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Bahrain Darts Masters 2025 | Draw, Results & Schedule of Play

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Paolo Nebrida puts out Rob Cross at the Bahrain Darts Masters as Littler launches title defence

Bahrain Darts Masters 2025 | Day One Preview and Order of Play

Jamie Shaw in Bahrain Darts Masters 16 Jan 2025

Littler and Ilagan go head-to-head (Photo by PDC)

The Bahrain Darts Masters commences on Thursday as the PDC stars and Asian representatives collide in Round One.

The opening World Series event of 2025 features 16 players battling it out at the Bahrain International Circuit from January 16-17.

Each of the eight PDC stars have been drawn to face an Asian representative in Round One and will be hoping to avoid a potential upset.

Luke Littler steps back onto the televised stage for the first time since his crowning glory at Alexandra Palace a fortnight ago as he launches his Bahrain Masters title defence with a tie against Lourence Ilagan.

Littler capped off a remarkable first season on the PDC circuit by becoming the sport’s youngest ever World Champion at the age of 17, adding to his Premier League and Grand Slam triumphs in 2024.

Now, just five days shy of his 18th birthday, ‘The Nuke’ begins his first televised title defence at the scene of a memorable triumph 12 months ago – where he landed a nine-darter en route to victory.

Littler’s first test is a familiar one, having faced Ilagan in the Group Stage of the Grand Slam last November in a 5-3 victory for the Warrington wonderkid.

Ilagan is the reigning PDC Asian Champion, but televised wins have proved to be few and far between for the 46-year-old, who suffered three straight defeats in the Grand Slam, as well as a straight sets loss to Luke Woodhouse in the recent World Championship.

Meanwhile, world number one Luke Humphries kicks off his 2025 campaign with a rematch against Bahrain qualifier Abdulla Saeed.

The pair met in Round One here last year, with Humphries coasting to a 6-0 whitewash with a 98 average to his opponent’s 68.

Humphries saw his reign as World Champion brought to an end by a resurgent Peter Wright in the Last 16, though another memorable year for ‘Cool Hand’ included winning the World Matchplay, World Cup of Darts and retaining the Players Championship Finals title.

Two-time World Champion Wright opens up with a tricky test against PDC Asian Tour Order of Merit winner Alexis Toylo.

Wright ended an otherwise dismal season with a run to the quarter-finals of the World Championship which saw him make a swift return to the world’s top 16.

Winner of a European Tour event last year, ‘Snakebite’ will look to hit the ground running on the World Series, but will be wary of the threat posed by the Filipino thrower – who dumped Richard Veenstra out of the World Championship in straight sets on his debut last month.

Gerwyn Price, runner-up in the inaugural Bahrain Masters in 2023, starts out against Hong Kong’s Lok Yin Lee.

Former World Champion Price reached his only televised ranking quarter-final of the season at the World Championship and will be looking to return to his brilliant best in 2025.

The Welshman enjoyed much of his success on the World Series last season, claiming the Nordic Masters and Australian Masters titles, while also finishing runner-up in the US Masters.

Yin Lee, 23, pulled off a memorable 3-1 win over Chris Landman at Ally Pally last month before losing out to Brendan Dolan in Round Two.

Two-time major winner Nathan Aspinall faces a tricky opening tie against emerging Chinese star Xiaochen Zong.

Aspinall reached his only major ranking quarter-final of the season at the World Championship, going down 5-2 to eventual champion Littler on New Year’s Day.

The popular Stockport star has secured a return to the Premier League in 2025 and will be keen to build up a head of steam between now and the start of the 17-week roadshow event.

Reigning PDC China Champion Zong was beaten 3-0 by Ricardo Pietreczko in Round One of his fourth World Championship appearance and will be out to impress on his first World Series outing since the 2018 Shanghai Masters.

Chris Dobey marks his Bahrain Masters debut with a clash against local qualifier Basem Mahmood.

Former Masters champion Dobey reached the semi-finals of the World Championship for the first time a fortnight ago and with it clinched a return to the Premier League.

Mahmood featured in last year’s World Cup of Darts and returns to the Bahrain Masters after missing out last year, with his first appearance ending in a 6-0 whitewash to Jonny Clayton.

Stephen Bunting also takes to the Bahrain stage for the first time as he meets India’s Nitin Kumar.

Reigning Masters champion Bunting enjoyed a terrific run to a second PDC World Championship semi-final and was rewarded with a return to the Premier League for the first time in a decade.

Kumar won a set at the World Championship for the first time in four appearances as he went down 3-1 to Martin Lukeman, and his debut Bahrain Masters outing resulted in a 6-2 defeat to Rob Cross two years ago.

Former World Champion Cross kicks off the evening’s action with a showdown against Paolo Nebrida of the Philippines.

Cross ended the 2024 season as world number four, having reached four major ranking quarter-finals, but suffered a disappointing Last 64 exit to Scott Williams at Ally Pally.

Nebrida, meanwhile, enjoyed a fine run to the Third Round of the World Championship, defeating Jim Williams and Ross Smith before eventually being denied 4-1 by Jeffrey De Graaf.

The action gets under way from 5pm GMT, with First Round matches to be contested over the best of 11 legs.

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Bahrain Darts Masters 2025 Day One Schedule

All times GMT (local time +3 hours)

Thursday January 16

First Round

5pm-9pm
Rob Cross v Paolo Nebrida
Gerwyn Price v Lok Yin Lee
Stephen Bunting v Nitin Kumar
Chris Dobey v Basem Mahmood
Luke Humphries v Abdulla Saeed
Luke Littler v Lourence Ilagan
Peter Wright v Alexis Toylo
Nathan Aspinall v Xiaochen Zong

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