Schedule Friday evening session at the 2021 Masters featuring Durrant, Smith en Lewis

Friday, 29 January 2021 at 18:30

It’s been less than a month after the World Championships in which Gerwyn Price triumphed over Gary Anderson which saw him claim the lucrative Sid Wadell trophy for the first time in his career and during The Masters he will be looking to add a new title to his ever growing collection.

The Masters; a tournament which first began back in 2013 up in Edinburgh at the Royal Highland Centre where the legendary Phil Taylor demolished Adrian Lewis 10-1 in the final and stormed to victory only dropping seven legs in the entire event. It has since moved to Milton Keynes and has become somewhat of a firm fans favourite to kick start the year off on the PDC Circuit. The most unique feature of this tournament is the fact that it only includes the elite top 16 which has expanded to 24 for this years edition to give the fans more games to feast their eyes on, in addition there is still a Premier League place up for grabs and all the players who have not yet been included will be gunning to get a shot to prove why they deserve to be apart of the line up.

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TV Guide ITV 4 for The Masters 2021

Last year's event saw Peter Wright win his first Major since becoming World Champion in a draw dropping final against Michael Smith with both players missing match darts before Peter Wright finally hit the winning double leaving Bully Boy’s search for his first major to continue. The 2020 Masters also saw Michael van Gerwen’s run of five successive victories at the event come to an end in a crushing first round defeat to Jonny Clayton. This year's event will begin on Friday evening at 19:00 live on ITV 4 in the UK and a host of other broadcasters around the world. The first round will feature eight matches, all best of 11 legs with the winners going on to play the seeded players on Saturday.

19:00 Ian White v Mensur Suljovic

The first match of the tournament is an interesting one as both players surely have to fancy their chances of progressing to the next round and get their 2021 season off to a flying start. For Ian White, the Masters has not really been a happy hunting ground with this being his seventh successive trip to Milton Keynes during this event and it has been an early exit for the Diamond every time!

With Mensur Suljovic who has now dropped out the top sixteen and finds himself lurking down in at number 21 himself struggling for form, White must believe this is his best chance to finally make it past the first round. The Gentle does have a better overall record in this event and has gone as far as the Semi Finals back in 2018 but that was when Mensur was at his best and was at a career high world ranking at number six. The Austrian has to see this as a golden opportunity to get some of his old form back, giving the fact that he would have expected to miss this year's Masters for the first time since 2016 having dropped out of the top sixteen.

19:30 Glen Durrant v Mervyn King

In the second match of the evening a battle of two old school players will take place with debutant Glen Durrant taking on the 2014 Runner Up Mervyn King. Durrant who has been on a remarkable rise up the rankings since he won his professional tour card back in 2019 sits pretty at the Number 13, meanwhile The King who has been on resurgence of late losing out to both eventual champions in the last two ranking majors in thrilling contests which King fought valiantly has returned to the event after a five year absence. Of all the players to miss out on an automatic Premier League spot Mervyn King can probably consider himself the closest and arguably the most unluckiest as he came agonisingly close to his first PDC Major at the Players Championship Finals back in November only to be pipped to the title by one leg at the hands of then World Number One, Michael van Gerwen.

If King had of been able to break the throw of Van Gerwen and clinch Victory he surely would have been chosen especially with the other first time PDC Major Winners of 2020 being selected in Dimitri van den Bergh and Jose De Sousa as well as reigning Premier League Champion Glen Durrant who King will face in his first round game. Durrant himself comes in to this match with indifferent form, it has been clear that since winning his first Major since joining the PDC, Durrant has struggled for consistency, although testing positive for Covid-19 and having to self isolate and miss the European Championship certainly didn't help Duzza in his quest for more silverware. After a couple of weeks rest Durrant will be up for the challenge of once again proving himself against the best players in the world and defy the odds by taking home the coveted Masters trophy.

20:00 Dimitri van den Bergh v Chris Dobey

Both players will make their Masters debut this year in a game that features two talented youngsters who have been tipped for a long time to reach the heights of the PDC. Van den Bergh finally did so last year when he won the World Matchplay back in July after the lockdown break where ‘The Dreammaker’ logged with the then reigning World Champion Peter Wright after missing his flight back to Belgium something in which turned out to be a very happy accident.

Chris Dobey however still is yet to claim his first PDC title and when asked the question of “Which player will be the next first time winner?” He is on most players and fans lips due to his natural talent and his pragmatic style which is very cool and calm and is often unphased by what his opponent is doing. Dobby could be the surprise package over the weekend and if he is able to get through his extremely difficult quarter of the draw it would be a massive breakthrough that will unlock more doors for Hollywood and maybe earn him a star prize of a Premier League spot or even a World Series invite.

20:30 Krzysztof Ratajski v Simon Whitlock

Incredibly, Simon Whitlock has featured in every edition of the Masters except for 2016 and has not won a match since the inaugural event back in 2013 where he lost a last leg decider to James Wade in the Quarter Finals. It has been a miserable return since for the Wizard and he will be eager to finally get back to winning ways against a player making his debut.

