![Danny Noppert (PDC)](/sites/default/files/styles/news_hero_tablet/public/2024-05/Noppert%20PDC.jpg?h=0afcd45d&itok=_3MQu3Kp)
Ahead of this weekend's bet365 US Darts Masters, PDC Stats Analyst Christopher Kempf looks at the best performing local qualifiers in the first round of World Series of Darts events since 2013...
The stat: Averages of local qualifiers vs PDC stars.
The parameters: Round of 16 matches in World Series events.
The caveats: Only players with at least 2 matches played included.
44 World Series events have invited local qualifiers to do battle with the elite of the PDC across 352 matches.
Understandably, the PDC professionals have a lopsided combined record of 302 wins and 50 losses against the local talent - many of those losses coming at the hands of players who had been, or would go on to become, PDC Tour Card Holders.
One of only two players to have contested more than one match in the first round of a World Series event and won all of them is former UK Open champion Danny Noppert, who defeated Michael van Gerwen and Nathan Aspinall in his two Dutch Darts Masters appearances.
Yet, especially for those events held outside of Europe, the World Series provides a genuine entrée into the crucible of televised darts for semi-professional players with only vague dreams of moving to England to play full-time on the PDC Pro Tour - and for whom a win against a noted professional champion is the highlight of a lifetime.
In Corey Cadby's second televised match as a 21-year old local talent, he overcame Phil Taylor's 111 average to demolish him 6-2, igniting a frenzy of media coverage and a brief, spectacular professional darts career.
Only his compatriots Simon Whitlock and Kyle Anderson claimed more high-ranking PDC scalps in their appearances as qualifiers, and Cadby's 103.58 remains - eight years on - the highest winning average by a local qualifier in the first round of a World Series event.
Among North American contestants, the young Canadian Dawson Murschell's penchant for overcoming the odds against seeded players stands out.
Murschell is the only player besides Noppert with a perfect record in two or more matches, having eliminated both Gerwyn Price and James Wade when the US Darts Masters was held in Las Vegas.
His fellow countryman Matt Campbell has not had such luck, but his 92.61 combined average against the PDC's top stars makes him the most seasoned of the returning players.
However, unfortunately for Campbell, his first round opponent is the hottest property in darts at the moment - the newly crowned Premier League champion Luke Littler.
To date, though five World Series events have been held on US soil, no American player has defeated a Tour Card Holder at the US Darts Masters.
Danny Lauby Jr, returning for another attempt at fame and fortune, stands the best chance with his 89 average in prior years and his tie against reigning champion Van Gerwen.
As it did for Corey Cadby and Damon Heta, getting that win can mean the difference between global obscurity and darting stardom.