Luke Littler ticked off one of the remaining TV titles he’s yet to win by claiming his first Winmau World Masters title in Milton Keynes.

The current back to back World Champion came through Luke Humphries yet again in a final, as he defeated Cool Hand 6-5 in an epic match at Arena MK to claim the trophy, his 11th TV title. He is now joint third on the list of TV major winners, trailing only Michael van Gerwen and Phil Taylor.

Littler had the advantage early on in the game establishing a 3-1 lead, before Humphries stormed back, winning five of the next six sets to go 5-4 in front. However, The Nuke reeled off four consecutive legs to get over the line, in a match that featured 25 180s with Littler averaging 104.72 and Humphries averaging 105.51.

It mirrored the last set play match the two played against each other, where The Nuke defeated Cool Hand in the World Grand Prix final in October. Littler now just needs to win the European Championship to complete the full set of individual TV titles before he turns 20, a feat unlikely to be repeated.

Back and forth start to final

Renewing their ever going rivalry, it was Littler and Humphries’ first meeting since the 2025 Grand Slam of Darts Final, where Littler defeated Humphries to become world number one for the first time.

Humphries held twice to take the opening set, but Littler did the same in set two, as both players looked to establish themselves in the contest.

The first break of throw came in the first leg of set three, as The Nuke punished a missed dart at bull by Cool Hand to find an 11 darter on tops. 15 darts later, the world number one pinged double 10 to go ahead in sets for the first time.

Defending champion Humphries found a break of his own at the start of set four, hitting tops to go in front. However, Littler responded with back to back 121 checkouts to win the next two legs, opening up a two set cushion.

The Nuke broke again at the start of set five, hitting the bull for an 87 outshot, but missed a dart at double 14 for a third 121 in four legs. Humphries, who’d left 36 after nine, responded by pinging double 18 for a 10 darter, before a 14 dart hold cut the gap to 3-2. 30 darts later, the Newbury ace found double 10 for a 2-0 set six, levelling a brilliant contest heading into the second interval.

Littler gets the better of Humphries once again

Littler took advantage of missed darts in leg three of set seven from Humphries to reestablish the lead, but missed darts for a two set cushion in legs two and three of set eight. This allowed Humphries to ping an 87 and 81 outshot, to turn the set around and level once more.

The Nuke again missed a dart to break at the beginning of set nine, as Cool Hand found a 108 outshot, his first ton plus of the match, to take the leg. Despite Littler holding in leg two, Humphries comfortably held in leg three, going in front 5-4 and leading for the first time since set one.

The game deserved to go to the final set with the sheer levels the two were producing, and Littler took just 25 darts to do so, levelling the game 5-5 in set 10. In set 11, Cool Hand missed a dart to go in front, allowing Littler to hit double five for a crucial 15 dart break. 16 darts later, Littler completed the win on double 10, reeling off four legs on the spin to claim the 2026 Winmau World Masters title.

Both players had to come through two matches on Sunday to make the final.

Humphries also didn’t drop a set in his quarter final win against Danny Noppert, but he had a much more serene experience in his last four game, producing a 5-0 straight sets win against World Championship runner up Gian van Veen. Van Veen defeated James Wade in the other quarter final.

Littler produced a straight sets victory over Josh Rock in the quarter finals to set up a meeting with Gerwyn Price in the semis, who himself beat Chris Dobey in their last eight tie.

In an absorbing contest, both The Nuke and The Iceman missed match darts, but the World Champion eventually got over the line in a last leg decider, extending his PDC TV semi final record to 15 wins and 0 defeats.

2026 Winmau World Masters Finals Day Schedule of Play

Final

Luke Littler 6-5 Luke Humphries

Semi Finals

Luke Littler 5-4 Gerwyn Price

Humphries 5-0 Gian van Veen

Quarter Finals

Gerwyn Price 4-2 Chris Dobey

Luke Littler 4-0 Josh Rock

Gian van Veen 4-2 James Wade

Luke Humphries 4-0 Danny Noppert