Schedule opening day US Darts Masters 2025: Luke Littler, Luke Humphries & Michael van Gerwen in action in New York

On the night from Friday to Saturday, the seventh edition of the US Darts Masters begins. Fans who want to watch this tournament will face a short night. Due to the time difference with New York, the event will be played in the night for British viewers The first match starts at 00:00 a.m. and the session is expected to last until 04:00.

The US Darts Masters is part of the World Series of Darts. The tournament had its debut in 2017, when it was still hosted in Las Vegas. Michael van Gerwen won that first edition by defeating Daryl Gurney 8-6 in the final. In 2018, Gary Anderson added his name to the list of winners after a win over Rob Cross. A year later, in 2019, it was Nathan Aspinall who took the title by beating Michael Smith.

Due to the corona pandemic, the tournament was dropped in 2020 and 2021. In 2022, the US Darts Masters returned to the PDC calendar, and the event was held for the first time at New York's iconic Madison Square Garden. Michael Smith then grabbed the title after winning over Van Gerwen in the final match. In 2023, Van Gerwen took revenge by knocking off Jeff Smith by a whopping 8-0 in the final. A year later, in 2024, it was Rob Cross who could hold up the trophy after a thrilling 8-7 victory over Gerwyn Price.
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A debutant at the US Darts Masters. For Damon Heta it is the first time he was allowed to travel to New York and also the first time he gets to play a regular World Series tournament outside of Oceania. A nice reward for 'The Heat', who has been in the top-10 of the world for almost a year now. His opponent Jim Long gets to compete in the US Darts Masters for the third time. Long, who captured a Tour Card at this year's Q-School, last competed at this event in 2023. Then he caused a surprise by defeating Peter Wright, before losing in the quarter-finals to eventual tournament winner Michael van Gerwen.

The second match of this session is also one between two Tour Card holders. Rob Cross traveled to the 'Big Apple' as the defending champion, where he won his fourth of now five World Series titles. Danny Lauby was in action earlier this month at the World Cup of Darts, where he managed to lead his struggling teammate Jules van Dongen past Bahrain. Against Hong Kong, however, the Americans came up short, bringing the tournament to an end in the group stage. It will be Lauby's fourth participation in the US Darts Masters, but he has not yet managed to floor one of the PDC top players.

For now, there is almost no measure of Stephen Bunting at the 2025 World Series tournaments. 'The Bullet' was the best at the Bahrain Darts Masters in January, while he finished second at the Dutch Darts Masters in Den Bosch. In early June, Bunting was winner of the Nordic Darts Masters, which means he now has two of the three 2025 World Series tournaments to his name. Jason Brandon made his debut at the 2023 World Series tournament in New York, losing to Rob Cross in the first round. Last year, Brandon was missing from the event. For this edition, Brandon qualified through the CDC Qualifiers, as he did in 2023.

Adam Sevada also secured a spot at the US Darts Masters via the same qualifying tournament. The American, who has already won two CDC Pro Tours this year, also made his appearance at Madison Square Garden last year and then went down 6-1 to Rob Cross in the opening round. Where he faced the eventual winner last year, Sevada now starts against the 2024 losing finalist. Gerwyn Price performed especially solidly at the 2025 World Series tournaments. Twice he reached the semifinals, while Price lost the final to Stephen Bunting in Bahrain. These performances put "The Iceman" in third place at this tournament.

Around 2:00 a.m. UK time, it is Jules van Dongen's turn. It is his last match for 'The Dutch Dragon' for the time being, as Van Dongen has announced he will temporarily put his arrows away after this tournament to 'completely reset'. The Dutch American has been struggling with his form for over a year. Van Dongen did get a nice poster to close the event, though. He gets to take on reigning world champion Luke Littler. 'The Nuke' will no doubt be eager to wash away the disappointing World Cup participation with an individual success in New York.

On paper, the most interesting encounter of the first round. Matt Campbell is the reigning North American champion and is also considered the highest ranked North American player in the world rankings. 'The Ninja' has been in possession of a PDC Tour Card since 2022 and has also managed to qualify for the World Darts Championship each time. However, he faces a Nathan Aspinall in good form. 'The Asp' reached the semifinals of the Premier League Darts and already captured two Euro Tour titles in 2025. In America, Aspinall has also enjoyed success before, as he became winner of the 2019 US Darts Masters when the tournament was still being played in Las Vegas. Two years ago, Aspinall and Campbell also met at the US Darts Masters. Back then, 'The Asp' triumphed 6-4.

New York will always be a special place for Luke Humphries, as it is the city where he proposed to his girlfriend Kayley in 2024. A year earlier, Humphries had reached the semifinals on his debut at the US Darts Masters and then surprisingly lost to Canadian giant Jeff Smith. Last year, Humphries was again stranded in the semifinals, then against Rob Cross. Stowe Buntz made an impressive entrance on the PDC circuit with wins over Peter Wright, Stephen Bunting and Andrew Gilding at the 2023 Grand Slam of Darts. It remained just this one outlier, however. Buntz also competed twice at the World Darts Championship at Alexandra Palace, but lost twice in the first round there. Last year, on his debut at the US Darts Masters, Buntz lost in the first round to Nathan Aspinall (6-2).

At the end of the session it is time for Michael van Gerwen, who will make his appearance at around 03:30 UK time. It will be his first official match for 'Mighty Mike' since his defeat against Nathan Aspinall during the 16th round of the Premier League Darts in Sheffield on May 22. Two days later, unexpected news came out that the marriage between Van Gerwen and his ex-wife Daphne had ended. The 36-year-old Dutchman decided to withdraw from the subsequent tournaments to focus on settling the divorce. He is now making his comeback in New York, where he took the title in 2023. Previously, Van Gerwen was also a winner at the 2017 US Darts Masters. He will make his comeback against Leonard Gates, who has made regular appearances on PDC stages. For the past two years, Gates did miss the World Series tournament at home. The American last competed in 2022, when he made it to the last eight by defeating Fallon Sherrock. Earlier this season, Gates already managed to win the CDC Cross-Border Challenge, which has already secured his participation in the World Darts Championship later this year.