Luke Humphries will be looking to bounce back in New Zealand after suffering a shock early exit at the Australian Darts Masters last weekend. ‘Cool Hand Luke’ – who entered last week’s event as the pre-tournament favourite – came through his opening round tie with Joe Comito before being dispatched 6-2 by Dimitri Van den Bergh at the quarter-final stage.

Humphries will have been left licking his wounds after that humbling and he will be eager to right those wrongs in New Zealand this weekend. Despite last week’s underperformance, Humphries heads to Hamilton as the 3.0 favourite and the world number one remains difficult to oppose.

Last week’s defeat can probably be seen as a minor blip from a man who recently captured his fifth major title in the space of nine months. On top of this, only Gary Anderson (99.53) has averaged more than Humphries (99.46) over the last 12 months of PDC action, not to mention no player has hit more 180s than Cool Hand (717) across that period.

Humphries will feel he has a bit of a point to prove this weekend and he can justify 3.0 favouritism by going all the way.

Luke Littler reached yet another final in Australia last weekend only to turn in a below-par display when being demolished 8-1 by Gerwyn Price.

Prior to that whacking from the Welshman, Littler had performed well in Wollongong, overcoming both Michael Smith and Dimitri Van den Bergh to reach the final. Given the way the ‘Nuke’ goes about his business on the oche, his confidence is unlikely to have been affected by his thrashing in the final, hence why he is the 3.25 second favourite for the title this weekend.

As already alluded to, Littler has quickly made a habit of reaching finals in these types of events. In fact, the teenage tornado has already triumphed at the Bahrain Darts Masters, the Polish Darts Masters, the Austrian Darts Open and the Belgian Darts Open since the turn of the year.

The 17-year old’s 99.16 average was the highest of any player in Australia last weekend, as was his 180 return of 16. After falling at the final hurdle and being humbled by Price in the process last week, Littler will be determined to be the last player standing in New Zealand and he merits support at 3.25.

Gerwyn Price was back to his brilliant best when winning the Australian Darts Masters last weekend and he looks worth backing to claim the New Zealand title for the second time in three years.

The ‘Iceman’ beat Brenton Lloyd in the round of 16 before seeing off both Damon Heta and Peter Wright to reach the final. The Welsh powerhouse saved his best performance for last though, putting Luke Littler to the sword with an 8–1 thumping in the final.

Price’s performance against the teenager was made all the more impressive by the fact that he averaged 99.42, as well as boasting a checkout percentage of 53.3%. That win in Wollongong saw Price pick up his second World Series of Darts title of 2024, having previously triumphed at the Nordic Darts Masters back in June.

The Iceman also reached the final of the USA Darts masters earlier this summer, further suggesting that Price has started to rediscover his best form over the last few months. As such, Price looks well placed to go deep again this weekend, making him an appealing outright option to win back-to-back events Down Under at 4.50.