Newbury ace looks for first World Series title in Australia

Luke Humphries and Luke Littler will make their World Series of Darts debuts Down Under on Friday, as the pair prepare to take centre stage at the 2024 Australian Darts Masters.

The opening leg of the PDC's World Series of Darts Oceanic double-header will take place at Wollongong's WIN Entertainment Centre on August 9-10, with 16 players competing for £60,000 in prize money and the sixth World Series title of 2024.

World number one Humphries and teenage superstar Littler will headline this year's field, which also includes Australian number one Damon Heta and Rob Cross - a winner in Wollongong 12 months ago.

Humphries - fresh from winning July's World Matchplay - has dominated the sport over the last nine months, lifting six televised titles, including his landmark World Championship triumph in January.

However, the 29-year-old, who was born and grew up in Newbury, is still eyeing a maiden World Series of Darts crown, with semi-final showings at the US Darts Masters and the Nordic Darts Masters representing his best performances on the World Series stage so far.

"A World Series title is something that's not on my CV, so of course I want to win," insisted the World Champion, who faces Australia's Joe Comito for a place in the quarter-finals.

"I would love to win Down Under. That would mean a lot to me, so I'm really focused this weekend.

"You've got two superstars of the sport [Humphries and Littler] playing in Australia for the first time, and I'm very privileged to be here.

"I just want to keep playing my game and winning trophies, and hopefully my best game does come out.

"I know if I'm on my game, it will take a top performance to beat me."

Premier League champion Littler will also make his highly-anticipated debut in Australia with an opening round assignment against the experienced Rob Modra.

Littler has already lifted multiple World Series titles in 2024, following up his remarkable debut victory in Bahrain by storming to Poland Darts Masters glory in July.

“I’m really happy to be here in Australia,” claimed Littler, the number one seed this weekend.

“This a new experience for me, just like everything else has been this year.

“I’ve got to back myself to win almost everything, although you probably can’t do that with the quality of players nowadays.

“I’ve really enjoyed playing on the World Series this year, and I would love to go to Australia and win at least one title!”