Fresh from his terrific victory at the Auckland Darts Masters, Unicorn star Kyle Anderson faces another big all Aussie clash in the 1st Round of the first ever Melbourne Masters.
For the third time inside a month, Kyle takes on Simon Whitlock in one of the highlights of the draw. They met at the World Matchplay when Whitlock took the spoils, but Anderson won a thrilling last leg decider in the Auckland quarter-finals.
"It has been an incredible week," he said. "It is just sinking in that I won a big TV event but to play Simon again is great for me. I relish these sorts of games and I will be ready."
Kyle has been much in demand with the Melbourne media after his 11-10 win over Corey Cadby in the Auckland final.
Unicorn star Gary Anderson is again the top seed despite his 1st Round defeat to Kyle in New Zealand. The Scot plays Australian Justin Thompson.
Michael Smith plays Perth-based qualifier David Platt, while James Wade meets highly-rated Kiwi Koha Kokiri on Friday night at the Hisense Arena in Melbourne.
The draw in full:
Gary Anderson (1) v Justin Thompson
Daryl Gurney v Dave Marland
Peter Wright (4) v Rhys Mathewson
Michael Smith v David Platt
Raymond van Barneveld (2) v Corey Cadby
Phil Taylor v Cody Harris
James Wade (3) v Koha Kokiri
Simon Whitlock v Kyle Anderson
Story from STUART PYKE in Melbourne