Dutch trio Wessel Nijman, Niels Zonneveld and Jimmy van Schie were amongst the eight players to progress through the 2026 Winmau World Masters Preliminary Rounds in Milton Keynes on Wednesday.
Wednesday's Preliminary Rounds saw 120 players competing for eight places in the main event, which will take place from Thursday January 29 to Sunday February 1 at Arena MK.
Nijman was the highest-ranked player to progress in Milton Keynes, overcoming Stefan Bellmont, Niko Springer and Gabriel Clemens to seal his place in the main event.
The 25-year-old dispatched Bellmont and Springer in straight sets, before averaging almost 106 to avenge his defeat against Clemens at last month’s World Darts Championship.
Nijman’s reward will be a tantalising showdown against 2025 runner-up Jonny Clayton, and he will be joined in this year’s showpiece by his fellow countrymen Zonneveld and Van Schie.
Zonneveld followed up a straight-sets success against Argentina’s Jesus Salate with a 3-1 win over Development Tour star Henry Coates, before defeating Kim Huybrechts by the same scoreline to set up a meeting against two-time World Champion Gary Anderson.
Van Schie, meanwhile, claimed the scalps of former European Champion Ritchie Edhouse and 2023/24 World Championship semi-finalist Scott Williams in his first PDC ranking event, and his reward will be a tie against Ross Smith.
The reigning WDF Champion, who claimed his Tour Card at Qualifying School earlier this month, also defeated Tytus Kanik, Chris Landman and Richard Veenstra to cap off a terrific qualification campaign.
James Hurrell continued from where he left off at Alexandra Palace, producing the performance of the day en route to advancing to a clash against Premier League star Gerwyn Price.
Hurrell followed up a 3-0 thumping of Kai Gotthardt by averaging 111.33 in a stunning straight-sets victory over Joe Cullen, before seeing off Alan Soutar in the last 16.
Swedish number one Jeffrey de Graaf will face 2024 Masters winner Stephen Bunting in his opener, after storming through Wednesday’s action with 3-0 wins against Wesley Plaisier, Rhys Griffin and Jack Tweddell.
Madars Razma was another high-profile name to progress through Wednesday’s Preliminary Rounds, defeating Cor Dekker, Kevin Doets and Krzysztof Ratajski in setting up a round one tussle against James Wade, who won the Masters back in 2014.
Connor Scutt and Ireland’s Shane McGuirk completed the eight qualifiers, and they will face Josh Rock and Nathan Aspinall respectively in the main event.
Scutt - a former Players Championship quarter-finalist - followed up deciding-set victories over Max Hopp and Jeffrey de Zwaan by averaging 100.30 in a 3-1 win against Graham Hall.
McGuirk, fresh from securing his Tour Card at UK Qualifying School, dumped out Cameron Menzies before accounting for Keane Barry and Scott Waites in clinching his qualification.
Former World Champions Peter Wright and Michael Smith suffered opening round exits in the Preliminary Rounds, while last year’s semi-finalist Dimitri Van den Bergh succumbed to his former World Cup partner Huybrechts.
2022 Masters winner Cullen was beaten by an imperious Hurrell in the penultimate round of qualification, as Greaves crashed out against Soutar, despite earlier wins over Mervyn King and Dirk van Duijvenbode.
The 2026 Winmau World Masters will be played in a set format throughout, with each set being the best of three legs - beginning with the best of five sets in round one, which takes place on Thursday and Friday night.
The eventual Winmau World Masters champion will claim a top prize of £100,000, with £50,000 on offer to the runner-up.
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