Fans who want to watch the New Zealand Darts Masters 2024 on Friday should get there early. Due to the time difference, the first matches of the World Series tournament in the New Zealand city of Hamilton start as early as 9:00 a.m. Dutch time.
The Globox Arena in Hamilton has been the regular venue for New Zealand's annual World Series tournament for several years. In 2019, Michael van Gerwen managed to take the title there by beating Raymond van Barneveld (8-1) in the final. The corona pandemic prevented the tournament from taking place in 2020 and 2021, but the PDC stars were able to return in 2022. Then the title went to Gerwyn Price, who was 8-4 too strong for Jonny Clayton in the final. In 2023, the New Zealand Darts Masters was won by Rob Cross after 'Voltage' settled Nathan Aspinall (8-7) in the final.
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The first match on Friday morning is between Peter Wright and Daniel Snookes. Wright tanked confidence last week by getting a good result with a semi-final place at the Australian Darts Masters in Wollongong. It was a boost for "Snakebite," who has been struggling with his form for several months. Wright won four World Series titles in the past, including the Nordic Darts Masters in 2023. In 2018, the Scot was also successful on Oceanic soil by taking the overall victory at the Melbourne Darts Masters. His opponent Snookes is relatively unknown player, who is making his appearance on the New Zealand darts circuit this year. He qualified for this tournament via one of the qualifiers.
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Next, Dimitri van den Bergh and Mark Cleaver take the stage at the Globox Arena. The Belgian is regularly used by the PDC to promote the sport worldwide, as it will be his seventeenth regular World Series tournament for 'The Dreammaker'. Van den Bergh has had considerable success on the World Series circuit in the past. In 2022, he won the Nordic Darts Masters and the Dutch Darts Masters. In addition, Van den Bergh was in the final of a World Series tournament twice more, and also made it to the final match of the 2021 World Series Finals. Last week, Van den Bergh made it to the semifinals at the Australian Darts Masters by beating Luek Humphries, among others. Cleaver has made an appearance at the World Series in the distant past. He competed in one tournament each in 2017 and 2018.
Former world champion Michael Smith was paired in the draw for the first round of this World Series tournament with Jeremy fa*gg, who is eligible to compete via the DPA Order of Merit. Smith has already played 27 regular World Series tournaments. Three times 'Bullyboy' managed to win one, including the first Bahrain Darts Masters in 2023. Smith has been allowed to travel to 'Down Under' before, where he reached the final once. In 2018, the Englishman lost to Peter Wright in the final of the Melbourne Darts Masters. His opponent fa*gg makes regular appearances on the DPA Tour, the circuit for darters from Australia. On that tour last year, fa*gg managed to win four of the 12 tournaments he competed in.
Luke Humphries has added a slew of television titles to his record this past year, but a World Series title is still missing from his list of honors. In the ten regular World Series tournaments Humphries has played, he never even reached the final. Also last week in Australia it didn't work out for 'Cool Hand Luke', who surprisingly went down in the quarterfinals against Dimitri van den Bergh. A new chance for Humphries is coming up in Hamilton. Then Humphries will first have to deal with Kayden Milne. Milne is a 24-year-old dart player who has been to the World Series in the past. In 2022, Milne even recorded a victory at the New Zealand Darts Masters by defeating Fallon Sherrock 6-5. He then lost 6-0 to Michael Smith in the quarterfinals.
Gerwyn Price will cross swords with Ben Robb, who is one of New Zealand's best-known darters, in New Zealand. Robb already got to compete four times at the World Darts Championship at Alexandra Palace and also played at this year's World Cup of Darts. Price provided a huge boost to his confidence last week by taking the title at the Australian Darts Masters. He now returns to the place where Price managed to win the title in 2022.
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Defending champion Rob Cross is up in the sixth match of the first round. 'Voltage' faces Haupai Puha again this time. Last week Cross narrowly won 6-5 against Puha in the first round of the Australian Darts Masters, but the New Zealander will get a retake against the defending champion in front of his own audience at the New Zealand Darts Masters. Cross had an excellent World Series block in June, when he managed to reach the final at all three tournaments in New York, Copenhagen and Gliwice. In New York, Cross even got to lift the big cup. Cross currently holds four World Series titles, three of which he won Down Under.Puha managed to reach the second round once in the past. That was by beating Dimitri van den Bergh 6-2 in the first round of the New Zealand Darts Masters in 2022.
Luke Littler will play his first game on New Zealand soil against Jonny Tata. 'The Nuke' is, for now, the most successful player at the 2024 World Series. Just days before his seventeenth birthday, he won January's Bahrain Darts Masters, while Littler also claimed the title at the Poland Darts Masters in June. In between, he lost in the final of the Dutch Darts Masters to Michael van Gerwen, who is missing New Zealand due to his recently undergoing dental surgery. Last week in Australia, Littler again made it to the final, but had to settle for first place. His fourth final this season puts 'The Nuke' at the top of the World Series Order of Merit. We remember Tata from the New Zealand Darts Masters in 2023, when the New Zealander was too strong for Peter Wright in the first round. However, he has a tough task ahead of him to pull off another surprise in front of his own crowd.
The first round will conclude with a clash between Australians Damon Heta and Simon Whitlock, who together won the title for their country at the World Cup of Darts in 2022. Whitlock reached the final of a World Series tournament once ten years ago. That was at the Singapore Darts Masters, when the final victory eventually went to Michael van Gerwen. At the time, Whitlock was still considered the best dart player from Australia, but 'The Wizard' lost that status to Heta several years ago. 'The Heat' caused a sensation in 2019 by winning the Brisbane Darts Masters as the 'local representative', which means Heta already has a World Series title in his pocket, unlike Whitlock.
As with every World Series tournament, the field of participants consists of 16 players. Eight PDC stars will take on eight local players on the opening day. Then the event is completed on the second day with the quarterfinals, semifinals and finals in succession.
Schedule New Zealand Darts Masters 2024
Friday, Aug. 16 (from 8 a.m.)
First round
Peter Wright v Daniel Snookes
Dimitri Van den Bergh v Mark Cleaver
Michael Smith v Jeremy fa*gg
Luke Humphries v Kayden Milne
Gerwyn Price v Ben Robb
Rob Cross v Haupai Puha
Luke Littler v Jonny Tata
Damon Heta v Simon Whitlock
