Preview World Series of Darts Finals 2024: Who will win the tenth edition of the culmination in Amsterdam?

The 2024 World Series of Darts Finals will be played out this weekend from Friday, Sept. 13, through Sunday, Sept. 15, at the AFAS Live in Amsterdam. For several years, the Dutch capital has hosted the final tournament of the World Series of Darts.

As the name of this tournament dictates, participants from quite a few different countries are present at the World Series of Darts Finals. The 32 participants come from 14 different countries. For the Dutch fans this is annually one of the rare opportunities to see the best darts players in the world at work in their own country.

It is the 10th time the World Series of Darts Finals has been played. The tournament has had four winners in the past. Michael van Gerwen won the first two editions in 2015 and 2016 by beating Peter Wright each time. In 2017, 2019 and 2023, he was again the best at this tournament.

James Wade won the 2018 edition, while the event had Welsh winners at each of the three subsequent editions. Gerwyn Price triumphed in 2020 and 2022, while Jonny Clayton in between won the event in 2021. In 2023, Van Gerwen was again the big winner after he was too strong for Nathan Aspinall in the final, 11-4.

It will be the fifth edition in the Netherlands. The first time was in 2019, when Van Gerwen managed to win this tournament for the fourth time. In 2020, the event took place in Salzburg, Austria, before the final tournament of the World Series returned in 2021 at the AFAS Live in Amsterdam.

A large number of players were invited based on their position on the World Series Order of Merit. The top eight of that ranking had protected status in the draw for this tournament.

Furthermore, the four highest-ranked players in the world rankings who had not yet qualified were also added to the lineup. Finally, eight more starting spots were up for grabs in a qualifying tournament for PDC Tour Card holders. Andrew Gilding received a last-minute invitation because Nathan Aspinall had to withdraw due to injury.

Top-8 seeding list: Luke Littler, Gerwyn Price, Rob Cross, Luke Humphries, Michael van Gerwen, Michael Smith, Peter Wright, Dimitri van den Bergh

World Series Order of Merit Qualifiers: Damon Heta, Nathan Aspinall, Stephen Bunting, Gian van Veen, Boris Krcmar, Johan Engström, Jeff Smith, Kevin Doets, Raymond van Barneveld, Danny Noppert, Haupai Puha, Simon Whitlock

PDC Order of Merit Qualifiers: Dave Chisnall, Jonny Clayton, Ross Smith, Chris Dobey

Tour Card Holders Qualifiers: Wessel Nijman, Jose de Sousa, Keane Barry, Gabriel Clemens, Cameron Menzies, Daryl Gurney, Dirk van Duijvenbode, Rhys Griffin

Luke Humphries, as world champion and world number one, remains the biggest favourite for the overall victory. This tournament is the next chance for "Cool Hand Luke" to further pad his record. At almost all the televised tournaments in the coming months, Humphries is the defending champion, so this is one of the last tournaments of this year for the Englishman where he will not go as defending champion.

Humphries' biggest competitors are Luke Littler and Michael van Gerwen. The three top favourites for the title at the World Series Finals are all on the same side of the bracket, though, so at most one of them could make the final. Van Gerwen could face Humphries as early as the quarterfinals, while Littler could face either Van Gerwen or Humphries in the semifinals. The road to that will be tough enough as Van Gerwen opens his tournament against the always dangerous Jonny Clayton. For Littler, the tournament begins with a clash against Ross Smith. Humphries has a favourable draw with Haupai Puha.

Because the three big favourites are at the top of the schedule, that obviously creates opportunities for the players at the bottom to make a televised final. A good contender for that is Rob Cross, who won the US Darts Masters this year and made two other World Series finals.

Two other outsiders as far as we are concerned are Peter Wright and Dave Chisnall, who have shown good form on the Euro Tour in recent weeks. Wright took the title at the German Darts Championship, and Chisnall won the Flanders Darts Trophy. However, fate has paired Wright and Chisnall together in the draw, immediately flying a good contender for a final place out of the tournament.

*** Luke Humphries

** Michael van Gerwen, Luke Littler

* Rob Cross, Peter Wright, Dave Chisnall

First round: Best of 11 legs

Second round: Best of 11 legs

Quarterfinals: Best of 19 legs

Semifinals: Best of 21 legs

Final: Best of 21 legs

From Friday, Sept. 13 to Sunday, Sept. 15, the 2024 World Series of Darts Finals will be played at the AFAS Live in Amsterdam. The tournament will be broadcast in its entirety by ITV4 and ITVX in the UK.The first broadcast begins at 6 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 13. That is when the first part of the first round of the World Series of Darts Finals is scheduled. ITV4 will show this in full. It will also be shown on ITVX.

In the afternoon session on Saturday, Sept. 14, the final eight matches from the first round will be played. The winners of these matches, like Friday night's winners, will compete in the second round on Saturday night. The eight remaining players will make their appearance on Sunday afternoon, Sept. 15, during the quarterfinals. On Sunday night, the denouement of the major tournament in the Netherlands will be with the semifinals and finals.

All participants are guaranteed 5,000 pounds of starting money. If a player wins his first round, that amount increases to 10,000 pounds. A spot in the quarterfinals of the World Series of Darts Finals earns £17,500.

Four players remain on the final night. The players in the semifinals return home with £25,000 in prize money anyway. The finalists secure £40,000, while the winner takes home the top prize of £80,000. The prize money won does not count toward the world rankings.

The World Series tournaments are international events of the PDC organized to promote the sport beyond the (Western) European borders.

Earlier this year, tournaments also took place in Bahrain, the Netherlands, the United States, Denmark, Poland, Australia and New Zealand. Past World Series tournaments have also been scheduled in Dubai, Singapore, Japan, Scotland, China, Germany and Austria.