Jim Long claimed another big stage scalp to stun Josh Rock on the opening night of the bet365 US Darts Masters, as the North American contingent otherwise struggled.
The World Series of Darts’ return to the Infosys Theater at Madison Square Garden saw Long take centre stage on Thursday’s opening night, as the eight PDC superstars went head-to-head with their North American counterparts.
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Long memorably defeated Michael Smith at the US Darts Masters back in 2023, and the Canadian veteran produced another big upset in the Big Apple, running out a 6-4 winner against a profligate Rock.
The Northern Irishman recovered from a sluggish start to restore parity at three apiece, only for Long to win three of the next four legs and complete the upset.
“It’s an amazing feeling to win on this stage. I’m over the moon,” reflected Long – making his fourth US Darts Masters appearance.
“I’ve played Josh three times on the tour so we’re familiar with each other, and I was fortunate he missed a couple of doubles at the end there.
“I just want to play every game I can play and perform at my best with every chance I get.”
Long’s reward will be a showdown against Luke Littler, after the world number one survived an early scare to defeat a tenacious David Cameron.
Littler was nowhere near his blistering best in the early exchanges, although he duly found his range to avoid the upset, overturning a 4-3 deficit with the aid of five maximums.
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The US Darts Masters will conclude on Friday evening, as the quarter-finals, semi-finals and final are held in front of a sell-out crowd of 5,000 fans – a record for darts in the US.
This will be preceded by the bet365 North American Darts Championship on Friday afternoon, as the eight American and Canadian stars take to the stage to compete for silverware and World Championship qualification.
The 2026 bet365 US Darts Masters is being broadcast live on ESPN and FanDuel in the US, with coverage on DAZN also available exclusively in Germany, Austria and Switzerland.
Other live global coverage is being broadcast through Viaplay in various territories including the Netherlands, as well as via PDCTV in all countries, with delayed coverage available on ITV3 in the UK.
Delayed ITV coverage in the UK will be as follows:
1700-2100 BST Friday June 26 on ITV3 – showing Round One
1700-2100 BST Saturday June 27 on ITV3 – showing Quarter-Finals, Semi-Finals & Final
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2026 bet365 US Darts Masters
Thursday June 25
Round One
Gian van Veen 6-1 Fred Krueger
Gerwyn Price 6-4 Brayden Hall
James Wade 6-3 Adam Sevada
Jim Long 6-4 Josh Rock
Luke Littler 6-4 David Cameron
Luke Humphries 6-1 Leonard Gates
Jonny Clayton 6-2 Gary Mawson
Stephen Bunting 6-2 Alex Spellman
2026 bet365 North American Championship
Friday June 26 (1300 EST)
Quarter-Finals
Jim Long v Brayden Hall
Leonard Gates v Fred Krueger
Adam Sevada v Alex Spellman
David Cameron v Gary Mawson
Semi-Finals
Long/Hall v Gates/Krueger
Sevada/Spellman v Cameron/Mawson
Final v
All matches best of 11 legs
2026 bet365 US Darts Masters (1930 EST)
Quarter-Finals
Luke Littler v Jim Long
Gerwyn Price v James Wade
Luke Humphries v Stephen Bunting
Gian van Veen v Jonny Clayton
Best of 11 legs
Semi-Finals
Littler/Long v Price/Wade
Humphries/Bunting v Van Veen/Clayton
Best of 13 legs
Final
Best of 15 legs
—–ENDS—–
Images: Ed Mulholland/PDC
