Please find below a media release confirming the draw and schedule of play for the TAB New Zealand D

Michael van Gerwen will begin his defence of the TAB New Zealand Darts Masters title against home favourite Bernie Smith on Friday, with the draw now available for the World Series of Darts event in Hamilton.

Following a two-year absence, the world's top darts players have returned to New Zealand for the third leg of August's Oceanic tour. Three-time World Champion Van Gerwen is the reigning champion as he returns to the Globox Arena in Hamilton on August 26-27, having prevailed at the same venue in 2019. Van Gerwen was victorious in the Queensland Darts Masters a fortnight ago, and the Dutchman has been drawn against former World Championship qualifier Smith in Friday's first round. Last week's New South Wales Darts Masters winner Jonny Clayton begins his bid to claim back-to-back titles against DPA Qualifier Mal Cuming, who made his World Series bow in Wollongong last week. Top seed Dimitri Van den Bergh, a World Series winner in Copenhagen and Amsterdam in June, plays Australian icon Simon Whitlock, while Whitlock's World Cup winning partner Damon Heta meets 2022 Masters winner Joe Cullen. World number one Gerwyn Price makes his first appearance in New Zealand against DPNZ number one Ben Robb, while US Darts Masters winner Michael Smith opens up against the veteran Warren Parry. Elsewhere, NSW Darts Masters runner-up James Wade will play Australia's Gordon Mathers for the second straight event, with Women's World Matchplay champion Fallon Sherrock set to take on big stage debutant Kayden Milne. The TAB New Zealand Darts Masters draw was made at Hamilton Gardens on Thursday, as the build-up to this weekend's event continued.