Schedule Friday at New Zealand Darts Masters: Luke Littler, Luke Humphries, Rob Cross and Gerwyn Price all begin Hamilton campaign
PDC
Fans who want to watch the New Zealand Darts Masters 2024 on Friday should get there early. Due to the time difference, the first matches of the World Series tournament in the New Zealand city of Hamilton start as early as 9:00 a.m. Dutch time.
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The Globox Arena in Hamilton has been the regular venue for New Zealand's annual World Series tournament for several years. In 2019, Michael van Gerwen managed to take the title there by beating Raymond van Barneveld (8-1) in the final. The corona pandemic prevented the tournament from taking place in 2020 and 2021, but the PDC stars were able to return in 2022. Then the title went to Gerwyn Price, who was 8-4 too strong for Jonny Clayton in the final. In 2023, the New Zealand Darts Masters was won by Rob Cross after 'Voltage' settled Nathan Aspinall (8-7) in the final.
The first match on Friday morning is between Peter Wright and Daniel Snookes. Wright tanked confidence last week by getting a good result with a semi-final place at the Australian Darts Masters in Wollongong. It was a boost for "Snakebite," who has been struggling with his form for several months. Wright won four World Series titles in the past, including the Nordic Darts Masters in 2023. In 2018, the Scot was also successful on Oceanic soil by taking the overall victory at the Melbourne Darts Masters. His opponent Snookes is relatively unknown player, who is making his appearance on the New Zealand darts circuit this year. He qualified for this tournament via one of the qualifiers.
Next, Dimitri van den Bergh and Mark Cleaver take the stage at the Globox Arena. The Belgian is regularly used by the PDC to promote the sport worldwide, as it will be his seventeenth regular World Series tournament for 'The Dreammaker'. 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. Last week, Van den Bergh made it to the semifinals at the Australian Darts Masters by beating Luek Humphries, among others. Cleaver has made an appearance at the World Series in the distant past. He competed in one tournament each in 2017 and 2018.
Former world champion Michael Smith was paired in the draw for the first round of this World Series tournament with Jeremy Fagg, who is eligible to compete via the DPA Order of Merit. Smith has already played 27 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. His opponent Fagg makes regular appearances on the DPA Tour, the circuit for darters from Australia. On that tour last year, Fagg managed to win four of the 12 tournaments he competed in.
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 ten regular World Series tournaments Humphries has played, he never even reached the final. Also last week in Australia it didn't work out for 'Cool Hand Luke', who surprisingly went down in the quarterfinals against Dimitri van den Bergh. A new chance for Humphries is coming up in Hamilton. Then Humphries will first have to deal with Kayden Milne. Milne is a 24-year-old dart player who has been to the World Series in the past. In 2022, Milne even recorded a victory at the New Zealand Darts Masters by defeating Fallon Sherrock 6-5. He then lost 6-0 to Michael Smith in the quarterfinals.
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Gerwyn Price will cross swords with Ben Robb, who is one of New Zealand's best-known darters, in New Zealand. Robb already got to compete four times at the World Darts Championship at Alexandra Palace and also played at this year's World Cup of Darts. Price provided a huge boost to his confidence last week by taking the title at the Australian Darts Masters. He now returns to the place where Price managed to win the title in 2022.
Defending champion Rob Cross is up in the sixth match of the first round. 'Voltage' faces Haupai Puha again this time. Last week Cross narrowly won 6-5 against Puha in the first round of the Australian Darts Masters, but the New Zealander will get a retake against the defending champion in front of his own audience at the New Zealand Darts Masters. Cross 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. Cross currently holds four World Series titles, three of which he won Down Under.Puha managed to reach the second round once in the past. That was by beating Dimitri van den Bergh 6-2 in the first round of the New Zealand Darts Masters in 2022.
Luke Littler will play his first game on New Zealand soil against Jonny Tata. '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 New Zealand due to his recently undergoing dental surgery. Last week in Australia, Littler again made it to the final, but had to settle for first place. His fourth final this season puts 'The Nuke' at the top of the World Series Order of Merit. We remember Tata from the New Zealand Darts Masters in 2023, when the New Zealander was too strong for Peter Wright in the first round. However, he has a tough task ahead of him to pull off another surprise in front of his own crowd.
