Live Darts on Sunday | Winmau World Masters 2026 Day Four Preview and Order of Play
The final eight face off for the season’s first ranking silverware at the 2026 Winmau World Masters in Milton Keynes on Sunday.
The second staging of the revamped Winmau World Masters has featured a host of high quality contests and was graced with a nine-darter for the second successive year as Luke Humphries struck perfection on Saturday night.
The world’s top three players feature among a star-studded final eight at Arena MK as they battle it out for the £100,000 top prize.
Humphries is vying to retain a major title for the second time, having done so at the 2024 Players Championship Finals, and opened up with a commanding 3-1 win over two-time finalist Dave Chisnall on Friday with an average of 104.
The world number two, who also begins the defence of his Premier League title next Thursday, came through an incredible second round tie with Luke Woodhouse, hitting a nine-darter to lead 2-0 before fending off an epic fightback from his opponent to edge through in a deciding set.
Humphries now comes up against another rejuvenated talent in Danny Noppert – who has progressed to his fifth televised ranking quarter-final inside 12 months.
Semi-finalist at the World Masters, World Grand Prix, European Championship and Grand Slam last year, Noppert has looked in fine fettle again this weekend, averaging 99.3 in a 3-1 win over Daryl Gurney, before emphatically whitewashing Stephen Bunting 4-0.
Meanwhile, world number one Luke Littler resumes his quest for a maiden World Masters title with a showdown against fellow Premier League star Josh Rock.
Littler picked up from where he left off in claiming Saudi Arabia Darts Masters glory last week by overcoming Mike De Decker in the opening round, but not without a significant scare along the way.
De Decker missed a dart at double 11 to knock out ‘The Nuke’ – who hit back from 2-1 down to snatch a 3-2 victory, missing double 15 for a nine-darter in the process.
The back-to-back World Champion afforded Ross Smith no such opportunities in the second round, averaging 107.8 in a blistering 4-1 win which saw him land eight 180s.
Ninth seed Rock is gearing up for his Premier League debut in Newcastle next week and was in imperious form in seeing off qualifier Connor Scutt 3-1 on Friday night.
The Northern Irish number one then averaged 101.6 in a blistering 4-1 win over his stablemate and former Masters finalist Rob Cross on Saturday to reach a fifth televised ranking quarter-final inside 12 months.
Ominously for Rock, however, he is yet to taste success over Littler on a televised stage, notably losing high quality contests in last year’s World Matchplay and Grand Slam of Darts.
Another eagerly-awaited rematch sees World Championship runner-up Gian van Veen take on 2014 Masters champion James Wade.
Wade defeated Van Veen 16-13 in an epic World Matchplay quarter-final last July, with the young Dutchman vowing he wants “revenge” in Milton Keynes.
Less than a fortnight on from his landmark run to the final at Ally Pally, Van Veen began the new season by finishing runner-up at the Bahrain Masters and is gearing up for his Premier League debut in Newcastle next Thursday.
The Dutch number one and reigning European Champion is making his first appearance in the main stages of the World Masters and came from a set down to deny Ryan Joyce 3-1 in round one, before punishing costly missed doubles from Nathan Aspinall to seal a 4-2 success on Saturday.
Wade was impressive in his opener against Madars Razma on Thursday, averaging 102.5 in a high quality 3-2 victory, before recovering from 2-0 down to edge out fellow darting icon Gary Anderson 4-3 in the Last 16.
The opening tie of the day sees 2023 Masters champion Chris Dobey take on former World Champion Gerwyn Price.
Price suffered a shock second round exit to Wesley Plaisier in straight sets at Ally Pally before reaching the semi-finals in both Bahrain and Saudi Arabia in recent weeks.
Four times a major semi-finalist last year, Price is out to end a five-year wait for a televised ranking title and started in style by averaging 108.5 in a straight sets demolition of James Hurrell, before recovering from 2-0 down to deny Welsh compatriot Jonny Clayton in a deciding set.
Dobey saw off Jermaine Wattimena emphatically in straight sets with a 99.3 average and replicated that standard in a narrow 4-3 triumph over Damon Heta in the second round.
The action gets under way from 1pm GMT, with quarter-final ties to be contested over the best of seven sets, semi-finals best of nine and the final best of 11.
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Winmau World Masters 2026 Day Four Schedule
Sunday February 1
Afternoon Session (1pm-5pm)
Quarter-Finals
Chris Dobey v Gerwyn Price
Luke Littler v Josh Rock
Gian van Veen v James Wade
Luke Humphries v Danny Noppert
Evening Session (7pm-11pm)
Semi-Finals
Dobey/Price v Littler/Rock
Van Veen/Wade v Humphries/Noppert
Final
