Stephen Bunting and Luke Littler will be among the contenders for Masters glory (Picture: Kelly Deckers/PDC)
Stephen Bunting and Luke Littler will be among the contenders for Masters glory (Picture: Kelly Deckers/PDC)

PDC World Masters: Season-opener gets a rebrand as the likes of Luke Littler prepare for the return of the most 'cut-throat' format in darts


The PDC's World Masters takes place this week and Paul Nicholson explains why the revamped format makes it the most 'cut-throat' tournament on the calendar.

What is new about the Masters format?

I absolutely love how the PDC have revamped and rebranded the Winmau World Masters, which will give us the most fascinating start to a new season in years.

Of course there's already been a couple of World Series events in January but this is where the whole tour can get their campaigns under way, with a ranked title up for grabs.

Due to The Masters previously being an unranked televised event exclusively for the top 16-24, everyone else would have to wait until the opening Players Championship event of the season in early February, while their first crack at this kind of honour wouldn't be until the UK Open in March.

This time, the highest-ranked 24 players go straight through to the ITV4-televised stages, which will take place at the Marshall Arena in Milton Keynes from January 30 to February 2, while there are another eight spots up for grabs for those who come through the preliminary rounds on January 29.

I like how they've still given the top 24 an advantage by giving them an automatic passport to a televised event - like they would have in previous years - but it is going to be tricky for everyone else to get one of the other eight places.

The other big change is that the World Masters becomes the PDC's third set-play event of the calendar - but unlike the other two, each set is just best of three legs with no tie-breaks.

How do lower ranked players qualifying for the first round?

Those ranked 25 to 56 on the PDC Order of Merit will join the preliminary rounds in the last 64, which will be a knockout tournament until there are eight players remaining.

But before then, those ranked 57 to 128 and also those who have qualified from the Nordic & Baltic Tour, Asian Tour, CDC Tour, Australia, New Zealand, the Development Tour, Challenge Tour, Women's Series and JDC will take part in a round robin stage to get through to the last 64.

All matches throughout the preliminary round, which are streamed on PDC TV, will be best of three sets, with each set being best of three legs - just like the main tournament.

Therefore, the likes of Daryl Gurney, Ryan Joyce and Jermaine Wattimena, who are in the 25 to 56 bracket, will need to win four of these matches to qualify, while those further down will have to come through a lot more.

Make no mistake about it, nobody will find it easy to get that far but those who do may have a slight advantage over those who enter the tournament cold on Thursday.

It could be like finding a needle in a haystack but some names I fancy to earn one of those eight spots from the early rounds are Gurney, Joyce, Luke Woodhouse, Callan Rydz, Wessel Nijman and Connor Scutt.

Will the fans enjoy another set play tournament so close to the worlds?

As a result of its positioning on the calendar it does follow hot on the heels from the World Championship but, if anything, I think fans will enjoy another set play tournament, especially with this one having the cut-throat format of best-of-three leg sets.

It will provide us with something unique that's not been done on the PDC circuit for a while, so fans are in for a treat.

As for the players, this format is ruthless.

Some of the preliminary round matches will be as quick as four legs and the closest ones will involve the pressure of two or three 'deciding legs' in a short space of time.

You have to hit the ground running and there's no playing your way into a contest. If you get off to a slow start, you're toast.

Winning the bullseye is probably going to be more important in this tournament than any other - even in the later rounds when the format eventually extends to best of 11 sets by the time of the final.

It's obviously just two holds of throw to win a set. If you're throwing first, that mentally seems a lot easier than doing it three times at the World Championship or World Grand Prix.

In the preliminary rounds, you only need four holds to win the match with the advantage of the bull, and you could even draw a match 4-4 in legs and still end up winning 2-1.

Why have the PDC changed the format?

I can imagine they had a meeting where they felt the time had come to give the Masters a shake-up. It wasn't a bad tournament by any means and the triumphs of Jonny Clayton, Joe Cullen, Chris Dobey and Stephen Bunting in recent times were great stories and gave their respective careers a springboard even though it wasn't ranked.

But the growing consensus was that the first big tournament of the season had to become ranked. And to do that legitimately, you'd have to make it available for the whole tour rather than an elite group.

And in terms of the sponsor, it was the fitting choice to partner up with Winmau considering their brand was synonymous with the original World Masters in the BDO era from 1976 to 2018.

Have they 'stolen' the identity of the World Masters from the WDF?

No.

The WDF didn't seem to care about the World Masters and its tradition, which dates back to the inaugural edition in 1974.

Following the demise of the BDO in 2020, the WDF didn't host another World Masters until 2022 when they ditched the set-play format in favour of legs and moved it to the Netherlands.

Wesley Plaisier lifted the trophy but he'd have to wait another two years to get the chance to defend his title, which he did successfully in Budapest. But it wasn't even televised.

The WDF's decision to scrap the set play - and the best-of-three-leg sets - hacked off darts fans so the way the PDC have now amalgamated that format into their own Masters is a genius move.

