The 2018 bwin World Series of Darts Finals was the fourth staging of the

World Series of Darts Finals The World Series of Darts Finals is a non-ranking darts tournament held by the Professional Darts Corporation. It is classed as a PDC premier event. The tournament was held annually in November, but in 2020, it moved to September, and moved to O ...

tournament, organised by the

Professional Darts Corporation The Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) is a professional darts organisation in the United Kingdom, established in 1992 when a group of leading players split from the British Darts Organisation (BDO) to form what was initially called the World ...

. The tournament took place in the Multiversum Schwechat,

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

, from 2–4 November 2018. It featured a field of 24 players.

Michael van Gerwen Michael van Gerwen (; born 25 April 1989) is a Dutch professional darts player. He is currently ranked number 3 in the world, having been number 1 from 2014 to 2021. He is also a three-time PDC World Champion, having won the title in 2014, 2 ...

was three-time defending champion after defeating Gary Anderson 11-6 in the 2017 final, but lost in the quarter-finals to

Raymond van Barneveld Raymond van Barneveld (born 20 April 1967) is a Dutch professional darts player. Nicknamed Barney, although originally known as The Man, he is one of the most successful darts players in history. Van Barneveld is a five-time World Darts Champ ...

8–10. This ended a 13-match unbeaten streak and 3 year reign as champion.

James Wade James Martin Wade (born 6 April 1983) is an English professional darts player, currently playing in the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC). He became the youngest player to win a major PDC title, when he won the 2007 World Matchplay at the ...

won his first World Series Finals title. It was his second title in as many weeks after he beat Michael Smith 11–10 in a dramatic final, in which Wade missed two match darts in the penultimate leg and Smith missed five match darts in the final leg.

Prize money

The total prize money remained £250,000.

Qualification

The top eight players from the six World Series events of 2018 are seeded for this tournament. Those events are: * 2018 German Darts Masters *

2018 US Darts Masters The 2018 William Hill US Darts Masters was the second staging of the tournament by the Professional Darts Corporation. It was the second event in the 2018 World Series of Darts. The tournament featured 16 players (8 PDC representatives and 8 North ...

* 2018 Shanghai Darts Masters *

2018 Auckland Darts Masters The 2018 Auckland Darts Masters, presented by Burger King & TAB was the fourth staging of the tournament by the Professional Darts Corporation, as the fourth entry in the 2018 World Series of Darts. The tournament featured 16 players (eight PDC pl ...

* 2018 Melbourne Darts Masters *

2018 Brisbane Darts Masters The 2018 Brisbane Darts Masters was the inaugural staging of the tournament by the Professional Darts Corporation, as a sixth and final entry in the 2018 World Series of Darts. The tournament featured 16 players (eight PDC players facing eight ...

In addition, the next four highest ranked players from the

PDC Order of Merit The PDC Order of Merit is a world ranking system used by one of the darts organisations, the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC). Following the 2007 PDC World Darts Championship it superseded a world ranking system based on points being awarded fo ...

following the 2018 World Grand Prix final on 6 October 2018 qualify, as will the next eight players on the World Series Order of Merit. Another four places were awarded following a Tour Card Holders' qualifier in

Barnsley Barnsley () is a market town in South Yorkshire, England. As the main settlement of the Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley and the fourth largest settlement in South Yorkshire. In Barnsley, the population was 96,888 while the wider Borough has ...

on 19 October.

Corey Cadby Corey Patrick Cadby (born 18 March 1995) is an Australian professional darts player who plays in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events. He was the 2016 World Youth champion. Career A native of Tasmania, Cadby began competing in Darts P ...

originally qualified through the World Series Order of Merit, but withdrew following a broken arm in a car accident.

Royden Lam Royden Lam (Chinese:林鼎智; born 8 September 1975) is a darts player from Hong Kong. Career Royden Lam is best known as a soft tip darts player but also plays steel tip darts. In 2009 he won the Hong Kong Open by beating Liu Cheng from Chi ...

replaced him.

Dawson Murschell Dawson Murschell (born 23 November 1995) is a Canadian former professional darts player who played in the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events from 2017 to 2019. Career Murschell first appeared in a televised darts tournament in 2017, when ...

also originally qualified through the World Series Order of Merit, but withdrew on the day of the tournament with illness.

Max Hopp Max Hopp (born 20 August 1996) is a German professional darts player who competes in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events. Career Hopp reached the final of the 2011 WDF World Cup boys' singles, and won the boys' singles event at the 2012 ...

replaced Murschell as the highest player from the Order of Merit who had not qualified and was able to play, with

Mark McGrath Mark Sayers McGrath (born March 15, 1968) is an American singer who is the lead vocalist of the rock band Sugar Ray. McGrath is also known for his work as a co-host of ''Extra'', and he was the host of ''Don't Forget the Lyrics!'' in 2010. McG ...

Tim Pusey Timothy "Tim" Pusey (born 26 August 1992) is an Australian professional darts player who plays in the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events. Career A patient care assistant by trade, Pusey has mainly played on the Dartplayers Australia ...

and

Haupai Puha Haupai Puha (born 12 February 1985) is a New Zealand professional darts player who plays in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events. Darts career Puha qualified for 2 2018 World Series of Darts events in Australia and New Zealand as the n ...

unable to make the journey at such short notice. The following players qualified for the tournament:

Draw

References

{{2018 in PDC darts

World Series of Darts The World Series of Darts is a series of darts tournaments organised by the Professional Darts Corporation. Beginning in 2013, the World Series has comprised between two and seven tournaments across the world, where a mixture of the top-ranked P ...

+2018