Nathan Aspinall Wins 2019 US Darts Masters In Las Vegas

US Darts Masters

UK Open champion Nathan Aspinall last week collected his second PDC title when he took down the US Darts Masters in Las Vegas by beating the Bully Boy Michael Smith 8-4 in Friday’s final. 27-year-old Aspinall from Stockport was making his World Series debut and saved the occasion to produce a personal best TV average of 106.7. He also managed to land five 180s, while successfully pinning 8 of his 11 darts at doubles.

Aspinall, nicknamed The Asp, couldn’t have hoped for a better start, as he opened with a 10-darter before banking two 180’s on each of his first two visits in the follow-up. Even a bounce out couldn’t stop him as he landed 15 perfect darts in a row. Not to be outdone in front of the Vegas crowds, Smith went on to throw a maximum of his own before checking out for 130 in the next to level the match at 2-2.

Things settled down thereafter with the next three legs going with throw until The Asp moved ahead, winning four legs on the bounce and with them, the second televised title of his career.

It could all have been so different. Earlier on in the day, Aspinall needed to survive a match dart against Peter Wright in the semi-final before winning 8-7 to send Snakebite packing. While Bully Boy started the day with a sweet victory over Michael van Gerwen before steamrolling Gerwyn Price, who had earlier eliminated his old enemy Gary Anderson, to reach the US Darts Masters final.

2019 German Darts Masters Betting Tips

Running from Friday 12 September and 13 September, the German Darts Masters is the next stop on the World Series tour, following from last week’s stopover in Las Vegas. The German Darts Masters will see eight top PDC stars take on eight leading German players at the Lanxess Arena in Cologne.

Representing the PDC are Michael van Gerwen, Rob Cross, Daryl Gurney, Gary Anderson, Peter Wright, Mensur Suljovic, James Wade and Raymond van Barneveld. These eight stars will be joined by eight more players, all playing in front of their German home crowd. These are Max Hopp, Martin Schindler, Gabriel Clemens, Nico Kurz, Kevin Munch, Robert Marijanovic, Christian Bunse and Maik Langendorf.

According to Betway Michael van Gerwen is the most likely to win the competition outright as he has been given the favourite’s short price of 11/10. He is followed in the betting by Gary Anderson, who can be picked up for 5/1. For those fancying Rob Cross to land another tourney, they can get 13/2 on Voltage.

James Wade and Peter Wright are both available for 10/1, while Daryl Gurney is 14’s. Mensur Suljovic is looking to defend the title he won last year in Gelsenkirchen and has a 16/1 price on his head. Of the Local heroes, Max Hopp is the shortest of the set at 50/1, the same price as the last of the PDC eight Raymond van Barneveld. And while a win for Barney is always welcomed, our money this week is going on Gary Anderson at 5’s as he looks to make up for lost time having missed so much of 2019 so far.

Friday July 12

First Round

  • James Wade v Kevin Munch
  • Gary Anderson v Nico Kurz
  • Daryl Gurney v Christian Bunse
  • Peter Wright v Robert Marijanovic
  • Raymond van Barneveld v Gabriel Clemens
  • Mensur Suljovic v Maik Langendorf
  • Michael van Gerwen v Martin Schindler
  • Rob Cross v Max Hopp

Saturday July 13

  • Quarter-Finals
  • Semi-Finals
  • Final

QUICK GLANCE AT THE GERMAN DARTS MASTERS

Venue: LANXESS Arena, Cologne
Dates: Thursday 12.07.2019
Format: Best of 11 legs, QF, SF & F Best of 15 legs
Current Champion: Mensur Suljovic
Where To Watch: ITV Sport
When To Watch: (1900 GMT)

2019 World Matchplay Schedule

Whoop, whoop, the summer’s biggest darts event is not too far away now so it’s timely then that PDC have released the schedule for this year’s World Matchplay Darts, which takes place at the Winter Gardens in Blackpool from July 20 to July 28.

Famously one of the pros’ favourite events, the World Matchplay features 32 players all competing for the Phil Taylor Trophy live on Sky Sports. Round one takes place over three days, including two Sunday sessions. The second round is split across Tuesday and Wednesday, before the quarter-finals are held on Thursday and Friday, with the semi-finals on Saturday before Sunday’s final.

Each game must be won by two clear legs, with up to a maximum of five additional legs being played before a sixth sudden-death leg.

Early prices are available at Betway but we can quickly summarise here; Michael van Gerwen will be favourite, with Rob Cross, Gary Anderson, Michael Smith, Peter Wright and the reigning champion Gary Anderson all following on.

The draw sees Gary Anderson open up against Danny Noppert while newly crowned US Darts Masters champ Nathan Aspinall will play Mervyn King on the same night. Other Saturday clashes include Gerwyn Price versus Stephen Bunting and Rob Cross versus Chris Dobey.

Dave Chisnall, Joe Cullen, Ian White, Darren Webster and Michael Smith all go in Sunday’s afternoon session, while the evening session sees Michael van Gerwen, James Wade, Jeffrey de Zwaan all launch their bids as well as pitting Adrian Lewis against three-time BDO world champion Glen Durrant. Peter Wright, Daryl Gurney and Simon Whitlock all play on Monday.

Saturday July 20

First Round (best of 19 legs)

  • Nathan Aspinall v Mervyn King
  • Gerwyn Price v Stephen Bunting
  • Gary Anderson v Danny Noppert
  • Rob Cross v Chris Dobey

Sunday July 21

First Round (best of 19 legs)

  • Darren Webster v Krzysztof Ratajski
  • Dave Chisnall v Max Hopp
  • Ian White v Joe Cullen
  • Michael Smith v Jamie Hughes
  • James Wade v Jeffrey de Zwaan
  • Mensur Suljovic v Jermaine Wattimena
  • Michael van Gerwen v Steve Beaton
  • Adrian Lewis v Glen Durrant

Monday July 22 (1900 BST)

First Round (best of 19 legs)

  • Jonny Clayton v Keegan Brown
  • Simon Whitlock v John Henderson
  • Daryl Gurney v Ricky Evans
  • Peter Wright v Vincent van der Voort

Tuesday July 23 (1900 BST)

Second Round (best of 21 legs)

  • Smith/Hughes v Chisnall/Hopp
  • Wade/De Zwaan v Suljovic/Wattimena
  • Anderson/Noppert v Aspinall/King
  • Van Gerwen/Beaton v Lewis/Durrant

Wednesday July 24 (1900 BST)

Second Round (best of 21 legs)

  • Gurney/Evans v Clayton/Brown
  • Price/Bunting v White/Cullen
  • Cross/Dobey v Webster/Ratajski
  • Wright/Van der Voort v Whitlock/Henderson

Thursday July 25 (1900 BST)

Quarter-Finals (Best of 31 legs)

  • Two matches

Friday July 26 (1900 BST)

Quarter-Finals (Best of 31 legs)

  • Two matches

Saturday July 27 (1900 BST)

Semi-Finals (best of 33 legs)

  • Winner QF 1 v Winner QF 2
  • Winner QF 3 v Winner QF 4

Sunday July 28 (1900 BST)

  • Final (best of 35 legs)