LUKE Littler is preparing for his first ever tilt at the Winmau World Masters as he looks to cement his status as the man to beat in darts.
The Warringtonian teenager caps off a month which started with him being crowned world darts champion with a bid to secure the £100,000 top prize in the newly revamped event in Milton Keynes.
Ranking points are now on offer for the tournament, which sees a 32-player field – the top 24 in the PDC Order of Merit plus eight qualifiers who emerged through Wednesday’s preliminary round – whittled down over four days, starting today.
Second seed Littler gets his campaign underway on Friday evening against Belgian qualifier Andy Baetens, with their match due on stage at around 9.30pm.
The winner will face either James Wade or Mike De Decker in the last 16 on Saturday with the quarters, semis and finals taking place on a bumper Finals Day on Sunday.
The tournament, all of which will be shown live on ITV4, will be played in the sets format, with each set being the best of three legs throughout the event.
2025 Winmau World Masters, schedule of play
Thursday, January 30 (7pm GMT)
First Round x8
Josh Rock v Jermaine Wattimena
Damon Heta v Ross Smith
Rob Cross v William O’Connor
Gerwyn Price v Florian Hempel
Peter Wright v Kevin Doets
Luke Humphries v Joe Cullen
Stephen Bunting v William Borland
Danny Noppert v Michael Smith
Friday, January 31 (7pm GMT)
First Round x8
James Wade v Mike De Decker
Dave Chisnall v Cameron Menzies
Jonny Clayton v Martin Schindler
Nathan Aspinall v Andrew Gilding
Chris Dobey v Ryan Searle
Luke Littler v Andy Baetens
Michael van Gerwen v Bradley Brooks
Gary Anderson v Dimitri Van den Bergh
Saturday, February 1
Afternoon Session (12.45pm GMT)
Second Round x4
Evening Session (7pm GMT)
Second Round x4
Sunday, February 2
Afternoon Session (12.45pm GMT)
Quarter-finals
Evening Session (7pm GMT)
Semi-finals and Final
Format
First Round - Best of five sets, best of three legs per set
Second Round - Best of seven sets, best of three legs per set
Quarter-finals - Best of seven sets, best of three legs per set
Semi-finals - Best of nine sets, best of three legs per set
Final - Best of 11 sets, best of three legs per set
Prize Fund
Winner £100,000
Runner-Up £50,000
Semi-Finalists £30,000
Quarter-Finalists £17,500
Second Round Losers £10,000
First Round Losers £5,000
Preliminary Round Last 16 Losers £2,500
Preliminary Round Last 32 Losers £1,000
Preliminary Round Last 64 Losers £750
Total £500,000
