NZ Darts Masters: Four of the best, as World Series heads to Hamilton

The fifth edition of the New Zealand Darts Masters gets underway on Friday at Claudelands Arena in Hamilton, after four successful years in Auckland. 

The NZ Masters has proved to be a great weekend event, which always delivers plenty of entertainment and excitement, and - of course - plenty of action on the oche. 

Every year has produced a different champion and if that trend continues, there will be a new name on the trophy this week.

2015 - Ardian Lewis beats Raymond van Barneveld for inaugural title 

 

The first edition of the Auckland Darts Masters deserved an epic final - and that's exactly what it got. 

Both arrowsmiths missed match darts, before Lewis cleaned up on double-one, commonly known as 'madhouse'. 

After losing the first two legs, Lewis battled back to lead 4-2 and then 10-8, only for van Barneveld to twice level. 

Van Barneveld was first to a finish, but missed five chances to win the match, as Lewis recovered from two misses of his own to steady his nerves and fire double-one for glory.

In the semi-final, Lewis survived four match darts from Phil Taylor to book his spot in the showpiece event.

2016 - Lewis overcomes Phil Taylor in epic quarter-final 

 

This was always going to be a quality affair, after their previous year's semi-final epic, and the match turned out to be another tense encounter, later seen as one of the best world-series matches. 

Lewis looked set for a comfortable win, as he finished on 124 to break the throw of Taylor in the 14th leg and go up 9-7. 

Taylor, a 16-time world champion, immediately broke Lewis and then checked-out on 130 to take the match to a deciding leg.

Lewis missed three match darts, before cleaning up to reach the semis. He would go on to the final, but lost to Gary Anderson. 

2017 - Kyle Anderson beats Corey Cadby for maiden TV title 

 

Australian Anderson claimed his first televised PDC title, when he beat compatriot Cadby 11-10.

At 4-1 down, Anderson found himself on the backfoot, but fought back to take the lead at 5-4, highlighted with a 160 finish. 

The duo then went blow-for-blow, as Cadby - the then-world youth champion - grabbed a 10-9 lead, before Andrson won the final two legs to seal the title.

2018 - Mark McGrath becomes first Kiwi to win in New Zealand

 

This match was a special, as McGrath made history at the Auckland Masters, becoming the first local player to win at the event. 

Other Kiwis had tasted victory in the world series, but those victories had been achieved across the Tasman - most famously, when Waren Parry overcame a 5-1 deficit to beat Michael van Gerwen. 

Sixteen times before, New Zealanders had taken to the stage at Henderson's Trusts Arena in the first round and each time, they had walked off unsuccessful - until now.

The pair exchanged holds of throw until the sixth leg, where McGrath broke for a 4-2 lead, but Smith fought back to tie the match up.

But McGrath held his nerve and hit double-one in the ninth leg to regain the lead, before hitting tops to send the New Zealand crowd into a frenzy.

Newshub.