Winmau World Masters 2026 Round-up | Price edges fellow Welshman Clayton as Van Veen, Wade and Dobey pick up tight victories

It was a hugely dramatic openign four matches in round two of the Winmau World Masters. The ehadline tie was between two Welshman in the form of Jonny Clayton and Gerwon Price, with the Welsh number two winning a final leg decider in a 4-3 thriller.

The friendship was instantly put to the side when both players took to the oche. The Ferret jumped the gun as a 180 left him 100, which he took out in two darts to break, but this advantage was not utilised to the best effect as Price broke straight back. Both players were left on 72 with the first set the reward. Price missed two at double 12 before Clayton made no mistake on tops to sneak ahead.

He continued this fine form as he resisted the pressure Price put on him as he found double four before showing his opponent how to hit tops as he collected half of the sets needed to win. It looked like another leg would go his way after he left 36 after nine, but a staggering 161 checkout from The Iceman saw him nick the leg from thin air before powering ahead to halve the deficit.

Clayton looked like he would re-claim his two-leg cushion. After a brace of holds, Clayton races ahead in the final leg of set four but a whole host of wayward darts offers a floundering Price a chance after a couple of trebles gets him to a finish. After Clayton misses a set dart on the bull, the former world champion takes out 102 from out of nowhere to get the set and level up the match.

Price was rampant. He went ahead before an incredible 126 checkout on double six put him in front for the first time in this match. It was a good response from Clayton, who took out 74 in three before a third ton+ checkout from Price occured with a 120 checkout. Clayton held on to force a last-set decider. Price found tops to hold before missing five match darts on the target. Clayton gets back on level terms on double 16 but could not keep pace with a fired-up Price who got the job done and is able to continue his fine form over Clayton.

The World number three Gian van Veen is competing in his first World Masters main draw, and produced the goods once again on the big stage in a 4-2 win over Nathan Aspinall.

It lived up to a high-quality match from the first darts. Van Veen began with a 121 checkout on double 14 to break before Aspinall won two legs in a row to swipe away the first set from his young Dutch opponent. He made it three legs in a row to move one away from a two-leg lead but after missing his chance, van Veen takes out 74 in three before an 11-darter gets him a set on the board.

Aspinall was averaging almost 110 in the first two sets but still found himself on par with the World Championship finalist. After being broken in the third set, he left 32 after nine to put himself in a position to throw for the set. However, with him left on tops the Dutchman pins double 16 with his last dart in hand. The doubles would start to dry up for Aspinall, with him averaging over 102 at the end of the fourth set despite hitting only four out of 19 attempts on the outer ring. Van Veen was consistently there to punish and jump on these openings, racing into a 3-1 lead as Aspinall’s frustrations were shown as he left the stage.

He responded well to these disappointments. It was a very sketchy hold with a lot of wayward darts, but he managed to end his poor spell of form before punishing van Veen for a missed attempt on the bull before Aspinall pinned double 10 to close the gap in the score to one. However, another missed dart cost the former Matchplay champion dearly, with the European Championship winner moving within one of the match as he got the match completed on double 16. The motto of the story was van Veen took his chances, and Aspinall did not.

James Wade was able to find his range on the outer ring as he gets past Gary Anderson 4-3 in a topsy turvey match.

Both players had a little bit of trouble on the doubles early on, mostly on the bull. It would be Anderson to get over the line on double four before a well-timely maximum left double 18 after 12, which he nails for the set. The second set looked like it was going the way of the Scot after he fell back on double four once more, but some scrappy efforts on double five left the door ajar for Wade to capitalise, hitting the target himself to have a chance for the set. He missed his chance at the bull and was left stranded after Anderson took out 70 in two for a 2-0 lead.

The doubling from Wade was a key factor in him falling behind the world number six. He held to commence the third set but missed three darts at tops for the set. He missed four at double 10 in the next leg to get his first set on the board, but he finally managed to pin the red bit. He was at his clinical best in the next leg, showing Anderson how to hit tops before finding it again for a 120 checkout, and more importantly to level the match.

Wade averaged over 107 in that set and would average over 102 in set five as he went on to win a third set in a row to lead for the first time. The tops segment continued to get a beating, while Anderson almost took out 167 on the bull, cleaning up on double four for the third time this match. It seemed to be all in vain as Wade created two match winning opportunities, missing the bull by a mile before the width of a wire was in between his dart and double nine. Anderson took his chance on double 16, and it went the distance.

Wade took the lead after Anderson failed to take his chances, before in the next leg he bust 16, with his dart going into double 11. Wade looked to get this match wrapped up and did so to confirm his return to action on Sunday.

Chris Dobey looked like he was racing to a very comfortable victory over Damon Heta but showed great composure to come out on top 4-3.

The first set went on throw, which hugely benefited the Aussie. He got a bit of fortune when taking out 71 before Dobey took out 68 in two to force a decider for the set. Dobey could not take out 156, and Heta overcame some sloppy set-up play to take the first set. He then had the chance to throw for a 2-0 lead, but a key 180 from Dobey saw him race ahead in the leg and force a decider, which he would come out on top of.

Dobey made it three legs in a row as he took out 71, but this could have been different it Heta did not miss double 14 for a 148 checkout. He would then miss double six for a 126 in the next leg, with Dobey ruthlessly punishing him with a 104 outshot, going 2-1 ahead. He had the darts in the next set, and he did this in superb fashion. He found a 13-darter before surviving some uncharacteristically bad doubles from Heta to win a sixth leg in a row and to sail into a 3-1 lead while averaging over a ton.

It looked like Heta’s race was up, but he managed to turn the tables. He broke the spell of lost legs to sneak ahead in the fifth set, and after sloppy darts from both Heta was the one to get ahead. He then took out a show stopping 139 on double 16 ahead of an 11-darter to level up.

He was the favourite for the match with the momentum and throw in his favour. However, darts has a way of throwing up dramatic moments. Dobey was the favourite for the match with the momentum and throw in his favour. However, darts has a way of throwing up dramatic moments. A very clutch 127 checkout on the bull from Dobey leaves him within a whisker of the match, and he pins double 10 to end any chance of a Heta comeback and continue his march through this tournament.