The first round will conclude with a clash between Australians Damon Heta and Simon Whitlock, who together won the title for their country at the World Cup of Darts in 2022. Whitlock reached the final of a World Series tournament once ten years ago. That was at the Singapore Darts Masters, when the final victory eventually went to Michael van Gerwen. At the time, Whitlock was still considered the best dart player from Australia, but 'The Wizard' lost that status to Heta several years ago. 'The Heat' caused a sensation in 2019 by winning the Brisbane Darts Masters as the 'local representative', which means Heta already has a World Series title in his pocket, unlike Whitlock.
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As with every World Series tournament, the field of participants consists of 16 players. Eight PDC stars will take on eight local players on the opening day. Then the event is completed on the second day with the quarterfinals, semifinals and finals in succession.
Schedule New Zealand Darts Masters 2024
Friday, Aug. 16 (from 8 a.m.)
First round
Peter Wright v Daniel Snookes
Dimitri Van den Bergh v Mark Cleaver
Michael Smith v Jeremy Fagg
Luke Humphries v Kayden Milne
Gerwyn Price v Ben Robb
Rob Cross v Haupai Puha
Luke Littler v Jonny Tata
Damon Heta v Simon Whitlock
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- And why should he listen to you?Deduce635807-11-2026
- Ultimately it is a bye for whoever draws Barney. It will be another stroppy and sulky performance once he goes behind. Barney was excellent but really must completely call it a day now.richieburnettrocks07-11-2026
- I'm disappointed he was not able to secure a spot at the Grand Slam. With Carl Sneyd taking care of Daryl Gurney, he would have had to beat Andy Boulton before facing the winner of Sneyd vs Mensur Suljović for a Grand Slam spot. Unfortunately, after beating Filip Bereza comfortably, he succumbed to Boulton, and the board would ultimately be won by the highly inconsistent Carl Sneyd. Since he could instead have been drawn against the likes of Cristo Reyes, Dirk van Duijvenbode and Stephen Bunting, I think once Gurney was out of the picture he would have been favourite to win his board, and it seems like a massive missed opportunity to put 5 grand on his ranking and seal another major TV appearance ahead of the Worlds. The highs and lows of following Raymond van Barneveld!Deduce635806-11-2026
- Probably i will receive a lot of backlash and hate for this reaction, but well, so be it. I am more than sick and tired of those lies of you Barry Hearn. How dare you defend yourself over the back of Fallon’s son! He has a disability and not an illness, so let me correct that for you! I know because I have the exact same disability. I have tried to reach out to Fallon in the past, and offered her to help her and her son, because I was struggling with the same problems, and I understood the boy. I wanted him to have finally someone who understood him. However she told me that she did not want my help, and I have respected Fallon’s choice. I have never asked Fallon for money. They don’t need money in that case. I only ever wanted the best for Fallon and Rory, but I have to be honest about the situation. Fallon should tell the true story and not be forced to tell lies. I don’t hate Fallon, and I don’t begrudge or envy a single penny that she gets, but this situation/case is just not fair. I hate the lies and the dishonesty and injustice. I don’t want Fallon to be hated because there is an unfair disadvantage created. Don’t proclaim your false lies over the back of Rory! I only stand for integrity and justice. I am precisely the one who always sticks up for Fallon. And you don't, you don't give a damn about them. You were never there for them, and now you only want to save your own position! You are just trying to talk your way out of your own bad behavior at the expense of someone with a disability. And to Fallon, I don’t know if this may ever reach you, and you read it, but I want you to know I love you and I love your son Rory very much, I am sorry how things developed and went. I hope you and Harriet are still friends. I am sorry if I were too persistent to you, or you experienced it that way, but it was never my intention. Please understand I have autism as well. As Barry Hearn would say, I am only just a human being too, and I also make mistakes and misjudge things sometimes. I promise you I did everything out of the deepest love and care for you and Rory. If I were you, I should just keep all the money, only please never be dishonest or tell lies anymore for Barry Hearn, or anyone else. I hope you have the best life, and I wish nothing more than the best for you. I have always loved the two of you. Farewell.Hiddo05-11-2026
- She is a professional. If darts is her income, she is a professional. Same as Adrian Lewis, Martin Adams. A tour card just means someone can play on the PDC tour. You could even make a case that Clayton wasn't a professional (until recently I believe) because he had employment elsewhere.BandB04-11-2026
