Nitin Kumar replaces ill Paolo Nebrida at the Saudi Arabia Darts Masters

Coming Monday, 01/19, the inaugural edition of the Saudi Arabia Darts Masters is on the schedule in Riyadh. This is the second World Series event of the year, after Michael van Gerwen already claimed the Bahrain Darts Masters last Friday.

The two-day event features eight PDC elite players and eight players from the Asian Tour. One of those Asian players slated to compete in Saudi Arabia was Paolo Nebrida, but he has had to withdraw due to illness.

This means Nitin Kumar will now take his place and report to Riyadh for the World Series showcase. The Indian made history at the recent World Championship by becoming the first Indian player to win a match at Alexandra Palace. He beat Dutchman Richard Veenstra 3-2 in the first round, before suffering a comprehensive 3-0 defeat to Stephen Bunting in the next round.

Kumar now gets to show it in Saudi Arabia as well, where he will make his third World Series appearance. His first two outings came at the Bahrain Darts Masters in 2023 and 2025, where he lost 6-2 on both occasions to Rob Cross and Stephen Bunting respectively.

The other Asian representatives set to appear at the Global Theatre in Riyadh are Alexis Toylo, Lourence Ilagan, Motomu Sakai, Ryusei Azemoto, Paul Lim, Man Lok Leung, and Tomoya Goto. Only Goto did not feature in Bahrain and will therefore also be playing his first World Series event of the year on Monday.

The first round is scheduled for Monday, 01/19. A day later, on Tuesday, 01/20, the remaining eight players face off in a single blockbuster evening session, with quarterfinals, semifinals, and final following in quick succession. By the end of that session, we will know who adds the first Saudi Arabia Darts Masters title to his résumé.