Overview
- Play opens at Arena MK today with the preliminary phase, before the 32-player main draw runs from Thursday, January 29 to Sunday, February 1 with evening sessions on Thursday and Friday and two sessions on the weekend.
- Headline first-round ties include Luke Littler vs Mike de Decker and defending champion Luke Humphries vs Dave Chisnall, with Michael van Gerwen drawn against Damon Heta and Gian van Veen facing Ryan Joyce.
- The field comprises the top 24 in the Order of Merit (top 16 seeded) plus eight qualifiers decided today, with notable names such as Peter Wright and Cameron Menzies attempting to book places.
- All matches are in sets with best-of-three legs per set, moving from best-of-five sets in round one to best-of-11 in the final, and the prize fund is £500,000 with £100,000 to the winner.
- Littler arrives as back-to-back world champion and the pre-tournament favourite seeking a TV major that remains missing from his résumé, while Humphries looks to retain the title.