Darts returned to the Madison Square Garden tonight, as the bet365 US Darts Masters kicked off. Eight North Americans (four Americans, and four Canadians) took to the stage against eight top PDC professionals. From an American point of view, we have had better nights, with all four of our representatives slumping to defeat, but our friends from North of the Border did provide two winners in Jeff Smith and Jim Long.

Jason Brandon took an early lead against 2018 World Champ Rob Cross, but struggled after his first-leg 16-darter, going down 6-2, while Belgium’s Dimitri Van den Bergh inflicted an identical scoreline against young J.T. Davis, with the help of a brace of 12-dart legs. It was also 6-2 as Alex Spellman went out to Luke Humphries, and Gerwyn Price complete a quartet of 6-2 victories against Jules van Dongen. It shoud be noted that the Welshman posted a couple of 12-darters on his way to an impressive average of 105.62.

Jake MacMillan was another 6-2 loser, with Michael van Gerwen taking a comfortable win. Matt Campbell recorded an impressive 97.95, and indeed fought back well with a couple of 14’s to tie the score at 4-4. However, legs of 11 and 14 sealed the victory for Nathan Aspinall, and a final average of 105.81.

So, that leaves two…

In a match that was pretty even figure-wise, Jeff Smith managed to get the jump on Peter Wright, forging a 3-1 lead. 3-1 quickly became 5-1 when Smith checked out from 108 (4×17, D20), and while the Scot immediately closed the gap with an 11 (3×140, T19, D12), it was never going to be enough.

That leaves Jim Long, who took on reigning World Champion, Michael Smith. Long was slow out of the blocks with a measly 24, but bounced back with 180, 100, 100, 97 out! A 13 (with another 180) made it 3-1 to the Canadian. The pair traded 15’s before Long gave himself a 5-2 advantage, one leg from victory. 14 darts later, it was all over.

The event continues tomorrow, after the bet365 North American Darts Championship (which features only the eight North Americans)

bet365 US Darts Masters (1st round results)

Rob Cross (Eng) 6 – 2 Jason Brandon (USA)
Dimitri Van den Bergh (Bel) 6 – 2 J.T. Davis (USA)
Luke Humphries (Eng) 6 – 2 Alex Spellman (USA)
Nathan Aspinall (Eng) 6 – 4 Matt Campbell (Can)
Gerwyn Price (Wal) 6 – 2 Jules van Dongen (USA)
Jeff Smith (Can) 6 – 2 Peter Wright (Sco)
Jim Long (Can) 6 – 2 Michael Smith (Eng)
Michael van Gerwen (NL) 6 – 2 Jake MacMillan (Can)

bet365 North American Darts Championship Draw

Matt Campbell vs Jason Brandon
Alex Spellman vs J.T. Davis
Jeff Smith vs Jim Long
Jules van Dongen vs Jake MacMillan

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