Nordic Darts Masters

On January 19 and 20, 2023, the third edition of the Nordic Darts Masters was held in Copenhagen, Denmark. Peter Wright took the title for the first time by defeating Gerwyn Price in the final.

Eight PDC stars will compete against eight Scandinavian stars in the first round. Unfortunately for the 'local' players, no participant manages to reach the next round. The closest to a victory comes Dennis Nilsson, who has to leave the victory to opponent Peter Wright in the decisive eleventh leg. Darius Labanauskas does not win a leg against world champion Michael Smith (6-0), while Gerwyn Price is too strong for Danish debutant Benjamin Reus with the same figures. Michael van Gerwen, who missed the previous World Series tournament, starts with a difficult 6-3 victory over the Swede Andreas Harrysson.

The eight PDC stars will face each other in the quarterfinals. Peter Wright and Michael van Gerwen fight in a nice battle together, in which Wright eventually wins 10-9. Michael Smith wins after a fascinating fight against Luke Humphries 10-7 and then sees the two top players from Wales (Gerwyn Price and Jonny Clayton) also go further: Price beats Dimitri van den Bergh 10-7, after which Clayton is too strong for Rob Cross (10-4).

The two semi-finals are exciting. 'Snakebite' Wright beats Michael Smith 11-8 to become the first player to beat the world champion. The match between Price and Clayton needs a decisive 21st leg to come to a winner. In the end it is Price who throws the winning double, so that the final will be between the numbers 2 and 4 in the world. In the end it is the victory for the number 2 of the Order of Merit: Wright throws a very strong game and never lets his victory be jeopardized. He throws an average of 102.28 (highest of the tournament), wins the final 11-5 and can therefore call himself the winner of the Nordic Darts Masters 2023.