After stunning upsets over high-profile competitors, both Jonny Tata and Haupai Puha (Ngāti Porou) bowed out in the quarter-finals of the 2023 NZ Darts Masters in Hamilton on Saturday.
Off the back of dumping two-time world champion Peter Wright of Scotland out of the competition on Friday, big-stage debutant Tata was narrowly beaten by eventual tournament-winner Rob Cross 5-6 in his quarter-final.
Cross went on to defeat fellow English professional Nathan Aspinall 8-7 in the final to end a five-year wait for a world series title.
Earlier, Aspinall had eased past Puha 6-1 in their quarter-final, with the Kiwi professional unable to emulate the performance that saw him dispatch world No 13 Dimitri van den Bergh of Belgium 6-2 in round one.
