Price sets his sights on defending his Nordic Darts Masters title as the World Series returns

The fifth edition of the World Series of Darts event will take place at the Forum Copenhagen on Friday, marking the start of the 2025 Mr Vegas Nordic Darts Masters.

A 16-player field will fight for televised silverware in the 2025 World Series of Darts, which will continue in the Danish city on June 6-7 after tournaments in Bahrain and Den Bosch in January.

Following his historic Premier League victory last Thursday, world number one Luke Humphries leads a top-tier lineup in Copenhagen.

Humphries put on a fantastic display to win his first Premier League title, putting his total number of televised victories over the previous two years in double figures.

The 30-year-old will now make his big-stage comeback against Madars Razma of Latvia, the top-ranked Nordic & Baltic representative.

“You can’t win all these titles and not be hungry. You can’t become lazy,” insisted Humphries, who lifted his maiden World Series title in New Zealand back in August.

“I hope my Premier League win drives me and makes me hungry to win more.

“I’m going to be working hard to get better and I’ll make some tweaks to my set-up which is going to help me improve.

“I’m still young so I’ve got the chance to change things and get better.

“I feel like I need to, because if I don’t, the younger generation are going to come through and take over.”

The eight PDC players will face eight Nordic and Baltic opponents in the opening round on Friday. Gerwyn Price, the current champion, will face Cor Dekker of Norway.

Twelve months ago, Price triumphed in Copenhagen, defeating Rob Cross, Michael Smith, and Dimitri Van den Bergh to celebrate his World Series victory.

If the Welshman defeats Dekker, who became the first Norwegian representative to earn a PDC Tour Card at European Qualifying School in January, he might meet Humphries in the quarterfinals.

This weekend’s tournament will also include World Champion Luke Littler as the main attraction. The adolescent wonder will face up against up-and-coming Swedish prodigy Viktor Tingstrom in his title challenge.

Littler missed the trip to Copenhagen last year, but despite giving up his Premier League title a week ago, he will be hoping to get back to winning ways on his Nordic Darts Masters debut.

Nathan Aspinall, a Stockport star, responded to missing out on Premier League gold at The O2 by winning the European Darts Open title in Leverkusen on Sunday.

Benjamin Reus, who is aiming for his first big stage triumph at home, will now take on Aspinall in his attempt to win back-to-back titles.

“To bounce back after the defeat last Thursday and win in Leverkusen, it shows where my game’s at at the moment,” insisted former World Matchplay champion Aspinall.

“If you want something you have to fight, to believe you can do it.

“When things are not going your way, you have to keep fighting, believing that you can get back to your best.

“That’s what I do, week-in and week-out, and the last few weeks have been pretty good.”

The top seed January’s Bahrain Darts Masters champion Stephen Bunting begins his campaign with a matchup against Oskar Lukasiak, a quarterfinalist in the World Cup from Sweden.

Jeffrey de Graaf, Lukasiak’s World Cup partner, will face Chris Dobey, who was called up late after 2021 champion Michael van Gerwen withdrew for family reasons.

Runner-up at the Nordic Darts Masters in 2024 Cross, a five-time World Series champion, will also have to contend with Andreas Harrysson of Sweden.

After defeating Michael Smith and Raymond van Barneveld to go to the third round of the European Darts Open last weekend, Harrysson is now aiming to overcome another world champion in Copenhagen.

In other news, Welsh number one Jonny Clayton will play Lithuania’s former World Championship quarterfinalist Darius Labanauskas in Friday’s final, marking his first World Series appearance in more than 18 months.

The Nordic Darts Masters will culminate with a spectacular evening session on Saturday, which will include the quarterfinals, semi-finals, and final at Forum Copenhagen, after Friday’s opening round concludes.

Price sets his sights on defending his Nordic Darts Masters title as the World Series returns 

2025 Mr Vegas Nordic Darts Masters

Forum Copenhagen, June 6-7

Draw Bracket

(1) Stephen Bunting v Oskar Lukasiak

Jonny Clayton v Darius Labanauskas

(4) Luke Littler v Viktor Tingstrom

Nathan Aspinall v Benjamin Reus

(2) Rob Cross v Andreas Harrysson

Chris Dobey v Jeffrey de Graaf

(3) Gerwyn Price v Cor Dekker

Luke Humphries v Madars Razma

Schedule of Play

Friday June 6 (1900 local time, 1800 BST)

First Round

Chris Dobey v Jeffrey de Graaf

Gerwyn Price v Cor Dekker

Rob Cross v Andreas Harrysson

Luke Humphries v Madars Razma

Nathan Aspinall v Benjamin Reus

Luke Littler v Viktor Tingstrom

Stephen Bunting v Oskar Lukasiak

Jonny Clayton v Darius Labanauskas

Best of 11 legs

Saturday June 7 (1900 local time, 1800 BST)

Quarter-Finals

Best of 11 legs

Semi-Finals

Best of 13 legs

 

Final

Best of 15 legs