Mal Cuming won the first Trans-Tasman Championship and secured his return to the PDC World Championship. The 50-year-old Australian beat Raymond Smith 4-2 in the final in Brisbane on Sunday 30 August to claim one of the Oceania places at Alexandra Palace.
This is not just another name on the list of qualifiers. The Australia, New Zealand and Oceania region offers several routes to the World Championship, and Cuming has just taken the one that left the least room for error: a 32-player tournament, bringing together the top players from the ADA and DPNZ rankings over a single weekend. Following our coverage of the Australian race for the PDC World Championship, this result provides the first concrete name from the wave of Oceanian players expected in December.
Mal Cuming held his nerve in Brisbane
The format was a real trap. The 2026 Trans-Tasman Championship brought together the top 16 players from the Australian Darts Association rankings and the top 16 from the DartPlayers New Zealand rankings, from 28 to 30 August in Brisbane. Cuming arrived in fine form following his appearance on the World Series circuit in Wollongong, but he still had to navigate a packed draw, played over sets, with a place at the World Championship up for grabs.
He got off to a tight start: a victory in the deciding set against Hunter Eyles. What followed was more decisive. Cuming then beat Michael Cassar and Tim Pusey without dropping a set. Against Pusey, the PDC recorded an average of nearly 96 and a run of eight consecutive legs. That was the moment the tournament took a different turn. It was no longer just a hard-fought qualification, but a real rise in form.
Raymond Smith stopped in the final
In the semi-final, Cuming dominated Harley Kemp 3-1. His opponent, Raymond Smith, had also had to work hard, securing two 3-2 victories against Jeremy Fagg and then Howard Jones. The final therefore promised a true clash of experienced players, with Smith, a finalist in the 2025 ANZ Premier League and a semi-finalist at the NZ Darts Masters in August, taking on Cuming, who was already accustomed to competing at the very highest regional level.
The two players shared the first two sets. The turning point came midway through the match, when Cuming strung together six legs to pull ahead. He eventually won 4-2, with an average of 90.2. The score tells one story, but the momentum tells a slightly different one: Smith stayed in the match, but Cuming controlled the crucial stretch of play better.
| Round | Key result |
| Quarter-finals | Mal Cuming beats Tim Pusey 3-0 |
| Semi-final | Mal Cuming beats Harley Kemp 3-1 |
| Final | Mal Cuming beats Raymond Smith 4-2 |
An Oceania place already secured for Alexandra Palace
The result is clear: Cuming has secured one of the four Oceania places for the 2026/27 PDC World Championship. He will be joined by the ANZ Premier League champion, as well as the winners of the ADA and DPNZ rankings, or the best players not yet qualified should there be any ties.
For the Oceania scene, this qualification matters because it clarifies part of the picture ahead of the final regional qualifiers. Cuming is no stranger to the atmosphere of major PDC events. His return to Ally Pally adds an experienced player to a section of the draw that can often produce tricky matches right from the first round.
The main source is the article published by the PDC, which details the format of the Trans-Tasman Championship, Cuming’s journey and the results of the final stage.
