Announcements

IT is another big weekend of darts coming up with St Helens trio Stephen Bunting, Dave Chisnall and Michael Smith in action at the 2021 Ladbrokes Masters, from Friday January 29 in Milton Keynes.

The £220,000 tournament has been expanded to feature 24 players this year, with the first round seeing the players ranked from 9-24 on the PDC Order of Merit facing off.

Smith faces fellow former Masters finalist Adrian Lewis and Bunting takes on Joe Cullen in the first round.

Dave Chisnall plays the winner of Daryl Gurney v Jeffrey de Zwaan in Saturday’s second round.

If Bunting and Smith progress, they will face Gerwyn Price and Gary Anderson respectively.

The Ladbrokes Masters will conclude on Sunday January 31, with the quarter-finals in the afternoon session and the semi-finals and final in the evening session.

Worldwide coverage will be led by host broadcaster ITV4.

Meanwhile Chisnall’s outstanding performance to defeat Michael van Gerwen 5-0 in the World Championship quarter-finals was named as the Toyo Tires Televised Performance of the Year, recognising a stunning display in the sport’s biggest tournament.