Schedule Winmau World Masters 2025 on Saturday night: Van Gerwen-Van den Bergh and Littler-Wade take centre stage
PDC
The first four quarterfinalists at the Winmau World Masters have been announced. Danny Noppert, Damon Heta, Stephen Bunting and Luke Humphries secured a spot among the last eight on Saturday afternoon. Saturday night will reveal who will further color the bottom of the bracket.
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The format has gone up slightly from the previous round. Four sets must be won to secure a spot in the last eight. In keeping with World Masters tradition, each set is played over best of 3 legs.
Jonny Clayton v Ryan Searle
The first match of the evening saw the best player of the entire first round in action. It was a long time since we saw Jonny Clayton play so well. 'The Ferret' won 3-1 in sets over Martin Schindler. The statistics of the Welshman did not lie; an average of 112.77 and a finishing percentage of 67 percent.
Ryan Searle delivered a troubled match, but his average of 90.93 was enough to win 3-1 in sets over Chris Dobey. Looking at the mutual history between Clayton and Searle, it is often a case of shifting points. It is 5-4 for Clayton, who also managed to win their only previous TV encounter.
Cameron Menzies v Nathan Aspinall
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We also saw an old-fashioned Nathan Aspinall in the first round on Friday. 'The Asp' hit an average of almost 104 and won 3-0 in sets over Andrew Gilding. Cameron Menzies handled Dave Chisnall (3-1) in four sets, although his play was not exactly to write home about.
Menzies' doubles were still pretty good on their own with a 50 percent finish percentage, but scoring was well below par with an average of just 87.74. In the head-to-head, Aspinall leads 4-1, although Menzies managed to win their only meeting in 2024.
Can Nathan Aspinall deliver another good match on Saturday night?
Luke Littler v James Wade
Luke Littler's first match at a major as reigning world champion ended in a big 3-0 victory over Andy Baetens. His numbers were more than excellent with an average of 104.33 and a 67 percent finish percentage.
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James Wade showed the best in one of the most exciting duels of the first round. 'The Machine' eliminated Mike de Decker 3-2 in sets. It will be Wade's third time facing his young compatriot. In February 2024, Wade won the first showdown with the new English super-talent. However, Littler took revenge a month later by beating Wade at the UK Open.
Michael van Gerwen v Dimitri Van den Bergh
The second round concluded with the Derby der Lage Landen; a clash between Michael van Gerwen and Dimitri van den Bergh. Van Gerwen kicked off his tournament with a 3-1 victory over Bradley Brooks. The game of 'Mighty Mike' was solid with a moyenne of 96, although his finishing percentage was a bit disappointing at 37 percent.
Van den Bergh lost the first set of his match against Gary Anderson, but then managed to win six legs in a row to still pull the match his way. Moreover, the level that "The Dreammaker" showed was encouraging. Van den Bergh had an average of 102.43 and a finishing percentage of 54 percent. However, the mutual balance between these two players is a lot less positive for the Belgian. Van Gerwen won as many as 20 of the previous 21 clashes. Only at a World Series tournament in 2018 did Van den Bergh win once from his Dutch fear opponent.
Michael van Gerwen beat Dimitri van den Bergh no less than 20 times in their previous 21 encounters
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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.
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.
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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
Saturday, Feb. 1
Evening session (from 7 p.m.)
Second round 4x
Jonny Clayton v Ryan Searle
Cameron Menzies v Nathan Aspinall
Luke Littler v James Wade
Michael van Gerwen v Dimitri Van den Bergh
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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