Aspinall
Martin Schindler
Ross Smith
Damon Heta
Jermaine Wattimena
Mike De Decker
Rob Cross
Luke Woodhouse
Dave Chisnall
Daryl Gurney
Ryan Joyce
Tour Card holders straight into the last 64
1. Dimitri Van den Bergh
2. Cameron Menzies
3. Ritchie Edhouse
4. Krzysztof Ratajski
5. Wessel Nijman
6. Dirk van Duijvenbode
7. Peter Wright
8. Michael Smith
9. Andrew Gilding
10. Ricardo Pietreczko
11. Joe Cullen
12. Martin Lukeman
13. Kevin Doets
14. Callan Rydz
15. Ricky Evans
16. Brendan Dolan
17. Niels Zonneveld
18. William O'Connor
19. Scott Williams
20. Madars Razma
21. Gabriel Clemens
22. James Hurrell
23. Connor Scutt
24. Justin Hood
25. Jeffrey de Graaf
26. Ian White
27. Alan Soutar
28. Niko Springer
29. Mensur Suljovic
30. Richard Veenstra
31. Keane Barry
32. Nick Kenny
Tour Card holders directly seeded for group stage qualifiers
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1. Kim Huybrechts
2. Thibault Tricole
3. Lukas Wenig
4. Rob Owen
5. Mario Vandenbogaerde
6. Karel Sedlacek
7. Bradley Brooks
8. Cam Crabtree
9. Wesley Plaisier
10. Sebastian Bialecki
11. Max Hopp
12. Adam Lipscombe
13. Dominik Gruellich
14. Cor Dekker
15. Maik Kuivenhoven
16. Andy Boulton
17. Tavis Dudeney
18. Oskar Lukasiak
19. Darryl Pilgrim
20. Tom Bissell
21. Christian Kist
22. Leon Weber
23. Dennie Olde Kalter
24. Jim Long
25. Thomas Lovely
26. Marvin van Velzen
27. Viktor Tingstrom
28. Adam Warner
29. Greg Ritchie
30. Adam Paxton
31. Tytus Kanik
32. Stefaan Henderyck
Remaining Tour Card holders
Rusty-Jake Rodriguez
Pero Ljubic
Kai Gotthardt
Stefan Bellmont
Darius Labanauskas
Beau Greaves
Owen Bates
Rhys Griffin
Carl Sneyd
Niall Culleton
Tom Sykes
Shane McGuirk
Charlie Manby
Samuel Price
Stephen Burton
Mervyn King
Tyler Thorpe
Stephen Rosney
David Sharp
Arno Merk
Jeffrey Sparidaans
Cristo Reyes
Yorick Hofkens
Jeffrey de Zwaan
Sietse Lap
Jimmy van Schie
Chris Landman
Marvin Kraft
Benjamin Pratnemer
Adam Gawlas
Alexander Merkx
Pascal Rupprecht
Invited players Development Tour 2025
Jamai van den Herik
Ryan Branley
James Beeton
Jenson Walker
Patrik Williams
Nathan Potter
Henry Coates
Invited players Challenge Tour 2025
Ted Evetts
Jack Tweddell
Sam Spivey
Scott Waites
Scott Campbell
Danny van Trijp
Graham Hall
Invited players Women's Series 2025
Fallon Sherrock
Lisa Ashton
Invited players PDCNB Tour 2025
Andreas Harrysson
Teemu Harju
Andreas Hyllgaardhus
Invited players CDC Tour 2025
Gary Mawson
Invited players CDLC Tour 2025
Jesus Salate
Roberto Wentz
Invited players JDC Advanced Tour 2025
Archie Self
Mason Teese
Nico Bado
Taylor McGuckian
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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.
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- And why should he listen to you?Deduce635807-11-2026
- Ultimately it is a bye for whoever draws Barney. It will be another stroppy and sulky performance once he goes behind. Barney was excellent but really must completely call it a day now.richieburnettrocks07-11-2026
- I'm disappointed he was not able to secure a spot at the Grand Slam. With Carl Sneyd taking care of Daryl Gurney, he would have had to beat Andy Boulton before facing the winner of Sneyd vs Mensur Suljović for a Grand Slam spot. Unfortunately, after beating Filip Bereza comfortably, he succumbed to Boulton, and the board would ultimately be won by the highly inconsistent Carl Sneyd. Since he could instead have been drawn against the likes of Cristo Reyes, Dirk van Duijvenbode and Stephen Bunting, I think once Gurney was out of the picture he would have been favourite to win his board, and it seems like a massive missed opportunity to put 5 grand on his ranking and seal another major TV appearance ahead of the Worlds. The highs and lows of following Raymond van Barneveld!Deduce635806-11-2026
- Probably i will receive a lot of backlash and hate for this reaction, but well, so be it. I am more than sick and tired of those lies of you Barry Hearn. How dare you defend yourself over the back of Fallon’s son! He has a disability and not an illness, so let me correct that for you! I know because I have the exact same disability. I have tried to reach out to Fallon in the past, and offered her to help her and her son, because I was struggling with the same problems, and I understood the boy. I wanted him to have finally someone who understood him. However she told me that she did not want my help, and I have respected Fallon’s choice. I have never asked Fallon for money. They don’t need money in that case. I only ever wanted the best for Fallon and Rory, but I have to be honest about the situation. Fallon should tell the true story and not be forced to tell lies. I don’t hate Fallon, and I don’t begrudge or envy a single penny that she gets, but this situation/case is just not fair. I hate the lies and the dishonesty and injustice. I don’t want Fallon to be hated because there is an unfair disadvantage created. Don’t proclaim your false lies over the back of Rory! I only stand for integrity and justice. I am precisely the one who always sticks up for Fallon. And you don't, you don't give a damn about them. You were never there for them, and now you only want to save your own position! You are just trying to talk your way out of your own bad behavior at the expense of someone with a disability. And to Fallon, I don’t know if this may ever reach you, and you read it, but I want you to know I love you and I love your son Rory very much, I am sorry how things developed and went. I hope you and Harriet are still friends. I am sorry if I were too persistent to you, or you experienced it that way, but it was never my intention. Please understand I have autism as well. As Barry Hearn would say, I am only just a human being too, and I also make mistakes and misjudge things sometimes. I promise you I did everything out of the deepest love and care for you and Rory. If I were you, I should just keep all the money, only please never be dishonest or tell lies anymore for Barry Hearn, or anyone else. I hope you have the best life, and I wish nothing more than the best for you. I have always loved the two of you. Farewell.Hiddo05-11-2026
- She is a professional. If darts is her income, she is a professional. Same as Adrian Lewis, Martin Adams. A tour card just means someone can play on the PDC tour. You could even make a case that Clayton wasn't a professional (until recently I believe) because he had employment elsewhere.BandB04-11-2026
- She's technically not a professional though as she doesn't hold a pro tour card.mr-pablo04-11-2026
- 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