Ratajski though will not care less and just play the man in front of him and after reaching the last eight at the World Championships he will be full of confidence at making the Wizard dissapear. Ratajski is often dubbed as always being on the end of difficult draws for opening games in majors but this time the Polish Eagle seems to have a bit of luck on his side considering Whitlock’s disappointing record at the event. This game will also be a repeat of the World Championships just last month where Ratajski whitewashed Whitlock 4-0. Can The Wizard get his revenge to make it a debut to forget for the Polish Eagle?

21:00 Michael Smith v Adrian Lewis

Two of the most naturally gifted players ever to have graced the oche will go toe to toe in the fifth match on Friday Night hoping to get their year started with a win under their belt. Both players come here after disappointing World Championship campaigns by their own high standards, Lewis (Former Two Time World Champion) saw himself on the end of upset at the hands of American Player Danny Baggish who gave a well fought performance which earned him a 3-1 Win over Jackpot. Meanwhile Michael Smith (2019 World Championship Runner Up) crashed out to Jason Lowe who only secured his Tour Card at UK Q-School during the start of 2020.

Both Lewis and Smith know each other very well and have met numerous times before, however there is an added incentive to this game both players will have their eye on that last Premier League spot. Smith who for the first time this year has not been automatically included probably due to his inconsistent form last season and his short cameo at the World Championship not having helped his cause will be looking to get back into the event having been in each of the last three Premier League seasons and even reaching the final back in 2018.

For Adrian Lewis you have to go back to 2017 when he was last included in the Darts Roadshow and has not really come close since due to his inconsistent form and his almighty drop in the PDC Order of Merit. The Stoke Ace has now dropped to No.24 and if it wasn't for the PDC expanding the field, it would be another cold night in the Potteries for the former Masters Finalist. With all that in mind despite this event not been ranked Lewis will want to make an impression and still prove he belongs with the best in the world over the course of the weekend. Realistically for Lewis to get back into the Premier League the scenario is simple which is he would have to win the masters, some fans may think that is beyond his reach however with Lewis’s pedigree and past experience of winning titles; it's not impossible.

21:30 Daryl Gurney v Jeffrey de Zwaan

After contrasting World Championship campaigns which saw Gurney reach the Quarter Finals where he was narrowly beaten by the eventual champion Gerwyn Price, Superchin must still be wondering what might have been. But what better way to make up for it by winning here and he plays De Zwaan who was not able to win a set as Ryan Searle stunned the Dutchman by beating him 3-0. Gurney a two time major winner in the PDC has not been selected in this year’s Premier League for the first time since winning his first major at the 2017 World Grand Prix. After his fantastic World Championship run he gave himself a small gilmour of hope of being picked however his disappointing TV form throughout 2020 was more than likely as to why he was overlooked.

De Zwaan who is now the second highest ranked Dutch player behind Michael Van Gerwen will make his debut in this event and will be determined to reach his best again as he did a couple of years ago. Despite the Masters not being a ranked event he will still want to prove why he is the second best Dutchman, after being a debate amongst fans as to who it is between; De Zwaan, Jermaine Wattimena, Danny Noppert, Dirk Van Duijvenbode or even Vincent van Der Voort.

22:00 Jose de Sousa v Jonny Clayton

In the penultimate game of the evening, Jose De Sousa will make his debut against reigning Welsh World Cup Champion, Jonny Clayton. This could be one of the suprise games of the first round as ‘The Ferret’ who has fond memories of this event from twelve months ago where he knocked MVG out of the first round and became the first player in six years to do so.

With that in mind Jonny will have no fear that he can defeat the reigning Grand Slam Champ. They both have quick styles which can lead to uncanny errors with Jose being known for his hilarious miscounts and Jony himself can get carried away which was seen recently when he was leading a semi final against Peter Wright at the European Championship a game which he lost in the end. De Sousa might be making his debut but that won’t phase him as was the first debutant to win the Grand Slam of Darts since its inception back in 2007 but can he repeat this feat at the Masters?

22:30 Joe Cullen v Stephen Bunting

If it hadn't been for a pair of memorable World Championship campaigns by both players then this game certainly wouldn’t have been a standout pick. However each of them will come into this full of confidence and after a devastating defeat versus Van Gerwen for The Rockstar which saw his 3-1 lead transform into a dartbreaking 4-3 loss will be hoping he can bite the bullet in this opening game. Stephen Bunting will be equally as confident as he comes into this event in fine form after his ally pally heroics which saw him put up a fight against Gerwyn Price in the Semi Finals however it wasn’t quite enough to stop The Iceman.

For the Stephen Bunting this is somewhat of a second coming for him in the PDC and he will be more determined than ever to kick on after his best run at the Alexandra Palace bettering his 2015 display which saw him go all the way to the quarter finals after just losing out to the legendary dutchman Raymond Van Barneveld who was full of praise for Bunting after that game and even demanded that he was given a Premier League spot. However since then Stephen Buting has failed to reach the heights and has been ever inconsistent and not really come close to being in the Premier League since finishing in eight place back in 2015. The Bullet will be eager to get back to heights of that year but will have to see off the Rockstar who also is knocking on the Premier League door and realistically make a final or even win the Masters if they want to force themselves on the top of the pick list.

The three day event will take place live on ITV 4 throughout the weekend with the second round action taking place on Saturday afternoon (12:45 UK Time) and Saturday evening (19:00 UK Time). On Sunday the Quarter Finals,Semi-Finals and Final will all take place as the remaining players will fight it out to become the 2021 Masters champion.