Making it ranked and incorporating a new structure that involves all Tour Card holders and those from other tours around the world makes it even more important and prestigious than ever before.

I've got no sympathy for the WDF. They do a good job holding tournaments around Europe and the world but when it comes to the World Masters, they've dropped the ball.

The PDC picked it up and have run with it properly.

I don't see any negatives about this tournament being created and the PDC have got this very, very close to perfect.

I'm a darts traditionalist. I love the World Masters and remember watching Bob Anderson when I was a kid winning it three times in a row and that feat was later emulated by Martin Adams.

Eric Bristow won it five times and was the youngest player ever to lift the trophy until Michael van Gerwen broke that record aged 17 back in 2006 - so there's so many moments in history which made the World Masters so important.

Although the PDC World Masters doesn't incorporate the history and title lineage of the original event, it does at least now pay tribute to the past by adopting the format.

Hopefully winners of this event going forward will rate it as highly as those who won the original.

What kind of player can win the World Masters?

There will be a lot of shocks in this tournament due to the cut-throat format but it'll also reward fast starters and those who can handle the pressure of deciding legs - because there will be lots of them during the five days of action.

In standard leg play matches, there's only ever going to be one deciding leg to be prepared for. In standard set play you know there will be a fair few - but this is on another level.

It wouldn't be seen as unusual if all nine sets in a semi-final, for example, went to a deciding leg.

Luke Littler has won around 60% of his last leg deciders over the last 12 months, and although this is purely in relation to leg play matches rather than pinching sets, it's still a strong indication of how well he responds to nail-biting scenarios.

Michael van Gerwen is lower at 52% while Gary Anderson and Luke Humphries may be lower than you'd expect at 48% and 46% respectively.

Stephen Bunting's is as high as 65% while Danny Noppert is also around the 60% mark.

Danny is known to be really cool under pressure so this could be the tournament for players like him, while Bunting has clearly got a lot of confidence right now which will bode well for this format.

Given what's happened to Joe Cullen in high profile deciding legs in the past - such as in the last two World Championships and also the Premier League final back in 2023 - it won't come as a surprise to see his deciding leg percentage come in at just 37%.

In terms of picking my four semi-finalists, it would be easy to go with Humphries in the top section of the draw but he sometimes takes a while to get going in a season so I'm instead going to side with Damon Heta.

In the second section I have to go with Bunting given how confident he is right now, then Littler in section three and in the bottom I'm going for van Gerwen.

A Bunting v Littler final is on the cards and I really wouldn't be surprised to see the in-form Bullet prevail and complete a Masters treble having won the BDO version, the 'old' PDC version and this latest incarnation.


World Masters Draw

  • (1) Luke Humphries v Joe Cullen
  • (16) Josh Rock v Qualifier 6
  • (8) Damon Heta v Ross Smith
  • (9) Gerwyn Price v Qualifier 4
  • (4) Rob Cross v Qualifier 8
  • (13) Danny Noppert v Michael Smith
  • (5) Stephen Bunting v Qualifier 5
  • (12) Peter Wright v Qualifier 1
  • (2) Luke Littler v Qualifier 3
  • (15) James Wade v Mike De Decker
  • (7) Jonny Clayton v Martin Schindler
  • (10) Chris Dobey v Ryan Searle
  • (3) Michael van Gerwen v Qualifier 2
  • (14) Gary Anderson v Dimitri Van den Bergh
  • (6) Dave Chisnall v Qualifier 7
  • (11) Nathan Aspinall v Andrew Gilding

World Masters Schedule

Wednesday January 29

  • Preliminary Rounds: Eight players to qualify

Thursday January 30 (1900 GMT)
TV Coverage: ITV4
First Round x8 - Match Schedule TBC

  • Luke Humphries v Joe Cullen
  • Josh Rock v Qualifier 6
  • Damon Heta v Ross Smith
  • Gerwyn Price v Qualifier 4
  • Rob Cross v Qualifier 8
  • Danny Noppert v Michael Smith
  • Stephen Bunting v Qualifier 5
  • Peter Wright v Qualifier 1

Friday January 31 (1900 GMT)
TV Coverage: ITV4
First Round x8 - Match Schedule TBC

  • Luke Littler v Qualifier 3
  • James Wade v Mike De Decker
  • Jonny Clayton v Martin Schindler
  • Chris Dobey v Ryan Searle
  • Michael van Gerwen v Qualifier 2
  • Gary Anderson v Dimitri Van den Bergh
  • Dave Chisnall v Qualifier 7
  • Nathan Aspinall v Andrew Gilding

Saturday February 1
Afternoon Session (1245 GMT)

  • Second Round x4

Evening Session (1900 GMT)

  • Second Round x4

Sunday February 2
Afternoon Session (1245 GMT)

  • Quarter-Finals

Evening Session (1900 GMT)

  • Semi-Finals
  • Final

Format

  • Preliminary Rounds - Best of three sets, best of three legs per set
  • 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 sets
  • Final - Best of 11 sets, best of three legs per set

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