Live Darts on Saturday | Winmau World Masters 2026 Day Three Preview and Order of Play
The second round action takes centre stage at the 2026 Winmau World Masters on Saturday as a host of big names do battle in Milton Keynes.
The opening round of the season’s first televised ranking event saw 13 of the world’s top 16 safely progress at Arena MK and all eight qualifiers bow out.
Saturday plays host to a number of mouth-watering ties across two sessions, with the format increasing to best of seven sets.
The afternoon’s action includes an all-Welsh showdown between World Cup team-mates Jonny Clayton and Gerwyn Price.
The duo paired up to claim World Cup glory for Wales in 2020 and 2023 but it’s Price who has had the better of their individual head-to-head record, winning 26 of their 38 previous meetings.
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, ‘The Iceman’ is looking to end a five-year wait for a televised ranking title since the 2021 Grand Slam and started in style by averaging 108.5 in a straight sets demolition of James Hurrell.
Clayton enjoyed a terrific start to the campaign here last year, defeating Luke Littler en route to the final – where he was narrowly denied glory in a last-set decider by Luke Humphries.
The Welsh number one hit the ground running once again by dispatching Wessel Nijman 3-1 with a 102.8 average on Thursday night.
Another clash of the titans sees two-time World Champion Gary Anderson take on ten-time major winner James Wade.
Anderson, 55, rolled back the years to reach the semi-finals of the World Championship, climbing back to sixth in the Order of Merit as a result, and also picked up a European Tour title and Players Championship title in 2025.
The Flying Scotsman picked up from where he left off at Ally Pally by averaging 101.2 in a 3-2 win over Niels Zonneveld on opening night.
Wade enjoyed his best season since 2021, reaching the final of both the UK Open and World Matchplay, whilst also picking up a Players Championship title.
However, the year ended in familiar fashion with an early exit to Ricky Evans at the World Championship, ultimately quashing his hopes of a return to the Premier League.
The left-hander was impressed in his opener against Madars Razma on Thursday, averaging 102.5 in a high quality 3-2 victory.
World Championship finalist Gian van Veen comes up against two-time major champion Nathan Aspinall in another unmissable encounter.
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 on Thursday.
Aspinall was a semi-finalist in both Bahrain and Saudi Arabia earlier this month and started superbly here by averaging 105.8 in a 3-1 success over 2024 WDF World Champion Shane McGuirk.
The opening tie of the afternoon sees Australian ace Damon Heta take on former Masters champion Chris Dobey.
Heta got his season off to a dream start by dumping out five-time Masters champion Michael van Gerwen in round one, while 2023 champion Dobey saw off Jermaine Wattimena emphatically in straight sets with a 99.3 average.
The evening session sees Luke Humphries step up the defence of his title with a tie against an in-form Luke Woodhouse.
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.
Woodhouse reached both a European Tour and Players Championship final in 2025 as well as the Last 16 of the World Championship to end the campaign as world number 21, and he started the new campaign in equally encouraging fashion by registering his highest televised average of 108.64 in a straight sets rout of Martin Schindler.
Back-to-back World Champion Luke Littler continues his quest for a maiden World Masters crown with a clash against former European Champion Ross Smith.
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.
Former European Champion Smith picked up two Players Championship titles last season but struggled for form in TV majors, culminating in a first round exit to Andreas Harrysson at the World Championship.
However, he started the new season by defeating WDF World Champion Jimmy van Schie 3-1 on Friday night with a pivotal 150 checkout along the way.
Former Masters runner-up Rob Cross takes on World Cup of Darts winner and stablemate Josh Rock.
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.
Cross, who starts the season as world number 20, punished an out of sorts Ryan Searle in his opener to prevail 3-1 despite a 91 average.
Former Masters champion Stephen Bunting meets former UK Open champion Danny Noppert in another closely-matched contest.
Bunting claimed his first televised PDC title here in 2024 with victory over Van Gerwen in the final and went on to capture a brace of World Series, European Tour and Players Championship titles in 2025 to ensure an immediate return to the Premier League.
Noppert enjoyed the best year of his career in 2025, reaching four major ranking semi-finals, but a second round defeat to Justin Hood in an epic contest at Ally Pally ultimately ended his hopes of a Premier League spot.
The action gets under way from 1pm GMT, with second round ties to be contested over the best of seven sets. All sets are the best of three legs.
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Winmau World Masters 2026 Day Three Schedule
Saturday January 31
Second Round
Afternoon Session (1pm-5pm)
Damon Heta v Chris Dobey
Gary Anderson v James Wade
Gian van Veen v Nathan Aspinall
Jonny Clayton v Gerwyn Price
Evening Session (7pm-11pm)
Rob Cross v Josh Rock
Stephen Bunting v Danny Noppert
Luke Littler v Ross Smith
Luke Humphries v Luke Woodhouse
