Bahrain Darts Masters 2023 | Day One Preview and Order of Play
The inaugural Bahrain Darts Masters gets under way on Thursday as the PDC stars face off against the Asian representatives in the opening round.
The World Series touches down in Bahrain for the first time as 16 players battle it out at the Bahrain International Circuit for the first silverware of the new season and the £20,000 top prize.
The field is made up of eight PDC invites and eight Asian representatives, with the top four PDC players seeded in the draw.
All eyes will be on newly-crowned World Champion and world number one Michael Smith as he marks his first competitive appearance since his Ally Pally triumph with a tie against local qualifier Abdulnasser Yusuf.
Just over a week since achieving his darting dream by defeating Michael van Gerwen in an epic world final, Smith returns to the televised stage in search of more silverware.
His nine-dart exploits in that memorable final have been shared around the world, now ‘Bully Boy’ gets back to business as he bids to sweep aside TV debutant Yusuf – one of two Bahrain qualifiers in the field.
Elsewhere, 2021 World Champion Gerwyn Price returns to action following his eventful exit in the World Championship Quarter-Finals as he faces Singapore legend Paul Lim.
Price was thrashed 5-1 by an inspired Gabriel Clemens at Ally Pally, and made global headlines by playing a set whilst wearing ear defenders in an attempt to block out the crowd noise.
The Welshman threatened to boycott the event in future years in an immediate Instagram post following the defeat and will be eyeing a perfect repost by claiming glory in the gulf.
Price starts out against 68-year-old Lim – who made history at Lakeside back in 1990 by hitting the first nine-darter in a World Championship, and has since competed regularly in the PDC World Championship and World Cup of Darts.
Peter Wright aims to bounce back from his recent World Championship disappointment when he opens up against Japan’s Toru Suzuki.
Wright saw his world title defence ended by Kim Huybrechts in the Third Round and he comes into the new campaign as world number two.
The flamboyant Scot has picked up three World Series titles, the most recent of which coming in 2019 at the German Masters.
Suzuki represented Japan for the first time in last year’s World Cup of Darts and has twice featured in the World Championship, including last month when he was soundly beaten in straight sets by Boris Krcmar in Round One.
Five-time World Champion Raymond van Barneveld marks his World Series return with a tie against Japan’s Yuki Yamada.
Van Barneveld, who reached the Semi-Finals of last November’s Grand Slam, has 37 World Series appearances to his name and has finished runner-up on five occasions.
Yamada picked up an Asian Tour title in 2019 and notably defeated Ryan Meikle on his World Championship debut in 2020 before losing out to Darren Webster.
World number five Luke Humphries aims to get his debut World Series campaign off to a winning start when he plays Hong Kong’s Man Lok Leung.
Humphries racked up four European Tour titles in 2022, while also reaching the Semi-Finals of the Grand Slam and Players Championship Finals.
Leung has previously featured in the World Cup of Darts, and the 23-year-old will be eyeing a huge upset on his return to the televised stage.
Former World Matchplay champion Dimitri Van den Bergh kicks off the day’s action against Alain Abiabi of the Philippines.
Van den Bergh claimed both the Nordic Masters and Dutch Masters titles last year and enjoyed a terrific run to the Semi-Finals of the recent World Championship.
Abiabi is a regular on the soft tip circuit and the Asian Tour and reached the Last 16 of the 2022 Asian Championship.
Former World Champion Rob Cross also aims to avoid a potential scalp at the hands of India’s Nitin Kumar.
Cross was runner-up in November’s Players Championship Finals and also reached three European Tour finals last season, as well as picking up two Players Championships.
Kumar has made three PDC World Championship appearances since 2019, losing out in straight sets to Jeffrey de Zwaan, Brendan Dolan and Ricky Evans in Round One on each occasion.
Former Premier League champion Jonny Clayton kicks off his campaign against TV debutant Basem Mahmood of Bahrain.
Clayton reached the Quarter-Finals of the World Championship for the first time, having also made the Semi-Finals of the Players Championship Finals, Masters and Premier League last season.
The eight Asian representatives are headlined by Singapore legend Paul Lim, Japan’s recent World Championship representative Toru Suzuki and Bahrain qualifiers Bassim Mahmood and Abdulnaser Yusuf.
In addition, Japan’s Yuki Yamada, Philippines’ Alain Abiabi, India’s Nitin Kumar and Hong Kong’s Man Lok Leung will star in the event.
The action gets under way from 4pm GMT (7pm local time), with First Round matches to be contested over the best of 11 legs.
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Bahrain Darts Masters 2023 Day One Schedule
All times GMT (local time +3 hours)
Thursday January 12
First Round
4pm-8pm
Dimitri Van den Bergh v Alain Abiabi
Rob Cross v Nitin Kumar
Luke Humphries v Man Lok Leung
Gerwyn Price v Paul Lim
Peter Wright v Toru Suzuki
Michael Smith v Abdulnasser Yusuf
Raymond van Barneveld v Yuki Yamada
Jonny Clayton v Basem Mahmood
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