Humphries to face Comito in Australian Darts Masters opener

Luke Humphries will begin his Australian Darts Masters campaign against Joe Comito on Friday, with the draw and schedule for this weekend’s event now confirmed.

The opening leg of the PDC's World Series of Darts Oceanic double-header will take place in Wollongong on August 9-10, as 16 players compete for the coveted title at the WIN Entertainment Centre.

Friday’s first round will see the eight PDC stars take on eight Oceanic representatives, with world number one Humphries pitted against Australian qualifier Comito on his debut Down Under.

Teenage superstar Luke Littler - also making his World Series debut in Australia - will begin his title challenge against the veteran Rob Modra, a winner of 19 DartPlayers Australia ProTour titles.

Rob Cross - the champion in Wollongong 12 months ago - takes on New Zealand's number one Haupai Puha in his opener, while two-time World Champion Peter Wright and Australian icon Simon Whitlock also go head-to-head.

Australian number one Damon Heta will headline on home soil against New Zealand's John Hurring, as world number two Michael Smith plays big stage debutant Stuart Coburn for a place in the quarter-finals.

2021 World Champion Gerwyn Price faces the returning Brenton Lloyd in round one, while UK Open champion Dimitri Van den Bergh meets DPA ProTour Order of Merit leader Jeremy Fagg in the tournament's curtain-raiser.

Friday's first round gets underway at 1900 local time (1000 BST) at the WIN Entertainment Centre, before the decisive quarter-finals, semi-finals and final are held on Saturday August 10.

The Australian Darts Masters will be broadcast live on Fox Sports in Australia, through DAZN in Germany, Austria and Switzerland and on PDCTV in all other global territories.