Fresh disappointment for fading lights Peter Wright and Michael Smith as World Champion pair in unwanted history after World Masters qualification failure

The Winmau World Masters kicks off tonight in Milton Keynes as the first major tournament of the new season. Notably, several big names failed to reach the main draw.

Yesterday featured the qualifier for the Winmau World Masters 2026. Eight remaining spots were available for players looking to join the top 24—who were directly seeded—in the main draw. Jimmy van Schie, Shane McGuirk and Wessel Nijman all sealed spots.

Well-known names such as Dirk van Duijvenbode, Dimitri Van den Bergh and Beau Greaves failed to qualify for the main draw via the preliminaries. They were far from the only big hitters to fall in the early rounds.

The qualifier also ended in a damp squib for Peter Wright—the 2020 Masters champion. “Snakebite,” who has slipped to 31st in the world rankings after a particularly disappointing 2025, lost 3-2 to Graham Hall in the last 64. The 55-year-old Scot had appeared at every Masters since its relaunch in 2013, but that impressive run now comes to an abrupt end.

Another former world champion, Michael Smith, also fell in the prelims. “Bullyboy” went out in the last 64 as well, losing 3-1 to Rhys Griffin. The 35-year-old Englishman thus misses the Masters for the first time since 2015.

This is only the second time he has missed it with the Masters only being played for one more year other than that so it is a new benchmark of a new low for Bully Boy.

“I’ve had times where for five months where I’ve not been able to throw a dart and I’ve just been turned up to PDC floor events with maybe half an hour practice in four weeks, five weeks and still going and playing," said Smith previously on his injury woes that have seen him miss multiple majors.

“I could have stopped then, but for me, there’s no question about quitting or stopping.

“I’ve just got to keep going and I’ve done that my whole career. That’s what I’ll keep doing until the very end when I do decide to call it a day.

The Winmau World Masters main draw gets underway tonight. On opening night, we will see Michael van Gerwen, Gian van Veen, Gary Anderson, Nathan Aspinall, Gerwyn Price and Jonny Clayton. But not Wright or Smith.