"Normally Kirsty is with me but I'm on my own": No New York distractions for Nathan Aspinall flying solo at US Darts Masters

The iconic Madison Square Garden in New York will host the US Darts Masters, part of the World Series of Darts, next weekend. One of the players to look forward to is Nathan Aspinall. Plagued by injury and dartitus, 'The Asp' had a shaky 2024, but is back at it again this year.

Aspinall has already won two European Tour tournaments this year. In addition, he lost another final of the European Tour and also one of the Players Championship. The 33-year-old Englishman also reached the playoffs in the Premier League Darts, where he lost 10-7 to eventual winner Luke Humphries.

The US Darts Masters was first held in 2017. In 2019, Aspinall, then in Las Vegas, won the tournament by defeating Michael Smith in the final. Aspinall is certainly one of the top favorites for another final victory due to his recent performance.

"Normally Kirsty is with me but I'm on my own so it's a bit different than previous years. But I think I'm going to be more focused on the tournament itself than previous years which hopefully means I go and win it," said Aspinall.

The World Series of Darts aims to make darts grow in popularity in different countries. "Hopefully this new deal with Peacock can get a new audience watching it and get a few people watching thinking that looks really good, that looks really fun and get a few youngsters playing."

Aspinall reached the semifinals earlier this month in the Nordic Darts Masters, the previous tournament of the World Series of Darts. "I played really well last week in Copenhagen nearly had Bunting, maybe if I hadn't missed that double four I would've won that but I'm happy with where my darts are at and where my head is. Go and win this weekend is just another confidence boost looking forward to the ranking events."