Luke Littler resumes his quest for an eighth PDC title of the season as the Australian Darts Masters plays to a climax on Saturday.
The teenage sensation is one of eight star names in contention at the WIN Entertainment Centre in Wollongong, where the winner of the sixth World Series event of 2024 will be crowned.
Littler has already triumphed in Bahrain and Poland in this year’s Series – adding to his success in the Premier League as well as two European Tour and Players Championship events.
The 17-year-old renews his rivalry with Michael Smith in the quarter-finals, having prevailed in their semi-final showdowns at the Poland Masters and Premier League earlier this term.
Both players enjoyed 6-2 victories in the opening round; Littler overcoming Rob Modra on his debut Down Under and Smith seeing off Stuart Coburn.
Luke Humphries, who is also making his first World Series appearance in Australia, will do battle with Dimitri Van den Bergh once more.
The reigning World and World Matchplay champion was a 16-10 winner in the quarter-finals at the latter event last month, though the Belgian prevailed 11-10 in their epic UK Open final showdown five months ago.
Australia’s number one Damon Heta – fresh from a 6-0 whitewash of John Hurring – will look to delight his home crowd again when he takes on Gerwyn Price.
The two players collide at this stage in Wollongong for a second successive year, with Heta hoping for a repeat of his 6-3 victory from 12 months ago.
Meanwhile, Rob Cross looks to preserve his perfect World Series record against Peter Wright.
The reigning champion survived a huge scare in the opening round against Haupai Puha, who squandered match dart to dethrone his opponent.
Cross will now aim to capitalise on that let-off with a sixth straight World Series win over Wright, who he trounced 7-0 in last year’s semi-finals.
Play gets under way at around 10am BST at the WIN Entertainment Centre in Wollongong on Saturday.
Quarter-final matches are to be contested over the best of 11 legs, while semi-finals are best of 13 and the final best of 15.
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All times BST (local time +9 hours)
Saturday August 10
10am-2pm
Quarter-Finals
Luke Littler v Michael Smith
Luke Humphries v Dimitri Van den Bergh
Rob Cross v Peter Wright
Gerwyn Price v Damon Heta
Semi-Finals (TBC)
Final (TBC)
Rob Cross endured a nervy start to his Australian Darts Masters title defence, as he scraped past Haupai Puha in the opening round on Friday.
Champion in Wollongong 12 months ago, Cross returned to Australia having won the US Masters and been runner-up at the Nordic Masters and Poland Masters in his last three World Series events.
The former World champion came flying out of the blocks, with a 14-darter and back-to-back 12-darters on the way to a 4-0 lead.
Although, his finishing subsequently deserted him with New Zealand number one Puha winning five of the next six legs to force a decider.
Puha came within whiskers of dethroning Cross as he wired double 12 for a 138 checkout, with his relieved opponent taking out 80 to prevail.
Damon Heta – runner-up to Cross in Wollongong last year – delighted the home crowd with back-to-back ton-plus finishes of 113 and 116 on the way to a comprehensive 6-0 whitewash of John Hurring.
Michael Smith was also in fine form against TV debutant Stuart Coburn. Bully Boy hit finishes of 146 and 118 – while enjoying 10, 12 and 13-dart legs – as he progressed a 6-2 winner.
Luke Littler also prevailed by the same scoreline against Rob Modra.
The Premier League champion took out 86 and 82 for a 2-0 lead, but Modra hit back with 112 and a 14-darter to level at 2-2.
Although, the local qualifier then missed double 16 for a 108 checkout and 3-3 in leg six, and Littler subsequently went on to seal victory with a 14-darter.
Gerwyn Price rounded off his 6-2 win over Brenton Lloyd with back-to-back 13-darters, while a 120 checkout completed World champion Luke Humphries’ 6-1 victory against Joe Comito.
Elsewhere, Peter Wright was a commanding 6-1 winner over Simon Whitlock, with UK Open champion Dimitri Van den Bergh reeling off six successive legs after losing the opener to oust Jeremy Fagg by the same scoreline.
