Jonny Tata Wins ANZ Premier League's Opening Night In Melbourne

Kiwi Jonny Tata has continued his run of form from the last weekend of DPNZ tour by making history at John Cain Arena in Melbourne. He picked up the first ever nightly title in the history of the ANZ Premier League. In front of 2,500 people Tata also claimed the first night in the competition's history making history all the way through the night.

Jonny Tata made history on a Saturday night in Melbourne

The ANZ Premier League is the newest concept by the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) to grow darts as it experience a surge in popularity of the back of Luke Littler. The competition follows the format, albeit in a shorter time-frame, as the PDC Premier League Darts which runs through February to May in venues across Europe.

The night began with a comfortable win for Tata, completely outclassing James Bailey to win in a 5-0 whitewash win. Tata claimed the first leg in League history in 15 darts and took out a 118 finish in the second leg along the way. There was controversy in the match with Bailey protesting his score with the marker and legendary referee Russ Bray during the last leg. The following quarter-final saw fan favourite Simon Whitlock take on Joe Comito. After dropping the first two legs, the former World Championship finalist would go on a three-leg tear that put him one way from victory. Both players showed quality but Comito kept a positive run of form by winning the last two legs to win 5-4.

In a quality match, Raymond Smith proved why he is among the favourties with a 5-3 win over Tim Pusey, who notably enjoyed the atmosphere and got the crowd involved during the match. Pusey was certainly not disgraced but features in tough quarter-final line-ups early in the tournament including against Tata next week. But Smith proved his class and got the job done with a brilliant 104 finish, made more impressive with a brilliant second dart finding a blocked treble 18 segment. The quarter-finals ended with a Brody Klinge getting past the other kiwi in the field in Ben Robb 5-2. Robb was made to pay for crucial misses in the sixth leg, resulting in Klinge being able to break his throw with 26 darts. He wrapped up the match with a stunning 164 finish on the bull in the seventh leg.

Raymond Smith high-fives with fans during the walk-on

The DPNZ and DPA tour winners from 2025 duelled away in a match that needed a deciding leg. The game went with throw until the sixth when Tata drew two clear after Comito narrowly missed double 18 for a 153 finish. Tata missed tops for a 145 finish to win it in the eight leg but Tata would get the win 5-4. In the other semi-final, Klinge dropped in form and spent a lot of the match averaging below 70. When Smith secured the first four legs, including in 14 and 13 darts he was always going to be tough to beat. Smith hammered home a win by 5 legs to 2.

In the final, Tata saved his best performance of the night for his last. He averaged 96.03 and once he broke ahead to a 3-1 lead there was no looking back. Tata just held his throw a couple times more to secure a 5-3 victory. The nightly win means Tata leads the Premier League standings with five points. Smith is second with three ahead of Comito and Klinge who each have two. The top four will qualify for finals night in Brisbane where the winner on that night, wins a spot to the 2026 PDC World Darts Championship.