Darts Superstars On Target For Hamilton As The NZ Darts Masters Starts This Week

An outstanding lineup of darts talent flies in this week ahead of the NZ Darts Masters, taking place on Friday and Saturday nights at Globox Arena, Hamilton.

With the Australian leg of the World Series of Darts completed last weekend in Sydney, global attention now turns to Hamilton, with eight of the world’s biggest stars lining up against top Oceanic qualifiers.

Among the international stars are world number one Luke Humphries, Welsh superstar Gerwyn Price, 2023 NZ Darts Masters Champion Rob Cross, crowd favourite Scotsman Peter Wright and teenage global sensation Luke Littler.

Price, the 2022 NZ Darts Masters champion, stormed to his second World Series title of 2024 with a stunning 8-1 victory against Littler on Saturday in the Australian Darts Masters final. It’s Price’s second World Series win this year, having also beaten Littler in June’s Nordic Darts Masters.

World number two Michael Smith also returns, along with UK Open champion Dimitri Van den Bergh making his third consecutive appearance in Hamilton. Australian number one Damon Heta completes the international lineup, having broken into the world’s top ten in 2024.

Oceanic qualifiers include New Zealand number one Haupai Puha, the first New Zealander to gain a PDC Tour Card. Puha is in top form, coming within one dart of winning his first round match against world number five Cross in Wollongong on Friday.

Puha was one of three New Zealanders who won through to the second round in the NZ Darts Masters in 2023. He’ll be joined by his World Cup partner Ben Robb, former NZ Darts Masters quarter-finalists Kayden Milne and Jonny Tata, plus Mark Cleaver and World Series debutant Daniel Snookes.

Australian legend Simon “The Wizard” Whitlock also features along with Aussie Jeremy Fagg, who finished top of the DartPlayers Australia Order of Merit to confirm his qualification.

Friday’s first round will see the eight PDC superstars take on their Oceanic counterparts for a place in the last eight, before the quarter-finals, semi-finals and final are held on a bumper Finals Day on Saturday, August 17.

2024 New Zealand Darts Masters
August 16-17
GLOBOX Arena, Hamilton

PDC Representatives
Luke Humphries (England)
Michael Smith (England)
Gerwyn Price (Wales)
Rob Cross (England)
Peter Wright (Scotland)
Luke Littler (England)
Dimitri Van den Bergh (Belgium)
Damon Heta (Australia)

Oceanic Representatives
Haupai Puha (New Zealand)
Simon Whitlock (Australia)
Mark Cleaver (New Zealand)
Kayden Milne (New Zealand)
Ben Robb (New Zealand)
Daniel Snookes (New Zealand)
Jeremy Fagg (Australia)

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