Auckland Darts Masters 2015: Scores, Results, Updated Schedule After Friday

The inaugural Auckland Darts Masters got underway on Friday as the likes of Phil Taylor, Adrian Lewis and Michael van Gerwen each enjoyed bright starts to their bid for New Zealand success.  

Simon Whitlock was the only Oceanic star who managed to overcome the odds as the Australian native defeated seeded Stephen Bunting for a place in the quarter-finals.

Taylor will be particularly motivated to claim further success Down Under after sealing back-to-back wins in Perth and Sydney earlier this month.

Read on for a recap of Friday's first-round action, complete with a look at the schedule ahead as the big guns of the Professional Darts Corporation prepare to do battle.

Winner	Score	Loser
Adrian Lewis	6-2	David Platt
Peter Wright	6-1	Mark Cleaver
James Wade	6-3	Paul Nicholson
Phil Taylor	6-0	Craig Caldwell
Raymond van Barneveld	6-0	Loz Ryder
Simon Whitlock	6-4	Stephen Bunting
Michael van Gerwen	6-3	Rob Szabo
Gary Anderson	6-5	Rob Modra

Player 1	VS.	Player 2
Phil Taylor	vs.	Simon Whitlock
Adrian Lewis	vs.	Gary Anderson
Michael van Gerwen	vs.	Raymond van Barneveld
Peter Wright	vs.	James Wade

Recap

Taylor came into his match with Craig Caldwell on a hot streak of Southern Hemisphere form, and it showed in the world No. 3's approach as he claimed a 6-0 blowout on Friday with an average of 104.86.

Auckland Darts Masters provided a look at the figures, The Power standing out as the superior talent in all regards, with Caldwell barely given a chance to get into the match:

However, Taylor remained gracious in victory and hailed the ability of his defeated opponent, acknowledging that "it certainly wasn't as easy as it looked" after finishing tops to cap off a confident campaign.

Fellow Stoke superstar Lewis was also among Friday's opening matches, but Jackpot took slightly longer to find his throw, surrendering two legs to David Platt before winning four in succession to seal a 6-2 win.

With this being the first year the PDC tour has made its way to New Zealand's shores, commentator Stuart Pyke was left in awe of the crowd's support:

Gary Anderson and Rob Modra capped off the first day with a tug-of-war in the final clash, where they swapped the lead on several occasions before Anderson emerged late to claim a 6-5 victory.

The Scot got an ideal start with back-to-back legs before losing three on the bounce as Modra raged into a 3-2 lead, showing consistently high averages all the while, per the official Auckland Darts Masters Twitter account:

It was a closer contest from there, as the two started to hold their throws for the first time in the match, coming to a climax at five legs apiece with Modra throwing for a place in the final eight.

But the Australian ended up finishing precisely as he started to surrender 6-5, although Punters Lounge Darts illustrates how impressive it was the dark horse even made it that far:

"

#AucklandDarts: Anderson 6-5 Modra. What a match! Last leg decider sees 1/80 favourite Gary stagger over the line! pic.twitter.com/YJVVkcLuDO

— Punters Lounge Darts (@PL_DartsTips) August 28, 2015"

Another of Friday's more entertaining matches saw a back-and-forth between James Wade and Paul Nicholson, in which the Englishman suffered a mid-match lull to put his tournament in early danger.

Wade won the first three leg only to drop his throw and see Nicholson replicate that feat to tie 3-3. However, it was at this point nerves seemed to get the better of the Australian Nicholson, who offered his opponent too many chances late on, losing another three in a row to bow out with a 6-3 defeat.

Dutch compatriots Van Gerwen and Raymond van Barneveld will meet in the quarter-finals after beating Rob Szabo and Loz Ryder, respectively, although the world No. 1 was given a greater scare than might have been anticipated.

Full credit must go to Szabo for losing throw just once on Friday, putting up a fight against Van Gerwen, who only started to produce his best as the fixture wore on, he said:

A superb 131 checkout in the eighth leg set Van Gerwen two legs apart from Szabo before he added the finishing touches to join Barney in the next round.

Van Barneveld's encounter against Ryder was a far more routine affair as he triumphed without surrendering a leg, voicing his pleasure to have clinched a perfect win—complete with a stylish 11-darter finish:

Bunting was the only seeded player to fall at the first hurdle following his defeat to Whitlock, who has the pleasure of taking on the irrepressible Taylor in his quarter-final.

Whitlock surged into a 5-1 lead with a couple of maximums on the board, but he was left relieved with a 6-4 victory after seeing Bunting rage back to come within a leg's score near the death:

Peter Wright also powered through to the quarters with a 6-1 beating of Mark Cleaver, as he prepares to take on Wade next in what he may well consider a winnable matchup.

Anderson, in particular, will be hoping for swift improvement before he faces Lewis later in the tournament, while the Dutch duo of Van Gerwen and Van Barneveld also make for an enticing last-eight encounter.