Peter Wright 6 (87.55 6/18) Daniel Snookes 0 (65.15 0/7) Dimitri van den Bergh 6 (94.14 6/11) Mark Cleaver 3 (83.23 3/8) Michael Smith 6 (84.9 625) Jeremy Fagg 3 (77.96 3/20) Luke Humphries 6 (99.07 6/13) Kayden Milne 3 (89.6 3/6) Gerwyn Price 6 (96.62 6/17) Ben Robb 3 (82.83 3/17) Rob Cross 6 (97.12 6/14) Haupai Puha 5 (92.24 5/10) Luke Littler 6 (102.24 6/14) Jonny Tata 3 (93.34 3/7) Damon Heta 6 (97.43 6/8) Simon Whitlock 1 (84.78 1/10)
The New Zealand Darts Masters kicked off on Friday night with the PDC professional players giving them quite a challenge by their Oceanic opponents on the stage in Hamilton. The first match of the night saw the only World Series in debutant Daniel Snookes take on Peter Wright. Wright opened the night with a 125 and held throw before breaking with a 101 check out in leg two. He then held throw with a121 check out before cleaning up the last three legs. Snookes was thankful to Dartplayers New Zealand for the opportunity. “I had fun out their tonight, and it was quite an experience, one that I would like to feel again now I know more about playing on the stage.” Peter Wright was happy to progress “I am happy with the win but gutted for Daniel that he was not able to play his best tonight. I encouraged him to try and qualify for next year and learn from this experience.” Mark Cleaver then took on Dimitri van den Bergh with the Belgian holding throw in the opening leg before checking out 149 to break the throw of his opponent. Two visits of 140 in his opening three legs helped Cleaver break straight back. Van den Bergh then broke back once more before holding throw to lead 4-1. Both players then held throw before Cleaver checked out 112 to move back within two legs. His opponent then cleaned up the next leg to win 6-3. Cleaver was hard on his own game but enjoyed the interactions he had with the local crowd. “I am thankful to the crowd for their noise and support tonight, they were absolutely superb. I had more in my game and feel I could have done better tonight but it always brilliant to play in front of that crowd.” The third match saw DPA number one Jeremy Fagg take on Michael Smith. Both players blew opportunities before Fagg threw double ten for the opening leg. He then held throw before Smith finally got on the board. Fagg then missed the chance to hold throw and Smith pounced to take out the 25 he needed to move the match to two all. Fagg then broke the Smith throw only to lose it straight back to his opponent. Smith then won the last three legs, including checking out 96 to close out the match. Fagg was pleased with his progress. “I thought it was a better performance than in Wollongong. I felt more settled now that I understood better what the big stage experience would be like.” Young star Kayden Milne took on current world champion Luke Humphries in the fifth game of the night. Humphries held throw in the first leg before breaking Milne in the second. He then held with a 92 check out. Milne then held throw in the fourth leg before both players held throw, Milne checking out 81 in the sixth leg. After Humphries held throw in the seventh Milne did the same in the eighth leg before the current World Champion closed out the match 6-3. “I was really pleased with myself tonight, it was amazing to take on the World Champion but even more so that he would take the time to have a chat to me about how to progress my game and how good I already am.” Gerwyn Price then took on Ben Robb and it was the Welshman who opened up with two triple figure check outs, 113 and 100. He was unable to take multiple check outs on throw in the third leg though and Robb eventually pounced. The Kiwi then held throw to draw level in the match. Price powered back with visits of 135, 180 and 162 setting up a double 12 check out but Robb responded with a hold of throw once more to move the match back into parity. With Price faltering at the end of the next leg Robb had a golden opportunity to take a lead in the match but he missed and Price pounced. From that point the Welshman dominated and won the last two legs to take out the 6-3 victory. Price was happy enough with the result. “I slipped up early on and should have been three up and when he gets his tail up he starts throwing more comfortably and confidently. He could have gone four three up but I took the leg and went on from there.” For the second week in a row the opening night saw Cross v Puha