LUKE Littler is preparing for his first ever tilt at the Winmau World Masters as he looks to cement his status as the man to beat in darts.

The Warringtonian teenager caps off a month which started with him being crowned world darts champion with a bid to secure the £100,000 top prize in the newly revamped event in Milton Keynes.

Ranking points are now on offer for the tournament, which sees a 32-player field – the top 24 in the PDC Order of Merit plus eight qualifiers who emerged through Wednesday’s preliminary round – whittled down over four days, starting today.

Second seed Littler gets his campaign underway on Friday evening against Belgian qualifier Andy Baetens, with their match due on stage at around 9.30pm.

The winner will face either James Wade or Mike De Decker in the last 16 on Saturday with the quarters, semis and finals taking place on a bumper Finals Day on Sunday.

The tournament, all of which will be shown live on ITV4, will be played in the sets format, with each set being the best of three legs throughout the event.

2025 Winmau World Masters, schedule of play

Thursday, January 30 (7pm GMT)

First Round x8

Josh Rock v Jermaine Wattimena

Damon Heta v Ross Smith

Rob Cross v William O’Connor

Gerwyn Price v Florian Hempel

Peter Wright v Kevin Doets

Luke Humphries v Joe Cullen

Stephen Bunting v William Borland

Danny Noppert v Michael Smith

Friday, January 31 (7pm GMT)

First Round x8

James Wade v Mike De Decker

Dave Chisnall v Cameron Menzies

Jonny Clayton v Martin Schindler

Nathan Aspinall v Andrew Gilding

Chris Dobey v Ryan Searle

Luke Littler v Andy Baetens

Michael van Gerwen v Bradley Brooks

Gary Anderson v Dimitri Van den Bergh

Saturday, February 1

Afternoon Session (12.45pm GMT)

Second Round x4

Evening Session (7pm GMT)

Second Round x4

Sunday, February 2

Afternoon Session (12.45pm GMT)

Quarter-finals

Evening Session (7pm GMT)

Semi-finals and Final

Format

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 set

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

Prize Fund

Winner £100,000

Runner-Up £50,000

Semi-Finalists £30,000

Quarter-Finalists £17,500

Second Round Losers £10,000

First Round Losers £5,000

Preliminary Round Last 16 Losers £2,500

Preliminary Round Last 32 Losers £1,000

Preliminary Round Last 64 Losers £750

Total £500,000