Luke Littler will face Andy Baetens in the Winmau World Masters as he seeks to land his first title since becoming world champion. The 18-year-old’s Alexandra Palace triumph and his rise to world No. 2 meant he qualified for the tournament for the first time.
Littler is one of the world’s top 24 players in the PDC’s Order of Merit and therefore qualifies automatically. The 32-player competition takes place in Milton Keynes across four days, starting tomorrow (Thursday). It is one of the first major televised events of the calendar year.
The winner of Littler’s clash with Belgian Baetens will face either James Wade or Mike De Decker in the second round. He is in the same half of the draw as Michael van Gerwen, Nathan Aspinall and Chris Dobey.
Littler has not won either of his tournaments since defeating Van Gerwen in the final at Ally Pally earlier this month. An excellent performance by Gerwyn Price saw the teenage sensation dumped out of the Bahrain Masters.
He then defeated Van Gerwen again at the Dutch Masters but was beaten by Stephen Bunting in the semi-final. Rob Cross went on to win the tournament, with Bunting triumphing in Bahrain the week prior.
Bunting has enjoyed an excellent 2025 so far and will attempt to defend his World Masters crown this week. The 39-year-old, spurred on by very strong support, believes he is playing the best darts of his career.
“If you’d have said to me at the start of the tournament that I’d be in the final I’d have taken it,” Bunting said after being beaten by Cross in the Netherlands. “Credit to Rob, I’m playing the best darts of my life and I’m disappointed not to win.”
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