Schedule Sunday afternoon Winmau World Masters 2025: Littler and Bunting in action during quarter-finals
PDC
Eight players remain in the race for the title at the new Winmau World Masters in Milton Keynes. A jam-packed final day awaits Sunday at the Arena MK, with the quarterfinals on Sunday afternoon and the semifinals and final later in the day.
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The tournament will have to continue without the presence of Michael van Gerwen. The 35-year-old Dutchman was surprisingly beaten by Dimitri van den Bergh (4-3) on Saturday night.
This means that Van den Bergh can return to action on Sunday afternoon, after he was also too strong for Gary Anderson (3-1) earlier in the tournament. The next opponent of 'The Dreammaker' is Nathan Aspinall. 'The Asp' started his tournament with a resounding 3-0 victory over Andrew Gilding and then triumphed 4-1 against Cameron Menzies. It will be the eighteenth time Van den Bergh and Aspinall have met in an official match. In the head-to-head it is the Belgian who leads 10-7, although the last three duels were all won by Aspinall.
For now, the biggest favourite for the Winmau World Masters is reigning world champion Luke Littler. The English teenage sensation already overcame Andy Baetens (3-0) in the first round, but then impressed even more against James Wade. 'The Machine' was treated to an unadulterated whitewash and could not take a single leg in four sets. Indeed, Littler did not allow his compatriot a single dart on a double. His next opponent is from Wales. Jonny Clayton impressed in the first round against Martin Schindler (3-1) with an average of almost 113. Against Ryan Searle his level was a lot lower, but 'The Ferret' showed resilience by turning a 1-3 deficit into a 4-3 victory. Littler and Clayton only met once before. That was at a Players Championship tournament in July 2024. Then 'The Nuke' won 6-1 over the Welshman.
Luke Littler considered the big favorite for the overall win in Milton Keynes
After Van Gerwen's elimination, Danny Noppert is the only remaining Dutchman at the Winmau World Masters. After his 3-1 victory over Michael Smith, 'The Freeze' also won against William O'Connor (4-0). Noppert faces off in the last eight with crowd favorite Stephen Bunting, who took last year's title in Milton Keynes. 'The Bullet' defeated William Borland (3-2) and Peter Wright (4-2) in his first two matches. In the mutual balance between the two men, it is 5-5, although Noppert lost to Bunting each time in the last three clashes.
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In the first quarterfinal of the afternoon, world number one Luke Humphries will face Damon Heta. Humphries eliminated Joe Cullen (3-1) and Josh Rock (4-0), while Heta managed victories over Ross Smith (3-1) and Gerwyn Price (4-3). Heta has had little success against Humphries in the past. Only one of the previous nine duels was won by the Australian.
Format
As tradition dictates, the Winmau World Masters is played in a set format where each set is over best of 3 legs. As the tournament progresses, more sets must be won to advance.
Preliminary Round: Best of 3 sets
First round: Best of 5 sets
Second round: Best of 7 sets
Quarterfinals: Best of 7 sets
Semifinals: Best of 9 sets
Final: Best of 11 sets
TV Guide
The tournament will be shown on PDCTV to start on the preliminaries from 12pm local time in Milton Keynes but as the tournament fully starts on Thursday, it is set to see ITV4 take on the mantle.
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They will show the rest of the tournament with action starting at 7pm for the first two days. But on the weekend, it is 12:45pm and 7pm starts for the remaining sessions as a champion will be crowned.
Prize money
A total of £500,000 in prize money is up for grabs at the 2025 Winmau World Masters. The 32 participants in the main tournament are guaranteed £5,000 in prize money. This amount eventually rises to the top prize of 100,000 pounds for the winner of the new Winmau World Masters.
Playing schedule Winmau World Masters 2025
Sunday, Feb. 2
Afternoon session (from 12:45 p.m.)
Quarterfinals
Luke Humphries v Damon Heta
Danny Noppert v Stephen Bunting
Luke Littler v Jonny Clayton
Dimitri Van den Bergh v Nathan Aspinall
Evening session (from 8 p.m.)
