Bahrain Darts Masters 2023 | Day Two Preview and Order of Play
The 2023 Bahrain Darts Masters draws to a close on Friday as the eight PDC stars compete for the inaugural title.
Day One of the season’s first World Series event saw the big names all safely progress at the Bahrain International Circuit, though not without surviving a scare along the way.
The tournament reaches its climax on Friday with the Quarter-Finals, Semi-Finals and final to be held in one action-packed session.
The opening Quarter-Final tie sees newly-crowned World Champion and world number one Michael Smith take on former World Matchplay champion Dimitri van den Bergh.
Just over a week since achieving his darting dream by defeating Michael van Gerwen in an epic final at Ally Pally, Smith is back on the televised stage in search of more silverware.
His nine-dart exploits in that memorable final have been shared around the world, and ‘Bully Boy’ continues to ride the crest of a wave as he vies for a third World Series title.
Smith opened up with a routine 6-1 victory over Bahrain qualifier Abdulnaser Yusuf on Thursday and now faces a player who has had the better of their recent meetings.
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.
The Belgian ace, however, survived a major scare against Alain Abiabi of the Philippines in Thursday’s opener, edging through 6-5 after his opponent had missed a match dart.
The stand-out tie of the Quarter-Finals sees Welsh World Cup team-mates Gerwyn Price and Jonny Clayton collide.
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 Ice Man 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 opened up with a 6-2 success over Singapore legend Paul Lim with a 96.6 average and now faces ‘The Ferret’ in a repeat of last year’s New Zealand Masters final.
Clayton, who picked up last year’s New South Wales Masters title, started out with a dominant 6-0 whitewash of local qualifier Bassim Mahmood with a 103.6 average.
Clayton reached the Quarter-Finals of the recent World Championship for the first time, having also made the Semi-Finals of the Players Championship Finals, Masters and Premier League last season.
Meanwhile, world number five Luke Humphries takes on five-time World Champion Raymond van Barneveld.
Humphries racked up four European Tour titles in 2022, while also reaching the Semi-Finals of the Grand Slam and Players Championship Finals, and is targeting a dream World Series debut.
The Newbury star reeled off five consecutive legs from 3-1 down to defeat Hong Kong’s Man Lok Leung in Round One and now comes up against Dutch legend Van Barneveld for the first time in a televised event.
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.
The 55-year-old marked his return to the World Series for the first time since 2019 with an impressive 98.2 average in a 6-2 win over Japan’s Yuki Yamada.
Two former World Champions lock horns in another tasty tie as Peter Wright faces Rob Cross.
Wright saw his world title defence ended by Kim Huybrechts in the Third Round last month 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.
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.
He marked his World Series return with a 6-2 win over India’s Nitin Kumar, while Wright overcame Japan’s Toru Suzuki 6-3.
The action gets under way from 4pm GMT (7pm local time), with Quarter-Final matches to be contested over the best of 11 legs, Semi-Finals best of 13 and the final best of 15.
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Bahrain Darts Masters 2023 Day Two Schedule
All times GMT (local time +3 hours)
Friday January 13
4pm-8pm
Quarter-Finals
Michael Smith v Dimitri Van den Bergh
Luke Humphries v Raymond van Barneveld
Peter Wright v Rob Cross
Gerwyn Price v Jonny Clayton
Semi-Finals
Smith/Van den Bergh v Humphries/Van Barneveld
Wright/Cross v Price/Clayton
Final
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