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Friday August 9
First Round
Dimitri Van den Bergh 6-1 Jeremy Fagg
Gerwyn Price 6-2 Brenton Lloyd
Michael Smith 6-2 Stuart Coburn
Luke Humphries 6-1 Joe Comito
Luke Littler 6-2 Rob Modra
Peter Wright 6-1 Simon Whitlock
Damon Heta 6-0 John Hurring
Rob Cross 6-5 Haupai Puha
The 2024 Australian Darts Masters takes place in Wollongong, and you can follow the latest results and schedule of play here.
The sixth event in this year’s World Series of Darts calendar sees 16 players competing for a £60,000 prize fund at the WIN Entertainment Centre from August 9-10.
The field is made up of eight PDC representatives and eight Oceanic representatives as they face off in the only televised PDC event in Australia this year.
Premier League champion Luke Littler is the number one seed having picked up two World Series titles this year, and the 17-year-old is joined by world number one and World Champion Luke Humphries – who is seeking his first World Series silverware.
Rob Cross returns Down Under as the number two seed, having claimed both the New Zealand Masters and New South Wales Masters titles in 2023.
Reigning Nordic Masters champion Gerwyn Price, former World Champions Peter Wright and Michael Smith, UK Open champion Dimitri van den Bergh and former Brisbane Masters champion Damon Heta are also among the PDC contingent.
Tour Card holders Simon Whitlock and Haupai Puha lead the regional representatives, alongside DPA Qualifiers Brenton Lloyd, Rob Modra, Stuart Coburn and Joe Comito, as well as DPNZ qualifier John Hurring and the highest ranked non-qualifier from the DPA Order of Merit – Jeremy Fagg.
First Round and Quarter-Final matches are to be contested over the best of 11 legs, while semi-finals are best of 13 and the final best of 15.
WATCH THE AUSTRALIAN DARTS MASTERS STREAMED LIVE HERE
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All times BST (local time +9 hours)
Friday August 9
First Round
10am-2pm
Dimitri Van den Bergh 6-1 Jeremy Fagg
Gerwyn Price 6-2 Brenton Lloyd
Michael Smith 6-2 Stuart Coburn
Luke Humphries 6-1 Joe Comito
Luke Littler 6-2 Rob Modra
Peter Wright 6-1 Simon Whitlock
Damon Heta 6-0 John Hurring
Rob Cross 6-5 Haupai Puha
Saturday August 10
10am-2pm
Quarter Finals
Luke Littler 6-4 Michael Smith
Dimitri Van den Bergh 6-2 Luke Humphries
Peter Wright 6-4 Rob Cross
Gerwyn Price 6-4 Damon Heta
Semi-Finals
Luke Littler 7-6 Dimitri Van den Bergh
Gerwyn Price 7-6 Peter Wright
Final
Gerwyn Price 8-1 Luke Littler
The 2024 Australian Darts Masters takes place in Wollongong, and a live stream is available for all matches online.
The sixth event in this year’s World Series of Darts calendar sees 16 players competing for a £60,000 prize fund at the WIN Entertainment Centre from August 9-10.
The field is made up of eight PDC representatives and eight Oceanic representatives as they face off in the only televised PDC event in Australia this year.
Premier League champion Luke Littler is the number one seed having picked up two World Series titles this year, and the 17-year-old is joined by world number one and World Champion Luke Humphries – who is seeking his first World Series silverware.
Rob Cross returns Down Under as the number two seed, having claimed both the New Zealand Masters and New South Wales Masters titles in 2023.
Reigning Nordic Masters champion Gerwyn Price, former World Champions Peter Wright and Michael Smith, UK Open champion Dimitri van den Bergh and former Brisbane Masters champion Damon Heta are also among the PDC contingent.
Tour Card holders Simon Whitlock and Haupai Puha lead the regional representatives, alongside DPA Qualifiers Brenton Lloyd, Rob Modra, Stuart Coburn and Joe Comito, as well as DPNZ qualifier John Hurring and the highest ranked non-qualifier from the DPA Order of Merit – Jeremy Fagg.
All matches will be available to watch live on laptop, mobile and tablet in various regions worldwide.
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