ANZ PREMIER LEAGUE · AUCKLAND & THE FINALS RACE
Smith wins Auckland as the ANZ finals race heads to Newcastle
Raymond Smith has his Brisbane ticket sorted. For everyone chasing him, Newcastle is where the sums become very real.
Smith beat Brody Klinge 5–2 in the Auckland final on Friday 16 October, securing top seed for Finals Night. His second nightly title of the season takes him to 14 points, with just one scoring night left.
Klinge gave Melbourne supporters a fresh reason to pay attention. After three rounds without a match win, he beat Tim Pusey 5–2, then reeled off five consecutive legs against Simon Whitlock to win their semi-final 5–1. He now has three points and a route to Brisbane, although it requires winning the whole night in Newcastle.
Smith makes a little history
Smith’s evening started with a 5–2 win over Mal Cuming. He followed it with another 5–2 victory over Jonny Tata, landing the competition’s first 170 checkout along the way.
In the final he averaged 95.97 and hit four 180s to end Klinge’s run. That is a strong way to arrive at the last league round with first place already secured.
For Cuming, Auckland was a setback rather than the end of the road. His Newcastle quarter-final against Whitlock is now simple: win and he qualifies, lose and he is out.
Auckland: every result
Friday 16 October 2026 · Night Four
Quarter-finals
| Winner | Legs | Opponent |
|---|---|---|
| Jonny Tata | 5–3 | Joe Comito |
| Raymond Smith | 5–2 | Mal Cuming |
| Simon Whitlock | 5–3 | Ben Robb |
| Brody Klinge | 5–2 | Tim Pusey |
Semi-finals
| Winner | Legs | Opponent |
|---|---|---|
| Raymond Smith | 5–2 | Jonny Tata |
| Brody Klinge | 5–1 | Simon Whitlock |
Final
| Winner | Legs | Opponent |
|---|---|---|
| Raymond Smith | 5–2 | Brody Klinge |
The table after Auckland
| Pos | Player | Points | Match wins |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Raymond Smith | 14 | 8 |
| 2 | Tim Pusey | 8 | 5 |
| 3 | Jonny Tata | 7 | 4 |
| 4 | Mal Cuming | 7 | 4 |
| 5 | Simon Whitlock | 6 | 3 |
| 6 | Brody Klinge | 3 | 2 |
| 7 | Ben Robb | 3 | 2 |
| 8 | Joe Comito | 0 | 0 |
Tata sits above Cuming on nightly titles. Both have seven points and four match wins, but Tata won Adelaide.
One scoring night remains
Newcastle on Saturday 24 October is the final chance to earn league points. Brisbane on Saturday 31 October is the top-four Finals Night, not another scoring round.
The Newcastle bracket is fixed by the standings after Auckland:
- First half: Smith v Comito; Cuming v Whitlock. The winners meet in one semi-final.
- Second half: Pusey v Robb; Tata v Klinge. The winners meet in the other semi-final.
Points are awarded 5 to the nightly winner, 3 to the runner-up, 2 to each losing semi-finalist and 0 for a quarter-final exit.
Who needs what in Newcastle?
Our calculations: these qualification paths are derived from the standings, Newcastle bracket and published rules. They are not quoted PDC guarantees.
Raymond Smith: first place secured
Smith has clinched top seed. Joe Comito, on zero points, is eliminated from the finals race.
Tim Pusey: one win does it
Beat Robb in the quarter-final and Pusey qualifies. If he loses, he misses out only if all three of these things happen:
- Robb wins the entire Newcastle night.
- Tata beats Klinge in their quarter-final.
- Either Cuming beats Whitlock, or Whitlock reaches the final.
Jonny Tata: win and he is in
A quarter-final win over Klinge guarantees Tata’s place. If Tata loses, he still qualifies unless Klinge or Robb wins the entire night.
Mal Cuming: a straight knockout
Beat Whitlock and Cuming qualifies. Lose to Whitlock and he is out. There is no waiting around for another result to rescue him.
Simon Whitlock: beat Cuming, then watch the other half
Whitlock must beat Cuming. Reaching the final guarantees qualification. A semi-final exit also gets him through unless Robb wins the night and Tata beats Klinge.
Brody Klinge and Ben Robb: lift the nightly title
Both must win the whole night. For either player, doing that guarantees a place in Brisbane. Anything less leaves them outside the top four.
How ties are separated
The tiebreak order is nightly titles, match wins, leg difference, legs won, legs won against the throw, tournament average, then a playoff. That is why points alone do not tell the whole story.
We checked all 128 possible Newcastle winner paths and the minimum and maximum winning margins in each match against these scenarios.
A big night for Victorian darts
Cuming has the cleanest equation of the chasing pack: win his opening match. Klinge has the tougher assignment, but Auckland showed he can put wins together against this field.
One scoring night, three finals places still to settle. Newcastle should give us plenty to talk about.
Sources and method
- PDC: Smith makes history to book Finals Night spot, 16 October 2026
- PDC: competition format, points, seeding and tiebreak rules
Recap based on published results and reporting. Qualification analysis by Darts Melbourne, using the table after Auckland and the seeded Newcastle bracket.