Nathan Aspinall has withdrawn from the Ladbrokes Masters due to injury, and will be replaced by Devon Petersen for this weekend's event in Milton Keynes.
Aspinall has been suffering with an ongoing problem in both the elbow and wrist of his throwing arm in recent months, which included competing in the World Darts Championship wearing medical tape.
The former UK Open champion has now withdrawn from The Masters to undergo further treatment on the injury.
STATEMENT pic.twitter.com/XFB2Rgg6im
— Nathan Aspinall (@NathanAspi) January 24, 2022
As such, South Africa's Petersen - the next ranked non-qualified player - takes Aspinall's place in the draw, meaning that he faces Luke Humphries in Friday night's first round in Milton Keynes.
This is obviously not the way I wanted to qualify for my Masters debut and I want to wish Nathan all the best with his recovery from injury and Danny all the best with the birth of his first child.
— Devon Petersen (@devon_petersen) January 24, 2022
All that said, I’ll be raring to go on Friday to take my opportunity ??? https://t.co/KdhSM35MQs
A limited number of tickets remain available for all sessions - CLICK HERE TO BOOK TICKETS
The Ladbrokes Masters will be broadcast live on ITV4 in the UK, through the PDC's worldwide broadcast partners including DAZN and Viaplay, and on PDCTV (excluding UK and Netherlands based subscribers).
2022 Ladbrokes Masters
Friday January 28 (1900 GMT)
First Round
Krzysztof Ratajski v Gabriel Clemens
Dave Chisnall v Stephen Bunting
Ryan Searle v Mervyn King
Rob Cross v Brendan Dolan
Dimitri Van den Bergh v Ian White
Joe Cullen v Daryl Gurney
Dirk van Duijvenbode v Simon Whitlock
Devon Petersen v Luke Humphries
Saturday January 29
Second Round
Afternoon Session (1245 GMT)
Jose de Sousa v Cross/Dolan
Gary Anderson v Cullen/Gurney
Michael Smith v Ratajski/Clemens
James Wade v Chisnall/Bunting
Evening Session (1900 GMT)
Jonny Clayton v Van den Bergh/White
Gerwyn Price v Searle/King
Peter Wright v Van Duijvenbode/Whitlock
Michael van Gerwen v Petersen/Humphries
Sunday January 30
Afternoon Session (1245 GMT)
Quarter-Finals
Evening Session (1900 GMT)
Semi-Finals
Final
Draw Bracket
(1) Gerwyn Price v (16) Ryan Searle/(17) Mervyn King
(8) Jonny Clayton v (9) Dimitri Van den Bergh/(24) Ian White
(4) James Wade v (13) Dave Chisnall/(20) Stephen Bunting
(5) Michael Smith v (12) Krzysztof Ratajski/(21) Gabriel Clemens
(2) Peter Wright v (15) Dirk van Duijvenbode/(25) Simon Whitlock
(7) Jose de Sousa v (10) Rob Cross/(23) Brendan Dolan
(3) Michael van Gerwen v (26) Devon Petersen/(19) Luke Humphries
(6) Gary Anderson v (11) Joe Cullen/(22) Daryl Gurney
Format
First Round - Best of 11 legs
Second Round - Best of 19 legs
Quarter-Finals - Best of 19 legs
Semi-Finals - Best of 21 legs
Final - Best of 21 legs
Prize Fund
Winner £60,000
Runner-Up £25,000
Semi-Finalists £17,500
Quarter-Finalists £10,000
Last 16 £5,000
Last 24 £2,500
Total £220,000