as the closest match for the night. Puha held throw with a 76 check out in the first leg before Cross held throw. Check outs of 83 and 87 from Puha put him ahead twice more, in between and afterwards Cross checked out with tops to hold his throw. Both players then spurned chances for the next leg until Puha held throw with double three to lead once again. Cross held throw with tops for the fourth consecutive time in the match. Double 18 then gave Puha the lead once more. Cross opened with 177 in response and held throw to take he match to a deciding leg. Puha did not get a match dart this week as Cross cleaned the match up with double eight. Cross realised he was fortunate to get through “Today Haupai played a whole lot better on his own throw, he was much more clinical. I got a bit fortunate in the last leg and took the match.” Luke Littler opened with six perfect darts and cleaned up the leg three visits later. He then broke the Tata throw before the Kiwi checked out 75 to break straight back. He then held throw to move the match to 2-2 before Littler held throw for the fifth leg. The Englishman broke Tata’s throw in the next leg, but lost it straight back thanks to a 155 check out from Tata. Littler held throw to move 5-3 clear before he checked out 66 for the final leg and a 6-3 win with Tata standing behind him needing 59 for the leg. Littler was pleased with his own performance. “I felt really good coming into it and I am glad to take practice form onto the stage and get the win. I am happy with that performance.” The last match on the night saw two Aussies go head to head (six years to the day that two other Aussies, Kyle Anderson and Corey Cadby went head to head in that year’s World Series of Darts final in Auckland.) Damon Heta broke the Simon Whitlock throw immediately and then held throw as the Wizard failed to take the break chances presented to him. He did break throw in the next leg only to immediately lose it straight back. Heta then held throw before breaking his World Cup teammate with a 132 check out to move 5-1 clear. He followed it up with a checkout of 116 to finish the match off. For Heta it was all about getting through, but in a professional manner. “I got the job done but I did not go overboard in the celebrations, I think it was a bit of a respect thing.” Overall the night demonstrated that New Zealand darts continues to be on the rise and that the people of New Zealand, and Hamilton in particular, still love their dart
Night 2
Quarter Finals Luke Littler 6 (103.38 6/7) Dimitri van den Bergh 4 (101.01 4/7) Luke Humphries 6 (99.42 6/10) Michael Smith 4 (101.29 4/12) Peter Wright 6 (103.36 6/17) Gerwyn Price 4 (88.78 4/13) Damon Heta 6 (93.38 6/7) Rob Cross 5 (96.52 5/7)
Semi Finals Luke Humphries 7 (93.99 6/13) Luke Littler 6 (95.1 7/19) Damon Heta 7 (96.82 7/12) Peter Wright 4 (97.61 4/9)
Luke Humphries delivered on his promise to win a trophy downunder as he defeated Damon Heta in the final of the New Zealand Darts Masters in Hamilton over the weekend. The first match of the night was a hard fought affair between Luke Littler and Dimitri van den Bergh. The Englishman started well by breaking the Belgian’s throw and holding his own. Van den Bergh then held throw to win his first leg. Both players then held throw over the next four legs before Van den Bergh was able to break the Littler throw with an 80 check out to move the match to four sets all. Littler broke straight back and then checked out a 97 to hold throw and take the match six legs to four. The second match saw Luke Humphries eliminate his predecessor as world champion, Michael Smith, in the round of eight. Smith had a chance against the Humphries throw in the first leg but missed the bull and his opponent threw double 8 to take the leg with his next dart. He then held his own throw before Smith checked out 76 to take the third leg. Both players then held throw through until the tenth leg, meaning Smith needed to win that leg to keep the match alive. He opened with 134 but Huphries responded with a 140. Both players threw maximums before Smith gave his opponent a chance with visits of 57 and 65. Humphries in turn threw 105 and checked out 76, tops, with his 12th dart, giving him the 6-4 victory and a semi final berth. The top of the other half of the draw saw two previous World Champions in Peter Wright and Gerwyn Price go head to head. Both players opened with a hold of