World-Masters

The tenth edition of The Masters was held from January 28 to 30 at the Marshall Arena in Milton Keynes. The top 24 of the Order of Merit got access to this exclusive tournament. Danny Noppert and Nathan Aspinall had to cancel for various reasons, which meant that the numbers 25 and 26 of the ranking (Simon Whitlock and Devon Petersen) were also allowed to participate. In the end, it was Joe Cullen who won the tournament, taking his first major title ever.

In the first round, the numbers 9 to 24 of the world rankings come into action, including one Dutchman. Dirk van Duijvenbode takes on Simon Whitlock, but sees a strong Australian take the win 6-2. The other 'reserve player' Devon Petersen has no chance against Luke Humphries and loses 6-1. Joe Cullen immediately makes his mark with a 6-2 victory over Daryl Gurney and Dave Chisnall produces the only 'whitewash' by not giving Stephen Bunting a leg: 6-0.

In the last sixteen, the top eight of the world plays for the first time. Gary Anderson gets the biggest blow: the Scotsman goes down 10-1 against Joe Cullen, who throws an average of 106.30. Michael van Gerwen survived five match darts against Luke Humphries and eventually beat the Englishman 10-9. Peter Wright is less fortunate: he loses 10-8 to Simon Whitlock and cannot follow up his World Championship title with winning The Masters. Gerwyn Price does win his first game: 'The Iceman' wins after a great battle with 10-8 against Ryan Searle. Jonny Clayton beats Dimitri van den Bergh (10-9) in a deciding leg, while world number four James Wade loses 10-4 to Dave Chisnall.

The four quarter-finals are all exciting matches. Five-time Masters winner Van Gerwen loses 10-7 to Joe Cullen, leaving the Englishman to play against Jose de Sousa in the semi-finals. The Portuguese beat Simon Whitlock 10-9 and thus book a place in the last four. The other two semi-finalists will be Jonny Clayton and Dave Chisnall: Clayton beats compatriot Gerwyn Price 10-8, while Chisnall beats Michael Smith with the same numbers.

It is ultimately Dave Chisnall and Joe Cullen who manage to reach the final of The Masters. Chisnall wins surprisingly big against Clayton (11-6), after which Cullen proves too strong for De Sousa (11-8). This makes it clear that a new major winner will be crowned at the PDC, as Cullen and Chisnall have never won a major tournament before. It is even Cullen's first major final ever. It will also eventually be his first major title ever. He is in control almost the entire game, but misses ten match darts at the end. Chisnall proves unable to take advantage of this, because in the end it is the eleventh match dart that hits the spot for Cullen, making 'The Rockstar' the winner of The Masters 2022.