Poland Darts Masters 2024 | Day Two Preview and Order of Play
The 2024 Poland Darts Masters champion will be crowned on Saturday, with the eight remaining players vying for glory in Gliwice.
Michael van Gerwen, Luke Littler and Luke Humphries are among the contenders at PreZero Arena, where the fifth World Series silverware of the year will be claimed on Saturday.
Van Gerwen is the reigning champion, having beaten Dimitri Van den Bergh 8-3 in the final of the inaugural event 12 months ago.
The Dutchman is eyeing his first silverware since the Dutch Darts Masters in January, and made a strong start on Friday with a top checkout of 115 on the way to sweeping Karel Sedlacek aside 6-1.
He faces the only remaining qualifier in Boris Krcmar, after Croatia’s number one beat World Matchplay champion Nathan Aspinall 6-4.
The world number 57 checked out 127 and recovered from 3-2 down, winning four of the last five legs to prevail.
Reigning World champion Humphries locks horns with Michael Smith in a mouth-watering quarter-final.
‘Cool Hand’, who has been a beaten semi-finalist in the last two World Series events, was a comfortable 6-1 winner over Hungarian qualifier Gyorgy Jehirszki.
By contrast, Smith endured a struggle, hitting just six of his 34 attempts at a double, before scraping past Radek Szaganski 6-4, and ‘Bully Boy’ knows he will need to be more clinical 24 hours on.
Another tasty clash pits Luke Littler against Peter Wright.
The Premier League champion looked on course for a dominant victory at 5-1 up against Adam Gawlas. However, the 17-year-old was pegged back to 5-4 by the former UK Open semi-finalist, before stuttering through 6-4.
Wright endured no such difficulties, the two-time World champion hit ton-plus finishes of 120 and 104 as he whitewashed TV debutant Jacek Krupka 6-0.
Although, Rob Cross was the standout performer of the opening round, with checkouts of 156, 116 and 100 in a 6-1 rout of Sebastian Bialecki.
The US Darts Masters winner and Nordic Darts Masters runner-up will look to maintain his impressive form against Stephen Bunting.
A late replacement for Gerwyn Price, the Masters champion averaged just under 100 as he put Krzysztof Ratajski to the sword by the same scoreline – following a top checkout of 116 with 13 and 14-dart legs along the way.
The action gets under way from 6pm BST, with quarter-final matches to be contested over the best of 11 legs, semi-finals best of 13 and the final best of 15.
WATCH THE POLAND DARTS MASTERS STREAMED LIVE HERE
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Poland Darts Masters 2024 Schedule
Saturday, June 15
6pm-10pm
Quarter-Finals
Luke Littler v Peter Wright
Luke Humphries v Michael Smith
Rob Cross v Stephen Bunting
Michael van Gerwen v Boris Krcmar
Semi-Finals (TBC)
Littler/Wright v Humphries/Smith
Cross/Bunting v Van Gerwen/Krcmar
Final (TBC)
