Phil Taylor to open against Cody Harris at Melbourne Darts Masters
Tuesday 22 August 2017 16:56, UK
Phil Taylor will meet New Zealand’s Cody Harris in the first round of the inaugural Unibet Melbourne Darts Masters on Friday.
The 16-time World Champion, who won the World Matchplay last month, will open against Harris in the second event of the PDC's August treble-header of World Series of Darts events.
The tournament sees eight PDC representatives play against eight Oceanic counterparts at the Hisense Arena with top seed Gary Anderson and five-time World Champion Raymond van Barneveld also in action.
Anderson, who won May's Dubai Masters, will meet qualifier Justin Thompson, who is making his TV debut this week, while Van Barneveld will come up against Australia's emerging prospect Corey Cadby, who enhanced his burgeoning reputation with successive victories over Peter Wright, Michael Smith and Taylor at the Auckland Darts Masters last week.
Another Australian who impressed in winning the title in Auckland was Kyle Anderson and he will meet experienced compatriot Simon Whitlock in an opening round clash.
"It was great to see Kyle win last week," said Whitlock following the draw for the first round.
"I would have liked it to have been me, but Kyle is a great guy and fully deserved to get the win in Auckland.
"To see some new Australian talent come through in Kyle and Corey Cadby is massive for the sport over here. If as a group we can all start playing well consistently then it can only be good for Australian darts."
Number three seed James Wade will open his campaign against New Zealand-born Koha Kokiri, while reigning UK Open champion Wright will face Rhys Mathewson and England's Smith will meet Australian qualifier David Platt.
Dave Marland, a newcomer to the big-stage, will meet Northern Ireland's Daryl Gurney, who succumbed to Michael van Gerwen at last month's US Darts Masters.
