DOBEY OPENS UP AGAINST GILDING AS NEW WORLD CHAMPION DRAW BUNTING OR ROSS SMITH
Chris Dobey will begin his defence of the Cazoo Masters title against UK Open champion Andrew Gilding next month, with the draw bracket for February’s event now confirmed.
The £275,000 tournament will see the sport’s biggest names battle it out across three days of action at Milton Keynes’ Marshall Arena from February 2-4.
The first round will feature players ranked 9-24 on the PDC Order of Merit, with reigning champion Dobey set to face 2023 UK Open champion Gilding for a place in Saturday’s second round.
The winner will progress to a last 16 showdown against Dutch supremo Michael van Gerwen, who won the title on five consecutive occasions between 2015 and 2019.
Newly crowned World Champion Luke Humphries faces a tough opener in Milton Keynes, with the number one seed pitted against a resurgent Stephen Bunting or former European Champion Ross Smith.
World number three Michael Smith will face either Dimitri Van den Bergh or 2014 winner James Wade, while Dirk van Duijvenbode and Ryan Searle compete for the right to meet World Matchplay champion Nathan Aspinall.
Fifth seed Gerwyn Price will open his challenge against 2022 Masters champion Joe Cullen or former World Youth Champion Josh Rock, who collide in one of the stand-out first round ties.
Rob Cross – a runner-up to Dobey 12 months ago – will take on either Australian number one Damon Heta or Germany’s premier player Gabriel Clemens for a place in the quarter-finals.
Clemens’ World Cup partner Martin Schindler locks horns with two-time Masters runner-up Dave Chisnall in round one, with seventh seed Danny Noppert awaiting the winner in the last 16.
Meanwhile, 2020 champion Peter Wright will face either 2021 winner Jonny Clayton or Poland’s Krzysztof Ratajski, who collided at the recent World Darts Championship.
Following Friday’s eight first round matches, the second round will take place across two sessions on Saturday February 3.
The tournament will then conclude on Sunday February 4, with the quarter-finals in the afternoon session, followed by the semi-finals and final in a bumper evening session.
The 2024 Cazoo Masters will be broadcast live on ITV in the UK, through the PDC’s worldwide broadcast partners including DAZN and Viaplay, and on PDCTV (excluding Germany, Austria & Switzerland based subscribers).
2024 Cazoo Masters
Draw Bracket
(1) Luke Humphries v Stephen Bunting/Ross Smith
(8) Peter Wright v Jonny Clayton/Krzysztof Ratajski
(4) Nathan Aspinall v Dirk van Duijvenbode/Ryan Searle
(5) Gerwyn Price v Joe Cullen/Josh Rock
(2) Michael van Gerwen v Chris Dobey/Andrew Gilding
(7) Danny Noppert v Dave Chisnall/Martin Schindler
(3) Michael Smith v Dimitri Van den Bergh/James Wade
(6) Rob Cross v Damon Heta/Gabriel Clemens
First Round
(9) Jonny Clayton v (24) Krzysztof Ratajski
(10) Dave Chisnall v (23) Martin Schindler
(11) Damon Heta v (22) Gabriel Clemens
(12) Joe Cullen v (21) Josh Rock
(13) Dirk van Duijvenbode v (20) Ryan Searle
(14) Dimitri Van den Bergh v (19) James Wade
(15) Chris Dobey v (18) Andrew Gilding
(16) Stephen Bunting v (17) Ross Smith
The schedule of play will be confirmed in due course.
—–ENDS—–
Images: PDC
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