Winmau World Masters Qualifiers | Wright, Michael Smith, Van den Bergh and Greaves all miss out as Van Schie, Nijman and McGuirk qualify
PDC
The Winmau World Masters qualifiers took place on Wednesday January 28 with eight players joining the leading lights in the main draw tomorrow led by Jimmy van Schie, Shane McGuirk and Wessel Nijman. Albeit many big names missed out.
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Van Schie was utterly brilliant all day as he won through his group in his first tournament as a PDC Tour Card holder after winning his Tour Card and leaving the WDF system as their World Champion. He saw off Ritchie Edhouse 3-1 in his Last 64 tie.
He followed that up with victory over Richard Veenstra in the Last 32 producing a guilt edge 138 to complete it with the duo producing an epic contest before he saw off Showman Scott Williams to seal the deal. He now faces Ross Smith.
Shane McGuirk will take on Nathan Aspinall after the Irish Arrow who won Lakeside two years ago who is also making his main tour debut saw off Scott Waites 3-1 in the last match with his victories including Keane Barry in an all Irish affair.
Wessel Nijman will face reigning finalist Jonny Clayton after taking down Gabriel Clemens in the final 3-1 and is perhaps the main big name through with many falling by the wayside early on. James Hurrell also continued his incredible last few months which saw him star at the PDC World Darts Championship. He saw off Alan Soutar 3-1 who vanquished Beau Greaves and he will face Gerwyn Price in the first round.
Niels Zonneveld faces Gary Anderson after he thrashed Kim Huybrechts 3-1 in his final game. While Jeffrey de Graaf was one of the most impressive seeing off Jack Tweddell to be the first through averaging 98. He faces Stephen Bunting.
Finally Connor Scutt and Madars Razma booked their spots. Scutt faces Josh Rock while Madars Razma gets James Wade. They saw off Krzysztof Ratajski who seemed at one point to continue his great form and be a dead cert but he lost to Razma while Scutt took down Graham Hall.
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Smith, Greaves, Wright and Van den Bergh among leading players not to make it
Some players such as Mervyn King did not make it past the Group Stage as it was a bit cut throat with Kim Huybrechts among others only needing one win to get through their group. While others needed three but in terms of the main event and who missed out, it was most of the big names that had entered into the event.
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Peter Wright will miss the Masters for the first time ever after he was defeated narrowly by Graham Hall in his first match. Rhys Griffin paid heed to Michael Smith who has been signalling all the right noises that he is getting back to some semblance of his best but he won't be playing any further part this weekend in Milton Keynes.
Beau Greaves and Dimitri van den Bergh too as well as Joe Cullen were all casualties albeit they all lost in the latter stages. Greaves was defeated by Alan Soutar in the penultimate round, Cullen was only stopped by a 111 average by James Hurrell while Van den Bergh was beaten after going a set up by on off friend/enemy and World Cup teammate till this year in Kim Huybrechts. All three though like Wright and Smith won't join the likes of Littler, Humphries, Van Veen and Van Gerwen tomorrow though.
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All those winning through go on to the first round proper tomorrow where they will play on stage against the big names. For the others, it is ProTour action instead in a week or so to begin their year.
Samuel GillChief Content Officer
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
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