Gerwyn Price is in good form, and will be hard to beat, coming into the defence of his World Series Finals title, having claimed 3 of the last 5 Players Championship Events in Barnsley and Hildesheim.
The Iceman returns to Amsterdam to defend his title where he will enter in the Last 16 facing either former World Championship Finalist Simon Whitlock or English international Keegan Brown.
The 2021 World Champion defeated Dirk van Duijvenbode 11-10 in last year’s Final at the AFAS Live, after beating Matt Campbell and former Masters winner Joe Cullen earlier in the competition to claim his 2nd tournament title having beat Rob Cross 11-9 in the 2020 Final.
The 2023 World Series Finals starts live on ITV and Viaplay from 8pm on Friday night, with the 1st Round commencing including an all Dutch battle between 2022 UK Open Champion Danny Noppert and Dirk van Duijvenbode in the penultimate match of the night with the winner to face Nathan Aspinall in Round 2.
The Freeze reached the Quarter Finals of the German Darts Open last weekend along with his opponent, so both players come into their home capital in form with both also winning on the PDC Pro Tour this year.
Recent German Darts Open winner Krzysztof Ratajski will open the 2023 World Series of Darts Finals against Players Championship 21 Runner Up Daniel Klose, with the winner to face World Number 6 Luke Humphries in Round 2.
Jonny Clayton returns to the television stage for the first time since his strong run to the World Matchplay Final back in July, as he prepares to face Martin Schindler in the 1st Round on Friday night.
The Ferret defeated Schindler’s compatriot Gabriel Clemens in the First Round at the Winter Gardens 2 months ago, as he searches for another strong run at the World Series Finals.
The Red Dragon player defeated Michael van Gerwen and Gerwyn Price en route to his only success in the tournament, winning in 2021 after averaging 101.63 to beat Dimitri van den Bergh 11-6 in the Final.
The winner will face tournament Number 1 Rob Cross in the Second Round, with Voltage winning both World Series Events in Australia and New Zealand to take top spot on the World Series Order of Merit last month.
4-time winner Michael van Gerwen also enters in the 2nd Round in his home country, as he searches for his first win in the competition since 2019. Mighty Mike will face the winner of Gabriel Clemens and William O’Connor who face off in the third match of the tournament on Friday night.
Simon Whitlock comes into his second consecutive World Series of Darts Finals and could potentially face the defending champion in the Last 16 should he defeat Keegan Brown in the 1st Round on Friday night.
The Wizard impressed on the World Series circuit at the New South Wales Darts Masters, beating World Matchplay champion Nathan Aspinall in a last leg decider to delight his home supporters in Wollongong.
Luke Humphries has won 2 titles on the Pro Tour this year as he qualifies as the Number 8 seed for the 2023 World Series Finals, where he will face the winner of Krzysztof Ratajski and Daniel Klose in Round 2.
Former 2-time World Champion Peter Wright comes in as the 6th Seed looking for his first victory at the World Series of Darts Finals, having already won the Nordic Darts Masters on the World Series Circuit this year.
Snakebite recently reached the Semi Finals on the Pro Tour and will face the winner of Graham Usher and Haupai Puha in the 2nd Round in Amsterdam.
.2023 World Series of Darts Finals:
Friday Order of Play
Round 1:
Daniel Klose v Krzysztof Ratajski
Graham Usher v Haupai Puha
Gabriel Clemens v William O’Connor
Keegan Brown v Simon Whitlock
Jonny Clayton v Martin Schindler
Raymond van Barneveld v Jeff Smith
Dirk van Duijvenbode v Danny Noppert
Damon Heta v Ricky Evans
—–Ends—–
Images: Kelly Deckers / PDC
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