- She's technically not a professional though as she doesn't hold a pro tour card.mr-pablo04-11-2026
- Such a shame that lakeside has been reduced to this. Fantastic venue,and previously a great tournament. Not any morerick6703-11-2026
- Seems to me that the top 16 players pick and choose whatever they want to play. Good,all the money will get spread out more. They get more money from exhibitions than tournaments so let them all withdrawrick6703-11-2026
- Play all legs and the winners split the pot. Luke gets the lot of he wins them all. If your occupation is darts player you can't enter, regardless of ability.BandB01-11-2026
- I'm quite a jaded person all things considered, but to be honest I found Beat Luke Littler to be pretty entertaining. It certainly wasn't seamless, which is to be expected given the lack of precedence, but I actually think the pacing was pretty good, the production was impressive, and there was a good sense of humour and levity to it. I think it was a very ambitious undertaking but one that, for the most part, paid off. I liked the system with the four pots and I think it added to the drama and intrigue. I enjoyed seeing the diverse range of entrants and learning about their backstories. I think the interactivity was pretty clever and well-integrated. The panel was a little incoherent at times; Lee Mack shone however, and his improvisational skills were appreciated during some more awkward interstitial moments. As far as the darts is concerned, it was a shame that the format didn't allow Littler to get into full flow. You obviously don't want him to steamroll everyone but you want to feel like you're getting the full Littler package rather than seeing him struggling to get out of first gear. I will say that his leg against Jayden Walker was very impressive, but it was mostly downhill from there. The attraction revolves around Littler being this untouchable, indomitable force, yet the format doesn't really allow him to fulfil that characterisation. As for Fallon Sherrock, she was mightily impressive and deserved the victory. It is a testament to her unshakeable character that she was able to bang in a 14-darter under such mind-bending pressure. Everything that has been said about the misleading marketing is valid, though they were clear about their eligibility criteria and were able to offload the responsibility somewhat by bringing the viewers into the decision-making process in real time. What is clear though, is that Fallon played the game according to the rules, and she should not be criticised for that, much less abused. I will admit though that it is a kick in the teeth for those true amateurs who committed time and money to the course, and I would also question those who think pub players would have no chance, given that some of Littler's winning legs were dispatched in 7 visits to the board! The great thing about darts is that it isn't so much that amateurs cannot replicate the feats of brilliance pulled off by professionals of the sport, than it is that they simply cannot replicate the consistency of their output, something that this format almost entirely removes from the equation. It should also be noted that, financially, Fallon certainly stands to benefit much less in relative terms from the paycheque than would your average pub thrower, as I'm sure she nets a fair income from the lucrative exhibition circuit alone. What I do hope is that she might use this as an opportunity to really build up a head of steam heading into the new season, as it seems long overdue that she come through Q-School and really take it to the pros on a week-in week-out basis, but whatever she chooses to do, she has certainly achieved enough already for one if not several lifetimes, so who am I to dictate terms? To conclude though, I will state once again that I found Beat Luke Littler to be a pretty enjoyable evening of entertainment. I do feel for the contestants who never actually had the chance to try their luck against the world #1, although I suppose it comes with the format, but all which inevitably raises the question: will Netflix be tempted to do it all again next year? It's hard to say. Whether it would be financially viable, I can't weigh in there. One point I have been making though, and which I touched on earlier, is that the entire concept relies on a public perception that Littler is more or less unbeatable, and that certainly hasn't been the case of late. If the execs had been trying to pitch the show in recent months while Littler has seemed vulnerable, rather than when he was mopping up almost every major title on the calendar, it would certainly be a tougher sell. We will have to see in about 6 months' time whether Littler can still reliably command perception as a near-unstoppable force in darts, and then we'll have a clearer idea about whether we should expect a second helping. Even as a one-off experiment though, and with all the controversy taken into account, I still don't think they disgraced themselves by any means, and that will probably be my lingering assessment of the event when all is said and done.Deduce635801-11-2026
