The 2025 Bahrain Darts Masters gets underway on Thursday, as newly-crowned World Champion Luke Littler makes his first appearance since lifting the iconic Sid Waddell Trophy earlier this month.
Littler will headline the two-day event – which takes place on January 16-17 – as the sport’s biggest names return to The Dome at the Bahrain International Circuit for the third staging of the World Series of Darts event.
Thursday’s first round will pit eight PDC superstars against eight Asian representatives, which includes two local qualifiers and six players from the Asian Tour who competed at the recent World Darts Championship.
Littler marked his arrival on the global stage with a nine-darter on his way to victory at last year’s Bahrain Darts Masters, as he claimed the unique date palm trophy to triumph on his World Series debut.
The teenager then went on to win the Premier League, World Series Finals and Grand Slam of Darts in 2024, before capping off a fairy-tale year by storming to a historic World Championship success.
The reigning champion will begin his defence of the title against PDC Asian Champion Lourence Ilagan, and the teenage sensation is relishing his first outing as World Champion.
“I’ve got a brand new set of darts for tomorrow,” revealed Littler, who beat Ilagan on his way to victory at the Grand Slam of Darts in November.
“I’m not going to throw with the darts I won the World Championship with – they’re going to be in a frame, so now it’s about breaking in a new set.
“I can’t wait for tomorrow night when John McDonald calls me out for the first time as World Champion.
“I had a tough game against Lourence at the Grand Slam, and I cannot wait to get back on stage now. It feels good to be back and hopefully I can win.
“I think every player wants to kick off this year by winning here in Bahrain, and retaining my title would be a great present going into my 18th birthday!”
Littler is joined in this year’s £100,000 event by seven other top PDC stars – led by world number one Luke Humphries, who won the World Cup of Darts, World Matchplay and Players Championship Finals in 2024.
Humphries was unable to retain his World Championship crown at Alexandra Palace, but he will have the opportunity to bounce back when he takes on local qualifier Abdulla Saeed for a place in the quarter-finals.
“It’s always great to be back here in Bahrain,” claimed Humphries, who swept aside Saeed at the same stage of last year’s tournament.
“I’m really looking forward to this event. We have a great field of players here, and I can’t wait for my first game.
“It’s been a great couple of years for myself. I had a little bit of heartbreak at the World Championship, but I’ve had a good break, and I would love to kick off 2025 in perfect fashion by winning this title.”
World Championship semi-finalists Stephen Bunting and Chris Dobey will make their Bahrain bows on Thursday, as they face India’s Nitin Kumar and Bahrain’s number one Basem Mahmood respectively.
Dobey – a winner of three PDC titles in 2024 – is featuring in his first global World Series of Darts event, and he could meet reigning Masters champion Bunting in the quarter-finals on Friday evening.
“I’m looking forward to it,” said Dobey. “It’s a new occasion for myself and I’m just going to hopefully let my darts do the talking. I’m full of confidence and hopefully I can kick-start the year with a win.”
Former World Champions Rob Cross and Gerwyn Price have been pitted against Paolo Nebrida and Lok Yin Lee respectively, both of whom impressed at the World Darts Championship.
Nebrida dumped out Jim Williams and Ross Smith to become the first Filipino to reach the third round at Alexandra Palace, while Hong Kong’s Lee advanced to the second round on his debut in the capital.
Elsewhere, Stockport star Nathan Aspinall begins his challenge against PDC China Champion Xiaochen Zong, with a clash against world number one Humphries potentially awaiting the winner in the last eight.
“I’m really happy to be back in Bahrain,” said Aspinall. “It would be amazing to win – it’s been quite a while since I won a World Series event but I’ve got quite a tough first game so we’ll see what happens.”
Two-time World Champion Peter Wright completes the line-up of PDC superstars in Bahrain, having ended Humphries’ reign at Ally Pally during his resurgent run to the quarter-finals of the sport’s biggest event earlier this month.
“It was nice to show the world I could still play darts,” insisted Wright, who will take on PDC Asian Tour Order of Merit winner Alexis Toylo in Thursday’s penultimate first round tie.
“I believe there is plenty more to come from me this year, and I’ll have time to rest and be fresher for the floor tournaments and the European Tour away from the Premier League.
“I will take a leaf out of the Rob Cross book. He wasn’t in the Premier League and for two years he worked hard and all the results came. That’s why he’s now fourth in the world!”
Following Thursday’s first round, the 2025 Bahrain Darts Masters concludes on Friday, as the quarter-finals, semi-finals and final take place in one bumper session.
The Bahrain Darts Masters will be broadcast live on PDCTV in all territories other than Germany, Austria & Switzerland (coverage via DAZN), while UK viewers can watch live coverage on ITV4 and ITVX.
2025 Bahrain Darts Masters
Draw Bracket
(1) Luke Humphries v Abdulla Saeed
Nathan Aspinall v Xiaochen Zong
(4) Stephen Bunting v Nitin Kumar
Chris Dobey v Basem Mahmood
(2) Luke Littler v Lourence Ilagan
Gerwyn Price v Lok Yin Lee
(3) Rob Cross v Paolo Nebrida
Peter Wright v Alexis Toylo
Schedule of Play
Thursday January 16 (2000 local time, 1700 GMT)
First Round x8
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
Friday January 17 (1900 local time, 1600 GMT)
Quarter-Finals
Semi-Finals
Final
Format
First Round – Best of 11 legs
Quarter-Finals – Best of 11 legs
Semi-Finals – Best of 13 legs
Final – Best of 15 legs
——ENDS—–
