Melbourne Darts Masters Preview

After the excitement of Auckland culminating in an excellent but un-expected final, the World Series heads to Melbourne for the first of two events in Australia.
Auckland finalists Kyle Anderson and Corey Cadby will again headline for the non-seeds, both will be hoping to make the most of a home crowd as they attempt to reach the same stage again. Seed Simon Whitlock will also be hoping for crowd support as he plays in Australia as the seeded player for the first time.
Its unchanged in the seed ranks; Gary Anderson, Peter Wright and Phil Taylor are joined by James Wade, Michael Smith, Raymond van Barneveld, Daryl Gurney and the previously mentioned Simon Whitlock. All eight will be looking to avoid an early upset, keeping one eye on the World Series Order of Merit with Michael van Gerwen again absent. The Scottish world cup pairing of Anderson and Wright will be particularly keen to atone for last weeks first round losses.
In the qualifiers ranks, Rhys Mathewson and David Platt will again appear in the world series. The pair both had memorable games in Sydney last year for differing reasons. Mathewson produced a fabulous comeback against James Wade from 5-2 down to win 6-5 as the Machine missed handfuls of doubles. Platt wasn’t as successful as Matthewson, but was featured in stories all the same as he noticeably upset Gary Anderson, the 2-Time world champion upset with Platts antics whilst collecting his darts from the board.
Dave Marland and Justin Thompson will make their TV debuts, whilst Kiwi Koha Kokiri will return to our tv screens after appearances in the 2015 World Championships and 2016 Perth Masters. Cody Harris completes the line-up, the talented Kiwi world cup player still yet to fully show what he is capable of to a UK audience.
Coverage will be available internationally via numerous associated betting websites, whilst UK coverage will again be delayed on ITV4.
Unibet Melbourne Darts Masters - Final Field
PDC Representatives
Gary Anderson
Peter Wright
James Wade
Phil Taylor
Raymond van Barneveld
Michael Smith
Simon Whitlock
Daryl Gurney
Oceanic Representatives
Invited Player: Kyle Anderson
Top three players from DPA World Series Order of Merit: Corey Cadby, Rhys Mathewson & Justin Thompson
DPNZ Qualifier: Cody Harris
DPA Qualifiers: David Platt, Dave Marland, Koha Kokiri