PREVIEW Bahrain Darts Masters 2025 as new season kicks off with opening World Series of Darts trip

The 2025 darts season kicks off in style with the Bahrain Darts Masters, the first event of the 2025 World Series of Darts. The tournament takes place over two days, starting on Thursday, 16th January, and concluding on Friday, 17th January.

With a prize fund of £60,000 up for grabs, the winner will take home £20,000. The event features 16 players, split between eight PDC representatives and eight Asian representatives, making it a global event.

This marks the third edition of the Bahrain Darts Masters, held once again at the iconic Bahrain International Circuit in Sakhir, famously known as the home of Formula 1 racing where stars like Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton will be present in a few months time.

The 2024 Bahrain Darts Masters unfolded in the aftermath of Luke Littler’s dramatic unveiling to the world just over 12 months ago. At just 16 years old, Littler had captured the world’s attention with a stunning run to the World Championship final at Alexandra Palace, where he ultimately fell to Luke Humphries. Fast forward a year, and Littler returns to Bahrain as a 17-year-old World Champion, having dismantled Michael van Gerwen to claim his maiden world title earlier this month.

Littler’s performance at last year’s Bahrain Darts Masters was nothing short of extraordinary, and a sign of what was to come in his 2024 season. Memorably, he became the youngest player in history to hit a televised nine-dart finish, achieving the feat against Nathan Aspinall, before facing van Gerwen in the final.

The final saw Littler take control early, outplaying van Gerwen in the opening stages. Despite missing opportunities to break in the second leg, Littler regained composure, holding his throw with confidence to stay ahead. At the interval, Littler led 4-3, averaging an impressive 99.99 compared to van Gerwen’s 88.18.

The second half began with Littler finally securing the break he had been threatening, moving ahead 5-3. However, van Gerwen responded with a brilliant double-double 105 checkout, followed by a scrappy leg 10 that he won to level the match at 5-5. Littler’s resilience shone through as he relied on his trusty double 10 to regain control, taking the next two legs to stand on the brink of victory. A composed two-dart 58 checkout sealed an 8-5 win, marking Littler’s first senior title.

Since that breakthrough, Littler has taken the sports world by storm, picking up 11 senior titles in just 12 months, including victories in the Premier League, Grand Slam of Darts, and the World Championships. So, his Bahrain triumph was the launchpad for a truly remarkable year, but can he do the same again this year?

The 2023 Bahrain Darts Masters was won by Michael Smith, who defeated Gerwyn Price 8-6 in another high-quality final, and let’s now take a look at who is playing in the 2025 edition of the event.

World number 1 Luke Humphries will return to action this week, less than a month on since the 2023 World Champion, had a disappointing campaign in Alexandra Palace. Most expected the defending champion to face Littler in the semi-finals, but Humphries never made it there to set up that mouth-watering rematch of the previous year’s final. The 29 year old, who has won 18 senior PDC titles, was comfortably beaten by a resurgent Peter Wright, 4-1. Humphries is one man who will definitely be hoping to get back to winning ways fast, and show just why he is still the number 1 Luke, and the number 1 darts player in the world. Humphries takes on Abdulla Saeed.

Luke Littler will also be in action as he looks to wrap up a twelfth senior title before he turns 18 on January 21st. Littler, the defending champion, will be full of confidence after becoming the youngest world champion ever earlier this month, and if he is on his A game, it is hard to see who will stop him. The question is more about when he will hit another nine darter, which has been eluding him for some time (for his prolific standards anyway). The new world champion’s first match since that final will be against Lourence Ilagan.

2018 world champion Rob Cross heads to Bahrain ranked number four in the world, but coming off an incredibly disappointing world championship campaign. Cross was knocked out in his first round of the competition when he was beaten by his mate Scott Williams 3-1. Cross is one of the most talented players in the game, and he showed that when he beat Littler in the World Grand Prix last October. But it has been a long while since we saw Cross perform at his best consistently, and he will be hoping to get back in form in his first round against Paolo Nebrida.

Fan favourite Stephen Bunting is the fourth seed, and his run to the semi-final at Alexandra Palace earlier this month has booked him a place in the Premier League of Darts later this year. The 39 year old is the 2024 Masters champion, and is one of the most likeable players on the tour and is fully deserving of his Premier League spot. Bunting’s first matchup in Bahrain comes against Nitin Kumar.

Gerwyn Price is the fifth seed for the Bahrain Darts Masters. The 39 year old Welshman, and 2021 world champion, lost in the final in Bahrain to Michael Smith in 2023, and will be hoping to go one better this year. Price had a difficult year in 2024, where whilst he showed flashes of his best he was unable to perform at a consistent level for long enough, and when things started to go against him in matches he struggled to turn things around. He’ll be hoping for a better campaign in 2025, and a win in Bahrain would be an excellent way to go about starting that. Price’s first round opponent is Lok Yin Lee.

Chris Dobey is also in action, coming straight off of his run to the semi finals of the world championship, and he is now ranked number 10 in the world. “Hollywood” had a great run at the worlds, but was ultimately battered by Michael van Gerwen 6-1 in the semi final in a performance he won’t be too happy with. Dobey has never played at this event before, and will be hoping to learn and improve from his performance at the world’s, and mix it with the world’s best once again. Dobey gets his tournament underway against Basem Mahmood.

Nathan Aspinall is the seventh seed, another player who was a victim of Luke Littler in the world championships in Alexandra Palace, as he lost 5-2 to Littler in the quarter finals. The 2023 world Matchplay champion is currently ranked 11th in the world, and takes on Xiaochen Zong.

The final seeded player is non other than two time world champion Peter Wright. For the vast majority of 2024, Wright looked to be a shell of his former self, and it looked like retirement could be just around the corner. Then his fourth round match up with Luke Humphries at the world championships came around, where he rolled back the years and smashed the reigning world champion 4-1. Wright went on to lose 5-2 to Bunting in the quarter finals, but his run at the world championships showed that he is not done with the pro game just yet. Wright will be hoping to continue his strong form in Bahrain, and starts things off against Alexis Toylo

Full tournament information:

First round – 11 legs

Quarter finals – 11 legs

Semi-finals – 13 legs

Final – 15 legs

Evening session (from 17:00pm)

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 Saaed

Luke Littler v Lourence Ilagan

Peter Wright v Alexis Toylo

Nathan Aspinall v Xiaochen Zong

Quarter-Finals

Semi-Finals

Final