The 2023 New South Wales Darts Masters commences in Wollongong on Friday as the PDC stars and Oceanic representatives collide.
The second staging of the World Series event features 16 players competing for the £20,000 top prize at the WIN Entertainment Centre.
The opening round sees the eight PDC representatives each face an Oceanic opponent as they bid to avoid an early exit.
Rob Cross begins his quest for back-to-back World Series titles when he takes on New Zealand qualifier John Hurring.
Cross ended a five-year wait for World Series silverware by claiming the New Zealand Masters crown in Hamilton last week, recovering from 5-2 down to edge past Nathan Aspinall 8-7 in the final.
The former World Champion opens up against DNPZ representative Hurring in a repeat of their meeting at the 2018 Auckland Masters – which saw the Kiwi miss match darts in an agonising 6-5 defeat.
Recent World Matchplay champion Aspinall aims to bounce back from last week’s last-leg defeat in the final when he faces former European Champion Simon Whitlock.
Aspinall ended a four-year wait for a major title in fairy-tale fashion in Blackpool last month and secured his maiden World Series title at the 2019 US Masters in Las Vegas.
Whitlock has been a regular on the World Series circuit over the past decade, with his sole appearance in a final coming at the 2014 Singapore Masters – where he was denied glory by Michael van Gerwen.
The former World Cup of Darts winner has dropped to 39th in the PDC Order of Merit but enjoyed a resurgent run to a ProTour final back in February.
Reigning World Champion Michael Smith starts his latest pursuit of a fourth World Series title with a tie against Australia’s Mal Cuming.
Smith secured the Bahrain Masters title in January little over a week after becoming World Champion, and has also added a European Tour and Players Championship title this term.
Cuming is the current DPA number three and made his PDC World Championship debut last December, losing out in straight sets to Alan Soutar in Round One.
World number four Gerwyn Price starts out with a tie against DPA number five Harley Kemp.
Premier League finalist Price has picked up the World Series Finals title on two occasions and finished runner-up in the opening two World Series events earlier this year.
Price was beaten 7-3 by Cross in the Semi-Finals last week and will look to kick-start a title charge here at the expense of 29-year-old Kemp – who competed in the 2016 Sydney Masters.
Peter Wright aims to bounce back from last week’s shock First Round exit when he faces former PDC Tour Card holder Darren Penhall.
Wright, a four-time World Series event winner, was dumped out 6-3 by truck driver Jonny Tata in Hamilton and faces another potential banana skin Down Under.
Penhall pushed Smith all the way to a deciding leg last week, averaging 88.6 in the process, and the current DPA number one will fancy his chances of a memorable scalp on home soil.
Dimitri van den Bergh also aims to atone for last week’s opening round defeat when he plays veteran Aussie Dave Marland.
Van den Bergh was beaten 6-2 by home favourite Haupai Puha in Hamilton, and the multiple World Series event winner will be keen to return to winning ways at the expense of Marland – who was whitewashed by Joe Cullen in Queensland last year.
Former Brisbane Masters champion Damon Heta has been drawn to face Aussie compatriot Joe Comito.
Heta has enjoyed a blistering spell of form this summer, picking up two Players Championship titles and reaching the Quarter-Finals of the World Matchplay for the first time.
Comito, the DPA number four, suffered a 6-0 whitewash at the hands of Michael Smith in last year’s Queensland Masters.
Meanwhile, Dutch number two Danny Noppert – making his first appearance in Australia – has been pitted against televised debutant Brenton Lloyd in the opening match of the tournament.
The action gets under way from 10am BST, with First Round matches to be contested over the best of 11 legs.
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New South Wales Darts Masters 2023 – Day One Schedule
All times BST (local time +9 hours)
Friday August 11
First Round
10am-2pm
Danny Noppert v Brenton Lloyd
Dimitri van den Bergh v Dave Marland
Damon Heta v Joe Comito
Rob Cross v John Hurring
Gerwyn Price v Harley Kemp
Nathan Aspinall v Simon Whitlock
Peter Wright v Darren Penhall
Michael Smith v Mal Cuming
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