Canadians Jeff (The Silencer) Smith and Matt (Ginja Ninja) Campbell will compete in the Bet365 U.S. Darts Masters at Madison Square Garden in June.
Americans Danny (The Gambler) Baggish and Jules (The Dutch Dragon) van Dongen will also be in the field, with four more spots for North American players on offer in May's CDC Qualifiers.
Smith, a 46-year-old from Hampton, N.B., was runner-up at the 2016 BDO World Darts Championship. Both he and Campbell, a 32-year-old from Hamilton, have competed at the William Hill World Darts Championship and represented Canada at the World Cup of darts.
"Having four players from North America as PDC Tour card-holders shows the strength of the sport now in the U.S. and Canada, and it's been encouraging to see the progress which emerging players have made in recent years," Matt Porter, chief executive of the Professional Darts Corp., said in a statement.
The World Series of Darts will visit New York for the first time June 3-4, with the U.S. Darts Masters being played alongside the North American Championship in the Hulu Theater at MSG.
All eight North American players will compete in the U.S. Darts Masters, as well as in the afternoon session on June 4 in the North American Championship.
Smith and Florida's Baggish, both former North American Championship winners, will headline the eight regional representatives who take on eight PDC stars on the Madison Square Garden stage.
They will be joined by Campbell, who made his mark on the Challenge Tour last year to secure his spot on the professional circuit, and Dutch-born Missouri-based Van Dongen, who advanced via the January qualifying school.
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This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 22, 2022
The Canadian Press
