Preview Saudi Arabia Darts Masters final night: Van Veen-Littler and Price-Humphries lead Quarter-Finals as champion crowned

At the Saudi Arabia Darts Masters 2026, the final evening is on the schedule today with the quarterfinals, semifinals and of course the final. Seven of the eight PDC top players survived the opening round, with only Danny Noppert going out.

The Saudi Arabia Darts Masters is already the second World Series of Darts 2026 event after last week’s Bahrain Darts Masters. In Bahrain, the title went to Michael van Gerwen. Can he make it two from two to start the new season?

To do that, Van Gerwen — who cruised past Nitin Kumar 6-1 in his opener — must first get past Stephen Bunting. While Luke Littler, Luke Humphries and Gerwyn Price also remain in the reckoning.

The quarterfinals are played over six winning legs, the semifinals over seven, and the final over eight. Below is a preview of the four quarterfinals.

The evening in Riyadh opens with Michael van Gerwen against Stephen Bunting. Van Gerwen, fresh off last week’s success at the Bahrain Darts Masters, did not even need his top level in his first match to comfortably beat Nitin Kumar.

Against Bunting — who himself won 6-1 in his opener against Tomoya Goto — he will likely need to raise it. The pair have known each other for years and are both renowned for heavy scoring. Bunting also takes to the stage with an extra mission. His Premier League Darts selection drew plenty of criticism. With a strong display at the Saudi Arabia Darts Masters, he hopes to silence some of that.

Next up, it’s Nathan Aspinall’s turn to hit the stage. The Asp was not selected for this year’s Premier League Darts but did get the nod for the opening World Series of Darts events. In his first match, Aspinall had no trouble with Lourence Ilagan. Remarkably, it was their third meeting in a short span, after clashes at the recent World Darts Championship and Bahrain Darts Masters, both won by Aspinall.

Aspinall meets Man Lok Leung in the quarterfinals. The Hong Kong thrower caused an upset in the opening round by beating an underpar Danny Noppert 6-3. Leung has built up useful experience at events like the World Darts Championship and the World Cup of Darts, so Aspinall will not take him lightly. Whether a second shock in a row is on the cards remains to be seen.

Gian van Veen then faces Luke Littler in a rematch of this month’s World Championship final. At Alexandra Palace, Van Veen lost 7-1, so he will be eager to fare better at the Saudi Arabia Darts Masters. He started this event well with a 6-2 win over Motomu Sakai.

If Van Veen is to reach a second consecutive World Series of Darts final, he must first get past Littler in the quarters, which promises to be a tough assignment. The Nuke did not exactly impress in his opener against Paul Lim, but the abrupt end to his 21-match TV tournament winning streak at last week’s Bahrain Darts Masters will still sting. Littler has already said he wants to build a new run, starting at this tournament.

The last quarterfinal pits Gerwyn Price against Luke Humphries. Price beat Littler in the Bahrain Darts Masters quarterfinals last week but then lost to Van Gerwen. That was not entirely surprising, as The Iceman admitted before the event he had barely practiced after his early World Championship exit to Wesley Plaisier. At the Saudi Arabia Darts Masters, boosted by a 100+ average, Price had no issues with Alexis Toylo in round one.

Humphries, for his part, won 6-2 against Ryusei Azemoto in the first round. Cool Hand Luke is craving another title, having exited in the quarterfinals at both the recent World Darts Championship and the Bahrain Darts Masters, which is below par for a player of his caliber.