Preview 2026 PDC World Darts Championship Monday Night: Jonny Clayton gets underway as Simon Whitlock & Max Hopp make return to Ally Pally stage

On Monday evening, four more matches are on the slate for day five of the World Darts Championship. This session features the return of two familiar faces to the Alexandra Palace stage.

It’s the day of Max Hopp’s comeback, returning after missing four editions. The German faces Martin Lukeman. Simon Whitlock also makes his return after an absence, while top star Jonny Clayton takes on Adam Lipscombe. The headline clash of the night is the meeting between Dirk van Duijvenbode and Andy Baetens.
Follow the 2026 World Darts Championship via our live scores!

At the 2013 World Championship, Max Hopp made his debut at just 16 years old. He was touted as Germany’s first major darts talent, but “The Maximiser” hasn’t fully lived up to those expectations. He has appeared at the Worlds eight times, though his last outing was in the 2021 edition. At the end of 2022, Hopp lost his Tour Card, and he failed to regain it in the following two years. He succeeded on his third attempt in early January 2025, and via the Pro Tour the German secured a fairly comfortable return to Alexandra Palace. Hopp has been at this venue in recent years as well, but in a role as analyst for the German darts broadcaster. Now Hopp gets to prove himself again as a player.

Martin Lukeman qualified for the World Championship as world number 38. “Smash” surprisingly reached the Grand Slam of Darts final in 2024, but couldn’t carry that momentum into the new season. In recent weeks, Lukeman played both the Grand Slam of Darts and the Players Championship Finals, bowing out in the first round each time. This will be Lukeman’s fourth World Championship appearance, and the past years have been fairly consistent for the 40-year-old from Watford. He has always survived the first round, only to be eliminated in the second.

It has been a while since these two last met in an official match. Their most recent encounter came at the 2022 Grand Slam qualifier, where Lukeman won 5-2. The only other meeting also went the Englishman’s way.

There were five years between his first (2016) and second World Championship appearance (2021), but by now Dirk van Duijvenbode has become a familiar face at Alexandra Palace. This year marks his sixth consecutive participation. In 2021, Van Duijvenbode impressively reached the quarterfinals at Ally Pally, and the next two years also went well with back-to-back last-16 runs. The last two Worlds were less successful. Two years ago Van Duijvenbode struggled with a shoulder injury, and last year he was laid low by a severe flu. It’s time for Van Duijvenbode to shine again in North London. On the floor, “Aubergenius” has been showing more flashes of his old top form; now he needs to bring it to the TV events.

Expectations were high after Andy Baetens lifted the Lakeside title in 2023 and then made the switch to the PDC. “The Beast from the East” earned a Tour Card at Q-School, but in two years he didn’t manage to qualify for the Worlds via the Pro Tour. This year, however, Baetens found an escape route to Ally Pally by winning the qualifier for Dutch and Belgian players in Den Bosch, allowing him to finally make his debut at the sport’s biggest tournament. The Belgian will need to reach the fourth round to retain his Tour Card.

This will be the fourth PDC meeting between Van Duijvenbode and Baetens. Two of those were in 2024, and both were won by the Dutchman. This season, however, Baetens did beat Van Duijvenbode at a Players Championship event in September.

Jonny Clayton is the highest-ranked player on the Order of Merit in action during this session. “The Ferret” heads to Alexandra Palace as the number five seed. The Ferret started the season very well with a World Masters final and semifinals at the UK Open, World Matchplay, and World Grand Prix. He also lifted the title at the Dutch Darts Championship in Rosmalen. However, his run-in to the Worlds was less impressive. At the last three majors, he did not get past the first round.

As a newcomer, you’re off to a strong start if you secure a spot at the World Darts Championship in your first year. Adam Lipscombe achieved that mission, thanks in part to a fine run to the final at Players Championship 7 in March. The Englishman also qualified for the Players Championship Finals, where he reached the last 16. That really should have been a quarterfinal, as he missed ten match darts to beat Daryl Gurney. Lipscombe will hope that hasn’t left any lasting scars.

This will not only be Lipscombe’s first time stepping onto the Worlds stage, it will also be the first match of his career against Clayton.

When you think of recognisable faces at the World Darts Championship, the man with the ponytail and long goatee simply has to be there. Simon Whitlock is back after a year away at the venue where he has made fifteen tilts at the world title and even reached the final in 2010. The Wizard owes his place to winning the ANZ Premier League, a darts competition for players from Australia and New Zealand. Whitlock’s experience told on finals night, where he struck after failing to win a single night during the earlier rounds.

The draw paired him with Connor Scutt, a dangerous player who can trouble any top name when he’s on song. Scutt had fewer of those days in 2025 than in 2024, and The Sniper only just scraped into the World Darts Championship. That seemed to give him a lift, though, as after the Pro Tour season he came through a qualifier to reach the Grand Slam of Darts. There the Englishman performed respectably, making the last 16.

Whitlock has been without his Tour Card for a year now, but before that these two crossed paths regularly. Scutt won three of their five meetings.