Schedule Saturday afternoon at World Series of Darts Finals 2024 with Michael Smith, Peter Wright and Gerwyn Price

The first eight names got themselves in the hat for the second round of the 2024 World Series of Darts Finals on Friday night. This Saturday afternoon, the final eight spots for the second round will be awarded to the winners from the final eight matches taking place in Amsterdam.

Although most of the big names are on the other side of the draw, there are still plenty of great players to be ready for Saturday afternoon. Among others, Michael Smith, Peter Wright and Gerwyn Price will make their appearance during the afternoon session at the AFAS Live in Amsterdam.

At the beginning of the afternoon Kevin Doets takes on Keane Barry in front of his own crowd. Doets owes his invitation to the Dutch Darts Masters earlier this year. There, he scored a fine victory over Peter Wright, before losing to Gerwyn Price in the last eight. Barry qualified for this tournament by advancing through the Tour Card qualifying tournament. For both men, it will be their debut at the World Series of Darts Finals.

The Tour Card qualifying tournament always ensures that even a surprising name qualifies for the final tournament. This year, Rhys Griffin was that rabbit out of the hat. The Welshman has three UK Open appearances to his name, but has not played any other television tournament at the PDC. Griffin will do battle with Jeff Smith, who reached the last eight at the US Darts Masters in July.

For the second year in a row, Dirk van Duijvenbode did not qualify for an automatic invitation or wildcard to the World Series of Darts Finals. But just like last year, 'Aubergenius' qualified for the tournament in his own country by advancing through the Tour Card qualifying tournament. Two years ago, Van Duijvenbode almost managed to win the World Series of Darts Finals. The Dutchman was ahead 10-9 in the final against Price, but eventually lost 10-11 to the Welshman. His upcoming opponent Daryl Gurney also managed to get through the qualifier for Tour Card holders. 'Superchin' consistently competed in the World Series Finals from 2016 through 2020 and managed to reach the semifinals in 2017.

Former World Series Finals champion Gerwyn Price faces a tough challenge on Saturday afternoon. 'The Iceman' will take on Cameron Menzies, who has been in blood form in recent weeks. The Scot was recently in a Players Championship final, sprinkling 100+ averages. But can 'Cammy' do it at a televised tournament? Price is having a somewhat disappointing year this season, but did have success on the World Series circuit. The Welshman managed to win the Nordic Darts Masters and Australian Darts Masters.

Peter Wright was also having a bad season, but has rebounded in recent weeks. He reached the semifinals at the New Zealand Darts Masters and then surprisingly won the German Darts Championship. Snakebite' was also on a good run at the Flanders Darts Trophy, but Wright was stopped in the quarter-finals by eventual winner Dave Chisnall. 'Chizzy' of all people is now Wright's opponent, which means that an outsider for the title must immediately leave the tournament after the first round.

Rob Cross is the next former world champion to take the stage at the AFAS Live. This season's US Darts Masters champion gets to square off against Simon Whitlock. It is one of the few times we see 'The Wizard' at a televised tournament these days. The Australian will have to work very hard to qualify for the World Darts Championship later this year. At the World Series tournaments this year, Whitlock also performed poorly. In two matches at the Australian Darts Masters and New Zealand Darts Masters, he picked up only one leg each time.

Wessel Nijman will then be the last Dutchman in action in the first round of the World Series of Darts Finals. In an excellent debut year on the PDC Pro Tour, he qualified for the World Series of Darts Finals via the Tour Card qualification tournament. He was originally scheduled to take on Nathan Aspinall, but 'The Asp' is still recovering from an arm injury and withdrew. Then former UK Open champion Andrew Gilding was designated to replace Aspinall.

The final match of the first round will be between Michael Smith and Jose de Sousa. For Smith, it will be his first tournament since the World Series tournaments in 'Down Under'. The Englishman then left for Mexico for a holiday with his family, so he missed some tournaments. De Sousa no longer has that luxury. The Special One, winner of the Grand Slam of Darts in 2020, is slipping down the world rankings. In the coming weeks, the Portuguese will have to work hard to qualify for the World Championship, because De Sousa is currently outside the virtual field of participants. The World Series Finals does not count toward the world rankings, but De Sousa could gain some confidence heading into the upcoming ranking tournaments with a good match.

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 conclusion 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.

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

Keane Barry v Kevin Doets

Rhys Griffin v Jeff Smith

Daryl Gurney v Dirk van Duijvenbode

Gerwyn Price v Cameron Menzies

Peter Wright v Dave Chisnall

Rob Cross v Simon Whitlock

Wessel Nijman v Andrew Gilding

Michael Smith v Jose de Sousa