Field of participants for New Zealand Darts Masters 2024: Luke Humphries & Luke Littler headline as Michael van Gerwen opts out
PDCFriday, 26 July 2024 at 13:30
The field of participants for the New Zealand Darts Masters 2024 is complete. Luke Humphries and Luke Littler lead the field of participants, while three-time world champion Michael van Gerwen is missing from the trip 'Down Under'.
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Van Gerwen will miss out on the World Series tournaments in Oceania for the second consecutive year. The Dutchman went under the knife for major dental surgery just after the World Matchplay and will need the next few weeks to recover from it.
The New Zealand Darts Masters will take place August 16 and 17 in the New Zealand city of Hamilton. Sixteen players will battle it out over two days to see who will walk away with this World Series of Darts title.
Humphries will make his debut "Down Under," while teen sensation Luke Littler will also travel to the Oceanic continent for the first time. Rob Cross returns to defend his title, while Gerwyn Price, winner of the 2022 tournament, will also make his appearance. Michael Smith, Peter Wright, Dimitri van den Bergh and Damon Heta are the other players who will play on behalf of the PDC's elite.
The best known Oceanic participant is Simon Whitlock, who is traditionally of the party at the tournaments 'Down Under'. He will be joined by, among others, Haupai Puha, the best dart player from New Zealand and, since this year, one of 128 PDC Tour Card holders. Ben Robb, Kayden Milne, Jonny Tata, Mark Cleaver, Daniel Snookes and Jeremy Fagg complete the field of participants.
In the first round of this tournament, the PDC players are paired with one of the Oceanic players. They then compete on the opening day for a spot among the last eight. On Saturday, Aug. 17, the quarterfinals, semifinals and final will be played consecutively. The New Zealand Darts Masters will be broadcast by PDC TV and ITV.
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New Zealand Darts Masters 2024 participant field
Aug. 16-17, GLOBOX Arena, Hamilton
PDC players
Luke Humphries
Michael Smith
Gerwyn Price
Rob Cross
Peter Wright
Luke Littler
Dimitri Van den Bergh
Damon Heta
Oceanic players
Haupai Puha
Simon Whitlock
Mark Cleaver
Kayden Milne
Ben Robb
Jonny Tata
Daniel Snookes
Jeremy Fagg
Kieran WoodDarts Journalist
Kieran Wood is a sports journalist based in Wales and has been active in journalism since 2022. He contributes to DartsNews.com, where he covers professional darts through news, match reports, analysis, and live coverage across the PDC calendar and major tournaments.
A key part of his work is on-site reporting from leading events. Kieran has covered the PDC World Darts Championship in person, reporting daily from the venue and providing first-hand insight from the tournament. During his coverage, he has conducted interviews with leading players including Luke Littler, Luke Humphries, and Gerwyn Price.
He is also one of the leading voices of the English-language Dartsnews Podcast, contributing regular analysis and discussion on developments across the professional darts circuit.
In his reporting, Kieran places strong emphasis on careful sourcing, editorial accuracy, and updating articles when new, verified information becomes available.
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- I loved Jan and loved his walk on music "Explode" by Jordan & Baker. I think if he stuck around the BDO he definitely would have been World Champion, should have won in 2014, he never really showed any of his talent in the PDC. I remembered he worked in a bank or in finance and maybe that was his priority, he was also a fan and interested in magic. Definitely should have achieved much more in darts than he did. Wherever you are nowadays Jan, hope all is well and I was always a fan.richieburnettrocks11-09-2026
- Not much of a tournament really,is it? Now they've all pulled out,it's open for everyone. I'm sure if you bought tickets,you'd be disappointed. Doesn't that seem to bother the withdrawals? Not at all!!rick6710-09-2026
- Need to see her take part in the womens tour. She'll break the inernet.medinabello08-09-2026
- If he can be bothered? He won't play darts in Germany yet he'll go over and get an award!??rick6702-09-2026
- Why is this the main story? He chose not to compete in loads of tournaments,yes he's number 1 in the world,but he does have to turn up at tournaments! Play the next world championship in Dortmund and see if he turns up!!rick6727-08-2026
- This is exactly what I mean,littler survives the 1st round,I think you'll find a lot of other players did. Can you just report on the real sport,and not just 1 person. I like Luke,but this is getting boring now,as Kevin painter once said to Taylor!! The sport is about every player,not 1 who everyone seems to have put the sport on the map.,which he hasn't,he's just got in when the money is massive. Great as he is,it seems like what's the point in anyone trying,he's going to win everything,unless it's in Germany or Australia!!!rick6726-08-2026
- I mean look, Littler's picture is first,wattimena is second and he won! Level it up. I know littler is fantastic,but the sport was here before him,and will be when he's retired. Any player in the top 64/128 can beat each other,it's not big news. Poor Jermaine,wins it,and not even the headline!!rick6726-08-2026
- I appreciate that littler is a fantastic player,but the top 3 articles are about him. Before he'd thrown a dart in the tournament. Level it out a bit, Taylor and van gerwen soon got disliked as the media could only see them,and nobody else seemed to matterrick6725-08-2026
- The two-point Lucky Loser qualifiers are Ross Smith, Robb, Whitlock, Sakai, Ilagan and Toylo. Jermaine is not on the entries list on Dartconnect for the TCH qualifier so the four from the main OoM are probably Searle, Nijman, Dobey, Wattimena.Scoobedybop24-08-2026
- The two-point Lucky Loser qualifiers are Ross Smith, Robb, Whitlock, Sakai, Ilagan and Toylo. Jermaine is not on the entries list on Dartconnect for the TCH qualifier so the four from the main OoM are probably Searle, Nijman, Dobey, Wattimena.Scoobedybop24-08-2026
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