‘Bully Boy’ suffered an early exit to Canadian Jeff Smith in the US Darts Masters last weekend and will be looking to make amends this week. It was an under-par performance from him as he lost 6-1 to ‘The Silencer’ and averaged just 86.56. It was a stumbling block for Smith who has played 20 matches since the start of May and has won 15 of them. This includes winning the title at Players Championship Nine, registering a 109.91 average against Luke Woodhouse in the Quarter-Finals, his highest average of the season and winning Night Sixteen in the Premier League with victories over Nathan Aspinall, Luke Littler and Luke Humphries. He kicks off his Nordic Darts Masters quest against Finish opponent Paavo Myller who is in the field due to replacing original qualifier Vladimir Andersen who was suspended this week by the PDC Nordic and Baltic. He’s a relatively unknown opponent to most and it should represent a straightforward task for Michael to advance here, in fact, it would be a major surprise if this one is even close.

Nathan Aspinall is another of the PDC elite representatives who played in last week's US Darts Masters. His run in that event came to an end against World Number One, Luke Humphries 6-5. Despite leading that game 5-4, he never had a match dart at the double in those final two legs as he lost in the Quarter-Final to an opponent averaging a ton-plus. He didn’t do much wrong with a tournament average of 96.72 and a 50% success rate on his doubles, he could be the one to side within the top half. He starts his Nordic Darts Masters campaign against the wiley old arrow smith Marko Kantele, whose sedate pace might not suit him but you’d still fancy ‘The Asp’ to prevail. He could face his good friend Michael Smith in the next round and that game is a real fifty-fifty one, with some important tussles of late going the way of Smith. Aspinall’s Premier League campaign wilted tamely after winning Night Twelve but he looked more revived last weekend and the break in action looks to have served him well. He’s consistent and has averaged 90+ in all his matches since mid-March with several 100+ performances during this time span, including a 113.14 average on the Euro Tour against Jonny Clayton in mid-April. ‘The Asp’ looks a value pick in the top half in a section where the market leader to reach the final, according to the bookies is Gerwyn Price. He however has fallen short so often this year, I’d be happy to oppose him here.

Stephen Bunting is a player who didn’t feature last weekend in New York but this years Masters winner is getting his reward for that success by being selected to feature in this event. He’s been in good form for the best part of the last twelve months since upping the weight of his darts and is ultra-consistent. Since the start of April, he’s played 30 matches and won 21. This includes reaching two Semi-Finals on the Euro Tour and two Quarter-Finals in Players Championship events. His seasonal average is 96.45 and his annual win percentage is 69%. It really is an impressive standard. The local contingent in the bottom half is arguably much stronger than the top half representation and it wouldn’t be a surprise to see a couple of the eight elite depart early namely Rob Cross, who faces the in-form Swedish Tour Card holder Jeffrey De Graaf and Peter Wright who faces another Swede, Johan Engstrom, who’s currently in the top two on the PDC Nordic and Baltic Order of Merit. ‘The Bullet’ faces Daniel Larsson, another Swedish representative who despite being well known is probably a level below Bunting and is possibly the most favourable draw in this half of the event. That’s enough for me to take a chance on him here.