FRESH from reaching the final of the Australian Darts Masters last weekend, Luke Littler is now hoping to go one better in the New Zealand equivalent.
"The Nuke" and his seven fellow PDC representatives are in Hamilton for their latest World Series of Darts event, with all eight pitted against the best of the Australian and New Zealand darts scene in Friday's first-round ties.
The Warringtonian teenager, who is once again the number one seed for the tournament, has been drawn against New Zealand's Jonny Tata, who shocked former world champion Peter Wright in this tournament 12 months ago, in his first-round tie.
The tie is the penultimate first-round match to be played on Friday, with the action getting underway at 8am UK time (7pm local time) live on ITVX and PDCTV.
The finals will follow on Saturday - again starting at 8am UK time on ITVX and PDCTV - and Littler will be hoping to quickly shake off his 8-1 thrashing by Gerwyn Price in the Australian final last weekend.
He is looking to pick up his third World Series title of the year after previous wins in Bahrain and Poland.
2024 New Zealand Darts Masters
August 16-17, GLOBOX Arena, Hamilton
Draw Bracket
(1) Luke Littler v Jonny Tata
Dimitri Van den Bergh v Mark Cleaver
(4) Luke Humphries v Kayden Milne
Michael Smith v Jeremy Fagg
(2) Gerwyn Price v Ben Robb
Peter Wright v Daniel Snookes
(3) Rob Cross v Haupai Puha
Damon Heta v Simon Whitlock
Friday, August 16 (7pm local time, 8am UK time)
First Round
Peter Wright v Daniel Snookes
Dimitri Van den Bergh v Mark Cleaver
Michael Smith v Jeremy Fagg
Luke Humphries v Kayden Milne
Gerwyn Price v Ben Robb
Rob Cross v Haupai Puha
Luke Littler v Jonny Tata
Damon Heta v Simon Whitlock
Saturday, August 17 (7pm local time, 8am UK time)
Quarter-finals, semi-finals and final
Format
First Round - Best of 11 legs
Quarter-Finals - Best of 11 legs
Semi-Finals - Best of 13 legs
Final - Best of 15 legs
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