Luke Littler will face a qualifier in his opening match at the Winmau World Masters (Image: GETTY)
has been handed a favourable draw in the opening round of the Winmau World Masters, which will be his first ranking event since winning the .
The teenage superstar, who celebrated his 18th birthday on Tuesday, will go up against one of the eight qualifiers in his first match. He will discover his opponent following the conclusion of the preliminary rounds, which are taking place next week.
The top 24 players from the Order of Merit have automatically qualified, with the world’s top 16 seeded in the draw. The remaining eight players will come from the preliminary rounds, featuring tour card holders and representatives from secondary tours.
Littler did not play in last year’s tournament but has since improved his ranking (Image: GETTY)
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A top prize of £100,000 will be scooped by the eventual champion, while the runner-up will receive a consolation prize of £50,000. It has already been announced that this year’s prize money will count towards the Order of Merit for the very first time.
Stephen Bunting, the reigning Masters champion, will also play a qualifier in the opening round. Dave Chisnall, Gerwyn Price, Peter Wright, Michael van Gerwen, Rob Cross and Josh Rock are in the same boat.
World number one Luke Humphries will kick off his title challenge against Josh Cullen, who secured Masters glory back in 2022. Jonny Clayton will go up against Martin Schindler, while Chris Dobey has been drawn against Ryan Searle.
Michael Smith, who is unseeded, will face Danny Noppert while James Wade is set to play World Grand Prix champion Mike De Decker.
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Dmitri van den Bergh, who is the current UK Open champion, faces a meeting with Scottish icon Gary Anderson in the opening round. Nathan Aspinall, meanwhile, will lock horns with Andrew Gilding and Damon Heta will face Ross Smith.
The tournament will be played in a set format, with each set being the best of three legs. It will get underway on Thursday, January 30 with the final being played on Sunday, February 2.
Littler will certainly be hoping to add this year’s Masters title to his growing trophy cabinet after being handed a favourable draw. He did not qualify for the 2024 edition of the tournament due to his ranking position, which was just outside the cut-off point.
He will at least be looking for a return to form after suffering a one-sided defeat to Price in the second round of last week’s Bahrain Darts Masters, where he was the defending champion.