On Friday morning at 10:00 a.m. UK time, we will begin the Australian Darts Masters 2024. Due to the large time difference with the Australian playing city of Wollongong, the first matches will start in the British morning.
Wollongong is hosting a World Series tournament for the third time. It has also been played in Wollongong in the past two seasons, but then the tournament was still known as the New South Wales Darts Masters. In 2022, the title went to Jonny Clayton, who then beat James Wade 8-1 in the final. Last year, Rob Cross took the title by beating Damon Heta 8-1.
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The opening match of the tournament will be between Dimitri van den Bergh and Jeremy fa*gg. The Belgian is used often by the PDC to promote the sport globally, as it will be his 16th 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. 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.
Gerwyn Price is at it again this time, too. 'The Iceman' has only won one tournament so far this year, but that was at the World Series. In June, he won the Nordic Darts Masters. In 2022, the Welshman also provided success at the New Zealand Masters, while Price has also won the World Series Finals twice (2020 and 2022). With Brenton Lloyd, he will meet one of the players who qualified for the Australian Darts Masters via the DPA Qualifiers. Lloyd made his television debut in Wollongong last year, but lost 6-3 to Danny Noppert.
Former world champion Michael Smith was paired with Stuart Coburn, one of the DPA Qualifiers, in the draw for the first round of this World Series tournament. For Coburn it will also be his debut on the big stage. Of course, Smith already has much more experience there. Smith has already played 26 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.
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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 honours. In the nine regular World Series tournaments Humphries has played, he has never even reached the final. It is up to 'Cool Hand Luke' to put an end to that at the Australian Darts Masters. Humphries will first have to deal with Joe Comito. The Australian secured a starting spot for this tournament through the DPA Qualifiers. Comito has been to Wollongong twice before, but he never won a leg. In 2022, he lost 6-0 to Michael Smith in the first round, and last year he was treated to a whitewash by Damon Heta.
Australian fans will be eagerly awaiting the fifth game of the evening, as Luke Littler will play his first game on Australian soil. '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 from Australia due to his recently undergoing dental surgery. We have seen Littler's opponent Rob Modra at the World Series in the distant past. He competed at the Auckland Darts Masters in 2015 and 2017.
In terms of posterity, the duel between Peter Wright and Simon Whitlock is the most appealing match of the first round. Two darts veterans who have been active on the PDC Tour for ages, but both are also slipping. Whitlock has already dropped to 51st place in the world rankings, while Wright has lost his spot in the global top-10 this year. Whitlock reached the final of a World Series tournament once a decade ago. That was at the Singapore Darts Masters, when the final victory eventually went to Michael van Gerwen. Wright won four World Series titles in the past, including the Nordic Darts Masters in 2023. In 2018, the Scot was also successful on Australian soil by taking the overall victory at the Melbourne Darts Masters.
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The best Australian dart player at the moment is Damon Heta, the current number nine in the world rankings. Last year, 'The Heat' had a strong tournament in Wollongong, as victories over Joe Comito (6-0), Gerwyn Price (6-3) and Dimitri van den Bergh (7-6) even saw Heta make it to the final. That was his second final on the World Series circuit, after he sensationally won the Brisbane Darts Masters in 2019. Still Heta is the only player ever to win a World Series title as a "local representative. His opponent John Hurring managed to win the qualifying tournament for New Zealand darters. For him, it will be his third World Series entry, but the first time he is not playing against Rob Cross. In 2018, he lost 6-5 to Cross in the first round of the Auckland Darts Masters, while Cross was too strong 6-2 in the first round of the New South Wales Darts Masters last year.
Defending champion Cross is up in the last match of the first round. 'Voltage' 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. Meanwhile, Cross already has four World Series titles, three of which he won Down Under. His opponent Haupai Puha has seen more of Cross this year, because the New Zealander is in the possession of a PDC Tour Card since this season. It has not yet led to a confrontation between Cross and Puha on the Pro Tour. In the past Puha played in two Euro Tour tournaments and reached the last sixteen of a Players Championship tournament. Twice he made it past the first round, including at the New Zealand Darts Masters in 2023 by defeating Dimitri van den Bergh 6-2.
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.
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Playing schedule Australian Darts Masters 2024
Friday, Aug. 9 (from 10 a.m.)
First round
Dimitri Van den Bergh v Jeremy fa*gg
Gerwyn Price v Brenton Lloyd
Michael Smith v Stuart Coburn
Luke Humphries v Joe Comito
Luke Littler v Rob Modra
Peter Wright v Simon Whitlock
Damon Heta v John Hurring
Rob Cross v Haupai Puha
Saturday, Aug. 10 (from 10:00 a.m.)
Quarterfinal
Semifinals
Final
