Nordic Darts Masters 2024 preview: Who will run away with the title at annual stop in Copenhagen?

The World Series circuit moved to Denmark's capital city this week, where the fourth edition of the Nordic Darts Masters is scheduled for this weekend.

The PDC visited Denmark for the first time in 2018. A Euro Tour tournament was played then, just like in 2019. That tournament disappeared from the calendar after two years, but after the corona year 2020, the PDC returned to Scandinavia in renewed form.

A new World Series tournament was rigged in 2021 with the Nordic Darts Masters and that event received a huge attention boost in its debut year as Fallon Sherrock managed to reach the final in sensational fashion. Sherrock defeated Dimitri van den Bergh 11-10 in the semifinals after the "Queen of the Palace" managed to make up an 8-2 and 10-6 deficit. In the final, another shock seemed in the making, as Sherrock cheekily grabbed a 6-3 lead against Michael van Gerwen. The Englishman's fairy tale story did not get a dream ending, however, as Van Gerwen eventually pulled out the longest finish against Sherrock 11-7.

A year after his remarkable defeat against Sherrock, Van den Bergh revenged himself by winning the 2022 edition. The Belgian prevailed in Copenhagen with comfortable wins over Benjamin Drue Reus (6-0), Gerwyn Price (10-5), Michael Smith (11-4) and Gary Anderson (11-5).

In 2022, the Nordic Darts Masters did get a Scottish winner. It was Peter Wright who got to lift the cup, after escaping elimination in his first two duels. After a 6-5 victory over Dennis Nilsson in the first round, "Snakebite" survived a thriller against Van Gerwen (10-9). Then Wright also won over Michael Smith (11-8) and Gerwyn Price (11-5).

As with every World Series tournament, the field of participants consists of eight PDC top players and eight players from the region where the tournament is being played. Unfortunately for Danish fans, Michael van Gerwen and Luke Littler chose not to travel to Denmark. They have chosen to go on holiday for a week   

World champion Luke Humphries will be in attendance. Furthermore, Michael Smith, Nathan Aspinall, Gerwyn Price, Rob Cross, Peter Wright, Dimitri van den Bergh and Stephen Bunting have also received an invitation. Bunting was called up as Van Gerwen's replacement after 'The Bullet' won his first PDC major at the Masters early this season.

Madars Razma, Benjamin Drue-Reus and Jeffrey de Graaf lead the lineup of Nordic & Baltic representatives. They are the only three players from Scandinavia with a PDC Tour Card. They are joined by Marko Kantele, Johan Engstrom, Vladimir Andersen, Dennis Nilsson and Daniel Larsson.

Certainly in the absence of Michael van Gerwen and Luke Littler, reigning world champion Luke Humphries can be called the biggest title favorite prior to the tournament. It is immediately an excellent opportunity for Humphries to win his first World Series title, which is still missing on his record. In his previous eight participations in World Series tournaments, 'Cool Hand Luke' did not even reach the final.

His two biggest challengers were still in the final of the US Darts Masters last week. Rob Cross underlined his top form in recent months, taking the final victory at Madison Square Garden by defeating Gerwyn Price 8-7 in the final. Price has also often been playing excellent matches in recent months, but unlike Cross, 'The Iceman' has not yet managed to turn his form into silverware.

Among the outsiders for the title in Copenhagen are Nathan Aspinall, Michael Smith and Stephen Bunting. Not to mention former tournament winners Dimitri van den Bergh (2022) and Peter Wright (2023). However, they will have to step up their level of play in recent weeks to have a serious shot at the Nordic Darts Masters title.

*** Luke Humphries

** Gerwyn Price, Rob Cross

* Nathan Aspinall, Michael Smith, Stephen Bunting

First round: Best of 11 legs

Quarterfinals: Best of 11 legs

Semifinals: Best of 13 legs

Final: Best of 15 legs

The Nordic Darts Masters will be broadcast on ITV3 and PDC TV. On Friday, June 7 at 7 p.m., the first round of the Nordic Darts Masters will kick off. In this round, the eight PDC top players will take on eight players from the Nordic countries. On behalf of the PDC, Luke Humphries, Michael Smith, Nathan Aspinall, Gerwyn Price, Rob Cross, Peter Wright, Dimitri van den Bergh and Stephen Bunting will be in action.

The eight winners of the first round may return to the Forum Copenhagen stage a day later. Then the quarter-finals, semi-finals and finals will be played consecutively.

The prize pool for this event includes £60,000. This amount is the same at all regular World Series tournaments. All participants are guaranteed 1250 pounds of prize money.

This amount increases further upon winning matches. The losing finalist collects a check for 10,000 pounds, while the winner of the Nordic Darts Masters gets to take home the top prize of 20,000 pounds. By the way, the money does not count toward the PDC Order of Merit.

However, points can be taken for the World Series Order of Merit. All participants in a World Series tournament are guaranteed one point for the World Series Order of Merit. This number increases to three points upon reaching the quarterfinals, and then to five points for a semifinal place. The losing finalist receives eight points and the winner receives 12 points.

Dimitri Van den Bergh v Dennis Nilsson

Nathan Aspinall v Marko Kantele

Gerwyn Price v Madars Razma

Stephen Bunting v Daniel Larsson

Peter Wright v Johan Engstrom

Michael Smith v Paavo Myller

Rob Cross v Jeffrey de Graaf

Luke Humphries v Benjamin Drue Reus

Quarterfinal

Semifinals

Final