PDC World Series of Darts – Las Vegas

By Darren Eldridge

 

June is a month to relax and reflect on the past season of darts along with recharging our batteries. For some though they press on and get ready to test their talents against the best players in the world. That opportunity came this year during the week of the Fourth of July at the Mandalay Bay, giving me another trip to lovely Las Vegas.

The PDC brought their deadly lineup of world ranked players to challenge North America: World #1 Michael Van Gerwen, #2 Peter Wright, #3 Rob Cross, #4 Gary Anderson, #5 Daryl Gurney, #9 Michael Smith, #10 James Wade and #13 Gerwyn Price. These men would take on a group from North America who battled through four qualifiers over two days for a  chance to claim not only the North American Championship but to become the US Darts Masters champion.

Last year I purchased my RedEye Rhino VIP package and, with my wife Jen, headed out as spectators to soak up all that Vegas had to offer. This year was going to be a little different as we had our travel buddies Mike Maguire and Rachel Imrie joining us.  This year Mike and I decided to take our shot at greatness and play in the qualifiers, but came up short in a room filled with the best on the continent.

Tuesday, July 3rd, was the start of the qualifiers with the winner of each receiving an automatic spot in both the NAC and the US Darts Masters, and another four spots determined by an order of merit point system. My tournament time came to a sudden stop in the first round, man these guys are no joke! My travel buddy Mike Maguire fared a bit better with two T-64 finishes while Maine’s own Aaron Jalbert had a T-8 in the first and then managed two more T-64’s in qualifiers two & four.

The four eventual winners making the televised were Americans DJ Sayer, Dan Lauby and Joe Huffman and Canadians John Norman Jr., Jeff Smith, Dawson Murschell, Dave Cameron, and Ross Snook. The NAC was played on Thursday July 5th, with Canada’s Jeff Smith taking the title with an average of 86.46 ppr in defeating his fellow countryman, John Norman.

Friday started the US Darts Masters with each of the eight qualifiers matched up against a PDC pro. With each of these stars capable of averaging high 90’s to well over 100, our guys had their work cut out for them. It only took until match #2 to fill the hall with electricity, as USA’s Danny Lauby had several game shot chances to beat World #10 James Wade. Last year Wade was the upset victim losing to Dawson Murschell, and it looked likely that history was to repeat itself. But even with four legs topping 100 averages, Danny fell just short in a last leg decider and Wade avoided back to back years with first round defeats.

Last year’s hero, Dawson Murschell, now took the stage against Gerwyn Price. The 23 year old Canadian recently took the big leap and resides across the pond working hard to make his mark on the PDC pro tour, experience that proved vital in Vegas. Dawson was just too much for an injured Price who valiantly gave his all but fell short losing 6-2 to the Canadian star while nursing an Achilles tear. After that match the only North American to push one of the pros was Joe Huffman who took a quartet of legs off world #2 Peter “Snakebite” Wright in a 6-4 loss.

On Saturday, a champion would be crowned with North America’s only hope resting on the shoulders of Dawson Murschell, who faced former world champion Gary Anderson. Doing all he could, Dawson went down swinging, losing out 8-5. The big upset of the day was when James Wade, who had just squeaked by Danny Lauby the day before, took out the clear favorite, world #1 “Mighty” Michael Van Gerwen 8-3. With MVG ousted, the stage was set for a new US Masters champ.

In the end it came down to former two time World Champion Gary Anderson vs. current World Champion Rob Cross. Cross came out in the first session completely in control to take a 4-1 lead. But after the break, it became a totally different match, with Gary Anderson taking 7 straight for a brilliant 8-4 victory, finishing in style with a 164 checkout to become the 2018 US Darts Masters Champion. Worn out, tired and facing a 9pm flight home, we bid good-bye to Vegas till next year.

​

Darren Eldridge