I opted against backing Luke Littler to win last week’s Australian Darts Masters, but it’s really difficult to oppose him in New Zealand this weekend. The teenage trailblazer defeated Mike De Decker 8-4 in last week’s final to secure his first World Series title of the year, and his third overall. That triumph came fresh off the back of Littler becoming just the fifth player to complete darts 'Triple Crown’ after he lifted the World Matchplay trophy in Blackpool last month.

After surviving a scare in his opening match with Haupai Puha last weekend, Littler got his act together in the games that followed, defeating Damon Heta, Stephen Bunting, and the aforementioned De Decker all by a three-leg margin or more.   

Ultimately, if Littler is in the mood to scoop more silverware this weekend, then he will take some stopping in his bid to add the New Zealand Darts Masters title to his ever-growing list of achievements.

Gerwyn Price will have been disappointed not to have successfully defended the Australian Darts Masters trophy last weekend, but he is more than capable of bouncing back at the first time of asking in New Zealand. ‘The Iceman’ tends to be fired up anytime he takes to the oche, but I suspect he will be extra-motivated to make amends in Auckland this weekend, making him an appealing option to reign supreme at 6.0.

Despite exiting last week’s event at the quarter-final stage, Price still managed to average north of 100 in each of his two outings. That has been a recurring theme as far as ‘The Iceman’ is concerned in recent times, with Price most notably averaging a shade under 109 when defeating Chris Dobey 11-3 at last month’s World Matchplay. In fact, only Luke Littler (101.24), Luke Humphries (99.07), and Josh Rock (99.05) boast a higher seasonal average than Price (98.12).  

It’s also worth noting that it was only last month that Price picked up the Poland Darts Masters title, not to mention he followed up on that success just one week later by taking top honours at the Baltic Sea Darts Open.

Stephen Bunting gave us a decent run for our money in Australia last weekend, losing out to eventual-winner Luke Littler at the semi-final stage. I saw more than enough quality from ‘The Bullet’ last weekend to put my faith in him to go all the way in Auckland.

The St Helens star brushed aside Brody Klinge 6-1 in his opening match before dishing out a devastating 6-0 whitewash to Josh Rock at the quarter-final stage. While Bunting saw his journey brought to an end by Littler in the semis, he can consider himself unfortunate not to have won that game, having averaged 102.35 to ‘The Nuke’s’ 98.86.

What’s more, Bunting has thrived on the World Series stage this year, bagging both the Bahrain and Nordic Darts Masters titles, not to mention he finished as runner-up at both the Dutch and Polish Darts Masters. Thus, it is entirely plausible that Bunting will enjoy a deep run in New Zealand, making him an attractive option to lift the title at 13.0.