Luke Littler, Luke Humphries and Jim Long have had their US Darts Masters quarter-final routes confirmed after Thursday night’s opening round at Madison Square Garden in New York.
The World Series event now moves into a single-session sprint on Friday, June 26, with the quarter-finals, semi-finals and final all scheduled for the Infosys Theater at MSG.
Littler’s next test is Long, the Canadian who produced the standout first-round shock by beating Josh Rock 6-4. Humphries, the defending champion, faces Stephen Bunting after beginning his title defence with a 6-1 win over Leonard Gates.
US Darts Masters Quarter-Finals Set
The other half of the draw sends Gerwyn Price into a meeting with James Wade, while Gian van Veen takes on Jonny Clayton. It leaves seven PDC representatives and one North American player still alive in the race for the New York title.
The PDC’s day-one schedule and results list Friday’s quarter-finals as best of 11 legs, before best-of-13 semi-finals and a best-of-15 final later in the evening.
For Littler, the Long tie is the kind of match he will be expected to control, but it also carries the awkward rhythm of facing the only home-continent survivor. For Humphries, Bunting offers the first serious test of whether last year’s champion can back up another heavy run in New York.
