The World Darts Federation (WDF) and Darts Australia are delighted to confirm that the 2023 Australian Darts Open will take its place on the calendar from Monday, August 14th – Sat, August 19th at the Moama Bowling Club in New South Wales.
A ranking event for the first time in 2022, the event will once again be Platinum-graded in 2023, with a total prize fund of $80,000 up for grabs across the Men’s and Women’s competitions.
Qualification Criteria – Men’s
As in 2022, the 2023 Men’s Australian Darts Open will involve 24 players.
Defending champion Raymond Smith will receive an invitation to compete in Moama, alongside last year’s finalist Haupai Puha and the Men’s WDF Lakeside World Champion Neil Duff.
The other seeded positions will comprise the number one ranked player in the WDF Men’s Main Race Table (which starts from Sunday, August 7th 2022) following the Swiss and Helvetia Opens on Monday, June 5th and the top two players in both the Australian and New Zealand race ranking tables (starting from Sunday, August 7th 2022) on Monday, June 26th.
Eight spots will be filled by the winners of the state open qualifiers set to be played in the lead up to the August event, with details to be confirmed in due course. On Monday, August 14th and Tuesday, August 15th, the Australian Darts Open will feature four qualifying tournaments for a further eight men to complete the playing field.
Should the World Champion, World No.1, 2022 Australian Open winner or 2022 Australian Open runner-up be unable to compete or decline their invitation, players ranked two through to five (but no lower) in the WDF Main Ranking Race Table as on Monday, June 5th will be invited in their place.
If either of the Australia or New Zealand regional qualifiers needs to be replaced, the players ranked three and four (but no lower) in the Regional Race tables on Monday, June 26th will be invited in their place.
If all of the above possibilities are exhausted, more places will be made available at the qualifiers run in Moama on August 14th and 15th.
Seeded Positions
2022 WDF Lakeside World Champion – Neil Duff
2022 Australian Darts Open champion – Raymond Smith
2022 Australian Darts Open runner-up – Haupai Puha
WDF Australian Open Main Race Table No. 1 – As at Monday, June 5th
Regional Qualifiers
WDF Australia No. 1 – As at Monday, June 26th
WDF Australia No. 2 – As at Monday, June 26th
WDF New Zealand No. 1 – As at Monday, June 26th
WDF New Zealand No. 2 – As at Monday, June 26th
State Qualifiers
Australian Capital Territory
New South Wales
Northern Territory
Queensland
South Australia
Tasmania
Victoria
Western Australia
Australian Darts Open qualifiers
Qualifier 1 – Monday, August 14th (2 x places)
Qualifier 2 – Monday, August 14th (2 x places)
Qualifier 3 – Tuesday, August 15th (2 x places)
Qualifier 4 – Tuesday, August 15th (2 x places)
Qualification Criteria – Women’s
As in 2022, the 2023 Women’s Australian Darts Open will involve 12 players.
Defending champion Beau Greaves will receive an invitation to compete in Moama, alongside last year’s runner-up Mikuru Suzuki. As Beau is also the reigning WDF World Champion and has an unassailable lead atop the Women’s Rankings, the remaining two seeded places will be filled by the players ranked two and three in the WDF Women’s Race Table on Monday, June 5th.
The top two women in both the WDF Australia and WDF New Zealand Regional Race tables on Monday, June 26th will also qualify for the staged event by right.
The remaining four places in the tournament will be filled by four qualifying tournaments played at the venue on Monday, August 14th and Tuesday, August 15th.
Should any of the four seeded players be unable to compete or decline their invitations, the players ranked four and five (but no lower) in the Women’s Main Race Table on Monday, June 5th will be invited in their place.
Should any of the Regional Rankings qualifiers be unable to play, the players ranked three and four (but no lower) in the Regional Race tables on Monday, June 26th will receive an invitation.
If all of the above possibilities are exhausted, more places will be made available at the qualifiers run in Moama on August 14th and 15th.
Seeded Positions
WDF World Champion – Beau Greaves
2022 Australian Darts Open runner-up – Mikuru Suzuki
WDF Australian Open Main Race Table No. 2 – As at Monday, June 5th
WDF Australian Open Main Race Table No. 3 – As at Monday, June 5th
Regional Qualifiers
WDF Australia No. 1 – As at Monday, June 26th
WDF Australia No. 2 – As at Monday, June 26th
WDF New Zealand No. 1 – As at Monday, June 26th
WDF New Zealand No. 2 – As at Monday, June 26th
Australian Darts Open Qualifiers
Qualifier 1 – Monday, August 14th (1 x place)
Qualifier 2 – Monday, August 14th (1 x place)
Qualifier 3 – Tuesday, August 15th (1 x place)
Qualifier 4 – Tuesday, August 15th (1 x place)
The confirmed fields of 24 men and 12 women will be drawn into groups of three and will compete upon the stage and in front of the cameras on Wednesday, August 16th and Thursday, August 17th. The group winners in each tournament (eight men and four women) will then progress to the knockout stages and play to a finish on Saturday, August 19th.
The total prize fund for the 2023 Australian Darts Open is $80,000 AUD. The Men’s winner will take home an impressive $16,000 AUD, with the Women’s winner receiving $8,000 AUD. A full prize fund breakdown is available on the dedicated event page.
The whole event, including the pre-tournament qualifiers, will be available to follow on DartConnect. Streaming information will follow in due course but we are pleased to confirm that there will be no geo-locking on this year’s event, meaning darts fans from around the world will be able to tune in for what should be a fantastic week of tungsten action down under.
