4 days ago
2025 Australian Darts Masters predictions
2025 Australian Darts Masters predictions originally appeared on The Sporting News
The Australian Darts Masters is almost here.
It's the second-to-last chance for players to collect prize money and change their positioning on the World Series of Darts order of merit before the World Series of Darts finals in September.
That could motivate the players a little bit extra, likely leading to the cream of the crop making deep tournament runs.
Will there be any upsets? Can any non-tour cardholder threaten PDC representatives? All of that will be covered in this article.
2025 Australian Darts Masters predictions
Let's start out with the likely favorites that could come out on top Saturday night.
MORE: PDC representatives announced for Australian Darts Masters and New Zealand Darts Masters
Favorites
Gerwyn Price is last year's event winner, and with how great he's been in the last few months, it's hard not to have him up there as a favorite.
His half of the bracket consists of names like Luke Humphries, Chris Dobey, and Mike De Decker.
Those are all talented players, but recent form suggests no reason as to why Price can't compete with the best and at least make it to the semifinals.
The same applies to Luke Humphries. He won the U.S. Darts Masters several weeks ago, but did have a rough performance at the World Matchplay last month, losing in the first round to Gian van Veen.
Josh Rock could very well make a run in his first World Series of Darts appearance, but got one of the toughest draws for a PDC player, having to face Australian legend Simon Whitlock.
Rock fell short against Luke Littler in the semifinal at the World Matchplay, but still played very well and tends to play well in shorter format games, as we've seen on the ProTour over the past few years.
Luke Littler always has to be considered as a favorite, especially when he just won the second biggest major of the year.
He's struggled a bit to succeed on the World Series of Darts stage in 2025 for whatever reason, but he'll always be in the mix for any tournament he competes in.
MORE: When does Luke Littler play at 2025 Australian Darts Masters?
Upsets
As I mentioned, Josh Rock is carrying some great momentum into this tournament after recent performances at the World Matchplay and World Cup of Darts.
He has his work cut out for him, though, as Simon Whitlock, although out of his prime, is not an opponent to take lightly.
Whitlock's consistency is his biggest issue, but he has still shown periods of dominant play where he can average 90+ and win games.
Haupai Puha is one of the better regional qualifiers in the tournament this year, but has a tough opponent in Luke Littler for the first round.
At the U.S. Darts Masters, we saw Rob Cross and Stephen Bunting get sent home in the first round by two Americans that most wouldn't have expected to move on to the quarterfinal round.
An upset isn't expected in the Puha/Littler game, but there's always a possibility in these short-formatted games.
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