Schedule Australian Darts Masters 2024: Final day featuring Humphries v Van den Bergh and Littler v Smith

Saturday, 10 August 2024 at 07:28

As expected, the eight PDC stars all survived the first round of the Australian Darts Open on Friday. On Saturday, the tournament will continue from 10:00 a.m. with the quarterfinals, semifinals and final, respectively. Read our preview here.

At the end of Saturday afternoon, we will know who can call himself the first winner of the Australian Darts Masters. The past two years have also been played at the WIN Entertainment Centre in Wollongong, but back then the tournament was still known as the New South Wales Darts Masters. In 2022 the title in Wollongong went to Jonny Clayton and in 2023 Rob Cross ran away with the title.

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Luke Littler v Michael Smith

We begin the quarterfinals with a spectacular clash between Luke Littler and Michael Smith. 'The Nuke' is, for now, the most successful player at the 2024 World Series. Just days before his seventeenth birthday, he won January's Bahrain Darts Masters, while Littler also claimed the title at the Poland Darts Masters in June. In between, he lost in the final of the Dutch Darts Masters to Michael van Gerwen, who is missing from Australia due to his recently undergoing dental surgery.

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Smith has already played 26 regular World Series tournaments. Three times 'Bullyboy' managed to win one, including the first Bahrain Darts Masters in 2023. Smith has been allowed to travel to 'Down Under' before, where he reached the final once. In 2018, the Englishman lost to Peter Wright in the final of the Melbourne Darts Masters.

Both Englishmen managed to get through their first round Friday without any problems. Littler beat Rob Modra 6-2, and Smith won by the same figures from Stuart Coburn. The balance between them is 5-4 in Smith's favor, although Littler did pick up wins in three of the last four matches.

Luke Humphries v Dimitri Van den Bergh

Luke Humphries has added a slew of television titles to his record this past year, but a World Series title is still missing from his list of honors. In the nine regular World Series tournaments Humphries has played, he has never even reached the final. It was up to 'Cool Hand Luke' to put an end to that at the Australian Darts Masters. After his 6-1 victory over Joe Comito, Dimitri van den Bergh is the next obstacle for the reigning world champion.

The Belgian started his tournament with an easy 6-1 victory over Jeremy Fagg. Van den Bergh has had considerable success on the World Series circuit in the past. In 2022, he won the Nordic Darts Masters and the Dutch Darts Masters. In addition, Van den Bergh was in the final of a World Series tournament twice more, and also made it to the final match of the 2021 World Series Finals.

The two players also met recently at the World Matchplay. Then Humphries drew 10-6, while Van den Bergh took victory in the final of the UK Open earlier this year. The overall head-to-head is 11-6 in favor of Humphries.

Luke Humphries never reached a final on the World Series circuit

Rob Cross v Peter Wright

Defending champion Rob Cross may make his appearance in the third quarterfinal. 'Voltage' had an excellent World Series block in June, when he managed to reach the final at all three tournaments in New York, Copenhagen and Gliwice. In New York, Cross even got to lift the big cup. Meanwhile, Cross already has four World Series titles, three of which were won in 'Down Under'. The 33-year-old Englishman was almost out on Friday, but eventually narrowly won 6-5 against Haupai Puha.

Peter Wright had it a lot easier in that regard. The Scot started his tournament with a 6-1 victory over Simon Whitlock and did not even make an undeserving impression. Wright won four World Series titles in the past, including the Nordic Darts Masters in 2023. In 2018, the Scot was also successful on Australian soil by taking the overall victory at the Melbourne Darts Masters.

It will be the 35th official meeting between Wright and Cross. Of the previous matches, Cross won eighteen. Fourteen times the win went to Wright and twice it was a draw in the former format of Premier League Darts. The most recent clash between Wright and Cross was won 6-3 by "Snakebite," although that was also his only win in the last seven encounters with his English darts colleague.

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Gerwyn Price v Damon Heta

Gerwyn Price has only won one tournament so far this year, but that was at the World Series. In June, he won the Nordic Darts Masters. In 2022, the Welshman also provided success at the New Zealand Masters, while Price has also won the World Series Finals twice (2020 and 2022). 'The Iceman' left quite an impression in the first round on Friday. Thanks to an average of 95.18, he triumphed 6-2 against Brenton Lloyd.

Price will play in the quarterfinals against the only player who did not lose a leg in his opening round. Damon Heta defeated John Hurring 6-0 for a spot in the last eight. Last year 'The Heat' had a strong tournament in Wollongong, as victories over Joe Comito (6-0), Gerwyn Price (6-3) and Dimitri van den Bergh (7-6) saw Heta even make it to the final. That was his second final on the World Series circuit, after sensationally winning the Brisbane Darts Masters in 2019. Still Heta is the only player ever to win a World Series title as a "local representative.

In the past, Price has controlled the majority of encounters against Heta. The former world champion triumphed in 11 of the previous 15 duels, although it can be added as a side note that from 2020 to 2022, he managed to win all of the first eight times the Welshman and Australian met.