Preview Winmau World Masters Saturday evening: Luke Littler and Luke Humphries aim to reach final day

At the Winmau World Masters we have reached the second-round matches which complete on Saturday night.

There is plenty of anticipation for what Luke Littler will do. “The Nuke” seemed almost unbeatable in recent months, but got away with it in the opening round when he survived a match dart against Mike De Decker.

All second-round matches at the Winmau World Masters are played to four winning sets, with best-of-3 legs per set. Below you can find a preview of the matches scheduled for Saturday evening.

The evening session at Arena MK in Milton Keynes will be opened by Rob Cross and Josh Rock. Cross was already a runner-up at the Masters in 2023, back when it wasn’t a ranking event. After a poor 2025, the 35-year-old Englishman has slipped to twentieth in the world rankings and could certainly use a strong result this weekend to rebuild confidence.

“Voltage” — who was too strong for Ryan Searle 3-1 in his opener — meets Rock in the second round, after Rock himself won 3-1 against Connor Scutt in round one. “Rocky” has long been touted as a future major winner, but it was precisely at the majors where he fell short last year. Cross and Rock have met nine times before, with Cross edging the head-to-head 5-4. This showdown therefore promises to be particularly tight.

Next up Stephen Bunting takes on Noppert. “The Freeze” started his tournament excellently with a 3-1 win over Daryl Gurney, continuing last year’s strong major form. The 35-year-old Dutchman reached no fewer than four major semi-finals last year and is well on his way to doing the same at the first big event of the new season.

The former Masters champion opened with a 3-1 win over Dutch-born Swede Jeffrey de Graaf. Bunting’s inclusion in the Premier League Darts lineup was somewhat controversial, and he is eager to silence that criticism quickly with a standout performance. Bunting and Noppert have met fourteen times in the PDC, with Noppert currently leading 8-6, giving him a slight psychological edge going into this match.

He was so close to a first-round exit, but Luke Littler escaped by the narrowest margin after Mike De Decker missed a match dart to send him home. The Winmau World Masters is one of the few majors Littler has never won, and despite everything he remains on course to erase that blind spot from his résumé.

Littler faces Ross Smith in the second round, after Smith himself proved too strong 3-1 for Dutch debutant Jimmy van Schie in round one. Like Littler, Smith is known for his heavy scoring power, so we could see the 180s flying. Even so, Littler remains the firm favorite to reach the quarterfinals.

The evening concludes with a duel of Lukes, Humphries against Woodhouse. Humphries, the defending champion after beating Jonny Clayton 6-5 in last year’s final, opened strongly with a 3-1 win over Dave Chisnall. What’s more, Humphries averaged over 104 and showed he means business in his bid to retain the title this year.

To book a quarterfinal spot he must get past Woodhouse. The 37-year-old Englishman has quietly climbed towards the world’s top 20 in recent months and will certainly not be underestimated by Humphries, even though Humphries leads their head-to-head 8-2.