Melbourne Darts Masters 2019 preview and schedule: Friday 16 August

Fifteen will fall and one will plunder in the land Down Under. Most of the cast from last week's Brisbane Darts Masters remains for the Melbourne Darts Masters, but for a sprinkling of new local flavour.

Mick Lacey is a newcomer to the World Series. The debutant will start off proceedings in Melbourne as he takes on Simon Whitlock. The Wizard missed a golden opportunity to claim the Brisbane Darts Masters title, falling in the semi-finals.

A week ago, Raymond van Barneveld and Haupai Puha were level at 2-2 when the Dutch master went up a gear. Four straight legs meant an easy win for Barney. Puha's immediately been given a chance to get revenge.

A pair of Andersons follow that, albeit in different games. Kyle Anderson dumped out Peter Wright last week; now Daryl Gurney is in the firing line. Then Anderson No.2, Gary, plays James Bailey. They met at this stage last year, with the Scot averaging 107 and winning 6-2. Victory for Anderson here could land him a plum quarter-final tie against Michael van Gerwen.

We saw Corey Cadby in Brisbane, but not for long. Australia's rising star was thoroughly put in his place by Gary Anderson. The King's been landed with another tough draw here. Peter Wright opened last year's Melbourne Darts Masters with a 6-0 win, and went on to take the title. How the Scot would love a repeat here, especially as it'd halt a dip in recently scintillating form.

Is anyone else feeling a sense of deja vu? A week ago, James Wade started his Brisbane Darts Masters campaign against Damon Heta. It ended there too; the DPA number one pulled off a shock. Our appetite for upsets was satisfied, but the Heat just kept on giving. Gary Anderson then fell, followed by Simon Whitlock. Heta then stunned Rob Cross in the final for one of the all-time great World Series wins. Perhaps he can repeat the feat at the Melbourne Darts Masters. Wade, however, will hope to have learned from past mistakes.

Michael van Gerwen's playing like a mere mortal, which is very worrying. His quest to fix that and become the dominant force he's used to being starts against Tim Pusey. It doesn't necessarily end if he wins the title, either.

Rob Cross is staking a claim to be the favourite for the season-ending majors. Defeat to Heta in last week's Brisbane final didn't do him many favours, mind. He'll be looking to make Robbie King's World Series bow a very short one.

Click here for more information on the World Series triple-header in Australia and New Zealand. Follow all the live-scores throughout the tournament in our scorecenter.

10:10 Simon Whitlock v Mick Lacey
10:45 Raymond van Barneveld v Haupai Puha
11:15 Daryl Gurney v Kyle Anderson
11:45 Gary Anderson v James Bailey
12:15 Peter Wright v Corey Cadby
12:45 James Wade v Damon Heta
13:15 Michael van Gerwen v Tim Pusey
13:45 Rob Cross v Robbie King
Best of 11 legs