Defending champion Luke Humphries (Photo PDC)
The 24 pre-qualified players for the 2026 World Masters darts championships have been confirmed, as world number two Luke Humphries sets his sights on back-to-back titles in Milton Keynes.
Following last year’s tournament rebrand, the 2026 edition will feature the top 24 players on the PDC Werner Rankings Ladder following the 2025/26 World Darts Championship, headlined by World Champion Luke Littler and reigning champion Humphries.
World Championship runner-up Gian van Veen will make his World Masters debut following a terrific campaign which featured a European Championship triumph, as he overhauled Michael van Gerwen to become the Dutch number one.
Van Gerwen will also be amongst the stellar names in action at Arena MK from January 29-February 1, as last year’s runner-up Jonny Clayton competes alongside his fellow Premier League stars Stephen Bunting, Josh Rock and Gerwyn Price.
Gary Anderson and Ryan Searle – semi-finalists at the World Darts Championship – also feature, with Dutch number three Danny Noppert and former Masters winners James Wade and Chris Dobey amongst the seeded representatives.
Ryan Joyce claimed the final automatic place in this year’s event, and the world’s top 24 will be joined in the 32-player field by eight further players who progress from the Preliminary Rounds, which will take place on Wednesday January 28.
The Preliminary Rounds will be open to all non-qualified PDC Tour Card Holders, the top eight players from each of the PDC’s 2025 Secondary Tours and Global Affiliate Tours, plus four players from the Junior Darts Corporation.
Former World Champions Peter Wright, Michael Smith and Raymond van Barneveld are set to be amongst the high-profile names battling it out for spots in the £500,000 event, alongside Belgian star Dimitri Van den Bergh and Joe Cullen – the 2022 Masters champion.
All matches at the 2026 Winmau World Masters will be played in a sets format over the best of three legs per set, in keeping with the tournament’s traditional structure.
Pre-Qualified Players (Top 16 seeded for Round One draw)
1. Luke Littler, 2. Luke Humphries, 3. Gian van Veen, 4. Michael van Gerwen, 5. Jonny Clayton, 6. Gary Anderson, 7. Stephen Bunting, 8. Ryan Searle, 9. Josh Rock, 10. Danny Noppert, 11. James Wade, 12. Gerwyn Price, 13. Chris Dobey, 14. Nathan Aspinall, 15. Martin Schindler, 16. Ross Smith, 17. Damon Heta, 18. Jermaine Wattimena, 19. Mike De Decker, 20. Rob Cross, 21. Luke Woodhouse, 22. Dave Chisnall, 23. Daryl Gurney, 24. Ryan Joyce
Plus eight players from Preliminary Rounds on Wednesday January 28.
