Auckland Darts Masters Draw

Auckland Darts Masters (Photosport, PDC)

GARY ANDERSON will begin his title defence at the Auckland Darts Masters, presented by TAB & Burger King, against Australia's Kyle Anderson on Friday.

Two-time World Champion Anderson claimed the World Series of Darts title in Auckland last year when he overcame 2015 winner Adrian Lewis in the final at the Trusts Arena.

He has been paired with namesake Kyle Anderson in Friday's first round in New Zealand, with the Australian ace on a high after winning his first PDC ranking title at a Players Championship last Saturday, when he also landed a nine-dart finish.

UK Open champion and world number three Peter Wright faces a tough test when he comes up against Corey Cadby, the reigning PDC Unicorn World Youth Champion who knocked out Phil Taylor in last year's Perth Darts Masters.

Taylor, the 16-time World Champion who will compete in Auckland for the final time in this weekend's event, has drawn newcomer Darren Herewini for his first round tie, with the 25-year-old making his TV debut against the sport's greatest ever player.

DPNZ number one Rob Szabo will come up against another debutant in the PDC's international World Series of Darts events, Michael Smith, while another top Kiwi, Warren Parry, has drawn five-time World Champion Raymond van Barneveld.

Emerging Kiwi star Cody Harris will take on Australia's Simon Whitlock, while U.S. Darts Masters finalist Daryl Gurney meets Adelaide's Rob Modra and two-time World Series finalist James Wade plays home qualifier Mark Cleaver.

The Auckland Darts Masters, presented by TAB & Burger King, will be played from August 11-13 at the Trusts Arena. For tickets, visit www.ticketek.co.nz.

TV coverage will be live in New Zealand on Sky Sport, and worldwide through the PDC's series of broadcast partners, as well as through PDCTV-HD at www.pdc.tv for Rest of the World Subscribers.

UK TV coverage will be from 7pm (BST) on ITV4, with coverage in the Netherlands on RTL7 from 10pm on Friday and Saturday and 10.40pm on Sunday.

Auckland Darts Masters, presented by TAB & Burger King
Draw Bracket 

Gary Anderson (1) v Kyle Anderson
Simon Whitlock v Cody Harris
James Wade (4) v Mark Cleaver
Daryl Gurney v Rob Modra
Peter Wright (2) v Corey Cadby
Michael Smith v Rob Szabo
Raymond van Barneveld (3) v Warren Parry
Phil Taylor v Darren Herewini

Schedule of Play
Friday August 11 (7pm local time)
First Round

Michael Smith v Rob Szabo
Daryl Gurney v Rob Modra
James Wade v Mark Cleaver
Raymond van Barneveld v Warren Parry
Phil Taylor v Darren Herewini
Simon Whitlock v Cody Harris
Gary Anderson v Kyle Anderson
Peter Wright v Corey Cadby
All games best of 11 legs

Saturday August 12 (7pm local time)
Quarter-Finals

Order of Play TBC
All games best of 19 legs

Sunday August 13 (6pm local time)
Semi Finals 
Final

All games best of 21 legs

Worldwide TV
Sky Sport - New Zealand
Fox Sports - Australia
ITV - UK (Delayed with 7pm BST start on all three days)
Setanta - Ireland
RTL7 - Netherlands (Delayed highlights, 10pm start on Friday & Saturday & 10.40pm Sunday)
OSN - Middle East & North Africa
DAZN - Germany, Japan & Canada
CCTV - China
Madison Online - China
Fox Sports - Asia
Kwese - South Africa & Sub-Sahara Africa
Viasat - Scandinavia
Nova - Czech Republic
Eleven Sports - USA
PDCTV-HD via www.pdc.tv - For Rest of the World Subscribers (outside UK, Ireland & Netherlands)

Live coverage may be available at the following Bookmakers’ websites:
Bet365 - www.bet365.com - Worldwide
Betcity - www.betcity.ru - Russia
Betfair - www.betfair.com - Brazil, Denmark, England, Ireland, Northern Ireland, Scotland, Spain, Wales
Betfred - www.betfred.com - England, Ireland, Northern Ireland, Scotland, Wales
bwin - www.bwin.com - Worldwide
Fonbet - www.fonbet.com - Armenia, Belarus, Cyprus, Kazakhstan, Russian federation, Ukraine
HappyBet – www.happybet.com - Germany
Marathonbet - www.betmarathon.com - Belarus, Russian Federation, Spain, Ukraine
Napoleon - www.napoleongames.be - Belgium
Nike - www.nike.sk - Slovakia
Sazka - www.sazka.cz/kurzove-sazky/ - Czech Republic
Tempobet - www.tempobet.org - Europe
Tipsport - www.tipsport.cz - Czech Republic & Slovakia
Unibet - www.unibet.com - Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Hungary, Ireland, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Sweden, United Kingdom.
William Hill - www.williamhill.com - United Kingdom, Ireland, Russia, Spain, Sweden & Germany
Winlinebet – www.winlinebet.ru - Russia

Pictures courtesy Photosport
Peter Wright & Phil Taylor

Peter Wright & Phil Taylor (Photosport, PDC)

Darren Herewini & Phil Taylor

Darren Herewini & Phil Taylor (Photosport, PDC)

Raymond van Barneveld

Raymond van Barneveld - Auckland Darts Masters (Photosport, PDC)

Simon Whitlock

Simon Whitlock - Auckland Darts Masters (Photosport, PDC)

Corey Cadby

Corey Cadby - Auckland Darts Masters (Photosport, PDC)

Kyle Anderson

Kyle Anderson - Auckland Darts Masters (Photosport, PDC)

Daryl Gurney

Daryl Gurney - Auckland Darts Masters (Photosport, PDC)

Michael Smith

Michael Smith - Auckland Darts Masters (Photosport, PDC)

The Draw

Auckland Darts Masters (Photosport, PDC)