Semifinals
Final
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- 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
- I'm quite a jaded person all things considered, but to be honest I found Beat Luke Littler to be pretty entertaining. It certainly wasn't seamless, which is to be expected given the lack of precedence, but I actually think the pacing was pretty good, the production was impressive, and there was a good sense of humour and levity to it. I think it was a very ambitious undertaking but one that, for the most part, paid off. I liked the system with the four pots and I think it added to the drama and intrigue. I enjoyed seeing the diverse range of entrants and learning about their backstories. I think the interactivity was pretty clever and well-integrated. The panel was a little incoherent at times; Lee Mack shone however, and his improvisational skills were appreciated during some more awkward interstitial moments. As far as the darts is concerned, it was a shame that the format didn't allow Littler to get into full flow. You obviously don't want him to steamroll everyone but you want to feel like you're getting the full Littler package rather than seeing him struggling to get out of first gear. I will say that his leg against Jayden Walker was very impressive, but it was mostly downhill from there. The attraction revolves around Littler being this untouchable, indomitable force, yet the format doesn't really allow him to fulfil that characterisation. As for Fallon Sherrock, she was mightily impressive and deserved the victory. It is a testament to her unshakeable character that she was able to bang in a 14-darter under such mind-bending pressure. Everything that has been said about the misleading marketing is valid, though they were clear about their eligibility criteria and were able to offload the responsibility somewhat by bringing the viewers into the decision-making process in real time. What is clear though, is that Fallon played the game according to the rules, and she should not be criticised for that, much less abused. I will admit though that it is a kick in the teeth for those true amateurs who committed time and money to the course, and I would also question those who think pub players would have no chance, given that some of Littler's winning legs were dispatched in 7 visits to the board! The great thing about darts is that it isn't so much that amateurs cannot replicate the feats of brilliance pulled off by professionals of the sport, than it is that they simply cannot replicate the consistency of their output, something that this format almost entirely removes from the equation. It should also be noted that, financially, Fallon certainly stands to benefit much less in relative terms from the paycheque than would your average pub thrower, as I'm sure she nets a fair income from the lucrative exhibition circuit alone. What I do hope is that she might use this as an opportunity to really build up a head of steam heading into the new season, as it seems long overdue that she come through Q-School and really take it to the pros on a week-in week-out basis, but whatever she chooses to do, she has certainly achieved enough already for one if not several lifetimes, so who am I to dictate terms? To conclude though, I will state once again that I found Beat Luke Littler to be a pretty enjoyable evening of entertainment. I do feel for the contestants who never actually had the chance to try their luck against the world #1, although I suppose it comes with the format, but all which inevitably raises the question: will Netflix be tempted to do it all again next year? It's hard to say. Whether it would be financially viable, I can't weigh in there. One point I have been making though, and which I touched on earlier, is that the entire concept relies on a public perception that Littler is more or less unbeatable, and that certainly hasn't been the case of late. If the execs had been trying to pitch the show in recent months while Littler has seemed vulnerable, rather than when he was mopping up almost every major title on the calendar, it would certainly be a tougher sell. We will have to see in about 6 months' time whether Littler can still reliably command perception as a near-unstoppable force in darts, and then we'll have a clearer idea about whether we should expect a second helping. Even as a one-off experiment though, and with all the controversy taken into account, I still don't think they disgraced themselves by any means, and that will probably be my lingering assessment of the event when all is said and done.Deduce635801-11-2026
- Fair play to Fallon. But...shows the mockery when a professional players wins what was meant to be an amateur v Pro event, Littlers performance was poor, and what about the players who didn't get a game? Would have been better if the pot was split amoungst all the winners and they all got a leg.BandB31-10-2026
- Not even slightly interestedrick6730-10-2026
- And yet the PDC has decided to aggravate this problem by doubling the Players Championship Finals field from 2027. I can't imagine there will be fewer withdrawals next year with even less reason to turn up. I can only hope that a whole slew of Challenge Tour top-up players receive enough prize money in the absence of much of the elite, that some of the more complacent among them struggle to scrape into even a heavily diluted field! More semi-pro players will get to test their mettle, but the standard of competition will be much inferior. It could hardly be said that the Players Championship series will provide an opportunity for darts' second string to test their Tour Card credentials anymore, but at least it will underscore the achievements of those Challenge Tour players of current and previous years, who were able to prove themselves as more than capable of competing with, and beating, the elite of the sport on a consistent basis, and reaping the due rewards.Deduce635828-10-2026
- No point in being there? Champions want to win.Deduce635828-10-2026
- Littler lost to crabtree in the youth/junior/whatever you call it. He had no point in being there. He's unfortunately now got to the stage,he feels all he has to do is get on the stage to win. Well,I hope he realises part of his fear factor has gone. Happened to Taylor,then van gerwen,and it's causing him to realise pretty sharp,he isn't unstoppable. It's good for the sport,not 1 single player in my 60 years has ever,or will ever be, unbeatable.rick6725-10-2026
- I think it's great to see Mark Webster looking good,good ladrick6725-10-2026
- I agree,I can't believe the lack of coverage of this sad loss. Always enjoyed watching him,but I guess now it's all about littler,well it seems that way. Darts has sadly lost a good manrick6717-10-2026
- In the absence of a report regarding the death of Stefan Lord, I'll assist. An excellent player in the late 70s and early 80s, he actually won the now defunct 3rd place match at two World Championships and a couple of the News of the World Championships. A fabulous player and easily the best Swedish player ever. Rest peacefully Stefan.richieburnettrocks16-10-2026