throw before a 131 check out from Wright at his fourth visit to the oche for the leg, saw him take a break and a 2-1 match lead. He opened with a 180 in leg 4 and closed out the leg to lead 3-1. A poor end to the next leg almost saw Price drop another leg but Wright was far enough behind the he was unable to punish Price and the Welshman drew within one leg. Wrigh held throw in 11 darts before Price did the same in 17 when Wright missed leg darts the previous visit. Both players held throw and in the tenth leg Wright checked out 127 to win the match 6-4. In the final quarter final Damon Heta had all local hopes riding on his as he faced off against Rob Cross. The Australian World Cup star held throw in the opening leg, as did his English opponent in the second. Heta then held before breaking Cross with a 74 check out leaving the Englishman a long way behind. Cross broke straight back (collecting a 79 check out to move to within a leg of his opponent.) He then drew level on throw in the next leg. Heta then checked out in 12 darts with a 121 finish to lead 4-3. Cross then moved the match back into parity before a 110 finish moved Heta a leg away from the match. Cross held throw comfortably to force a deciding leg but this time it would not go his way, Heta checking out a double 16 with his 13th dart of that eleventh leg. The first semi final saw Humphries break the Littler throw immediately. Littler responded in kind in leg two. He then held throw with a 142 out to lead 2-1. The next three legs stayed on throw. Humphries seemed rattled by a breeze on stage and Littler took full advantage by winning leg six with a 100 check out, then holding throw before breaking once again to lead 6-2 and move one leg away from the match. Humphries then threw with more freedom in the ninth leg and broke the Littler throw in 14 darts. He held throw in 15 darts before breaking Littler once more in the same amount of darts. By holding throw in the 12th leg Humphries pushed the match into a decider. 14 darts later he had a break of throw and the match 7-6. The other semi final saw Damon Heta hold throw in 15 darts before Peter Wright did the same in one less dart. Despite missing out at his fifth visit to the oche in leg three Heta was far enough ahead to return and get double 16 for the 2-1 lead. A 76 check out gave Heta a 3-1 lead before Wright broke the Australian’s throw in the fifth leg. Both players then held throw before a 72 check out gave Heta a two-leg lead once more. Wright was able to break straight back once more but Heta did the same in the 10th leg. Heta opened with a pair of 96’s in the next leg and then threw 133 and 100 before checking out 76 to take the match out 7-4. The final saw Heta hold throw in 15 darts. Humphries then held throw in the same amount. A poor start in the third leg from Heta was punished by Humphries and he soon had the break of throw. After Heta missed the bullseye in the next leg Humphries threw 122 to collect it instead. The Englishman then broke the Heta throw once more, this time just after Heta missed double 18 for the leg. Another hold of throw and Humphries was 5-1 up. Heta opened his throw in the seventh leg with a 180 before Humphries was able to respond with his own. The two players had good follow ups but eventually it was Heta who took out the leg in 13 darts. Humphries returned to winning legs in the eighth with a 12 dart effort giving him a 6-2 lead. Humphries was then able to break the Heta throw to take the ninth leg and win his first World Series title. For Heta it was a learning experience “I want others to realise you can achieve your dreams. To be in the final is great. This is another learning experience, and I have to make the most of it.” Humphries was obviously delighted to win, “I never expected winning the World Championship to come before winning a World Series of Darts event but I am very pleased to have both. It was my goal to win one and it is amazing to have done so.” The big turning point was being so far behind Littler in the semi final, “When you are the world number one and world champion that is why I am there. You don’t get there by showing no resolve, showing no dedication or by giving up. I don’t give in, I try to give my all at every moment, and I had to in the semi-final.” Overall it was a successful tournament in Hamilton and a great culmination of two weeks of PDC darts in Australia and New Zealand.