Saudi Arabia Darts Masters Roundup | Littler, Van Gerwen, Humphries and Price dominate opening night in Riyadh
PDC
Almost all of the biggest names delivered on the opening night of the 2026 Saudi Arabia Darts Masters as the World Series arrived in Riyadh for the first time. Luke Littler, Michael van Gerwen, Luke Humphries and Gerwyn Price all powered through their opening round ties, but the evening also produced the first major shock of the 2026 World Series of Darts.
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Littler makes it two from two against Lim
Luke Littler continued his strong start to the World Series with another commanding win over Paul Lim, repeating their Bahrain result with a second 6-1 victory in as many weeks.
Littler opened with a 14-dart leg on tops and quickly moved 2-0 ahead with another 14-darter, again finished on tops. He stretched the lead to 3-0 after trying for three bullseyes on 150 before returning to clean up on tops.
A fourth straight leg followed on double six, before Lim finally avoided the whitewash by checking out 96 on double nine. Littler almost produced another showpiece finish in the next leg, aiming for bulls again on 125, but eventually pinned double five for a 5-1 lead.
Lim missed two darts at double 16 to stay alive, and Littler punished immediately with a 52 checkout on tops to complete another ruthless 6-1 win over the Singapore Slinger.
Van Gerwen shakes off slow start against Kumar
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Fresh from lifting the World Series opener in Bahrain, Michael van Gerwen began his Riyadh campaign with a 6-1 win over late replacement Nitin Kumar.
Kumar had four darts at tops in a scrappy opening leg but failed to take his chance, allowing Van Gerwen to punish on double 10. Van Gerwen then missed the bull for 2-0 and Kumar levelled on double 14.
The turning point came in leg three when Van Gerwen broke with a 102 checkout, going single 20, bull, double 16. Kumar missed two darts at double in the next leg and Van Gerwen cleaned up on tops to move 3-1 ahead.
From there the three-time world champion took control, winning three legs on the spin and closing out the match with a two-dart 92 finish to seal a comfortable 6-1 victory.
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Humphries pushed before pulling clear
Luke Humphries was the only one of the headline names to face real resistance.
Ryusei Azemoto, throwing first, opened with a 180 and took the first leg on double top. Humphries responded with a solid hold to level, but Azemoto then punished missed doubles from Humphries with a two-dart 100 checkout to move 2-1 ahead.
Humphries struck back on double top after Azemoto missed two darts to regain the lead. He then broke again after Azemoto missed a dart at bull for parity, opening up a 4-2 advantage.
In leg three Humphries went as close as anyone has so far to the $200k golden dart bonus, starting with five perfect darts before going astray. He still completed the break of throw moments later.
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Humphries sealed the 6-2 win with a 96 checkout, booking his place in the last eight.
Price produces the performance of the night
Gerwyn Price delivered the most dominant display of the session, whitewashing Alexis Toylo 6-0.
Price broke in 15 darts on 74 in the opening leg and held for 2-0 with a 56 checkout in two darts. He then produced the moment of the night by reeling in a 170 finish to move 3-0 up, roaring in celebration and bringing the Riyadh crowd to life.
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Despite missing a few doubles in leg four, his scoring kept him well clear and he eventually moved 4-0 ahead. He pinned double 12 for 5-0 and completed the whitewash on double 12 again to cruise into the quarter-finals without breaking sweat.
First major shock as Leung dumps out Noppert
The opening match of the tournament produced the first big upset of the 2026 World Series of Darts.
Man Lok Leung broke Danny Noppert in the opening leg and surged into a 3-0 lead, averaging over 111 early in the contest. Noppert finally got on the board after Leung missed five darts at double, but the Hong Kong number one remained in control.
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Leung restored his two-leg lead after Noppert missed a dart at bull for parity, and moved to within one of victory after a perfectly timed 171 set-up left double 16, which he pinned on his return.
Noppert broke to stay alive at 3-5, but Leung closed out a famous 6-3 win to reach the quarter-finals and hand the World Series its first real shock.
Aspinall, Bunting and Van Veen cruise through
Stephen Bunting made light work of Tomoya Goto, running out a 6-1 winner.
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An opening leg 180 settled any nerves and he quickly moved 2-0 up after punishing on double 14. Goto missed bull for 121 in leg five and Bunting cleaned up 68 to go 5-0 ahead. Goto grabbed a late consolation before Bunting sealed the match on double eight.
Nathan Aspinall followed with one of the most clinical displays of the night against Lourence Ilagan. Two 15-darters gave him an early 2-0 lead and he quickly moved to 3-0, with Ilagan still yet to have a dart at double.
Aspinall broke again on double 16 to make it 4-0 and moved one away on double six. Ilagan finally took his first finishing chance with a two-dart 98 checkout, but Aspinall responded in style, closing out the 6-1 win with an 11-darter to book a quarter-final clash with Man Lok Leung.
Gian van Veen completed the opening round with a composed 6-2 win over Motomu Sakai.
The World Youth Champion made a steady start, holding throw in the opening leg before breaking on double 19 for a 2-0 lead. He stretched his advantage to 3-0 with a last-dart double 18, even after Sakai had applied pressure with a smart set-up.
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Sakai finally got on the board in leg four on double 18 and then threatened a fightback by breaking Van Veen with a 68 checkout on double 16 to make it 3-2. Van Veen immediately shut that down, breaking back with a 47 finish in two darts to restore control.
A last-dart double 14 put him one away at 5-2, and he sealed the match on double 18 for a 6-2 win, setting up a quarter-final meeting with Luke Littler in a rematch of their recent 2026 PDC World Darts Championship final.
Kieran WoodDarts Journalist
Kieran Wood is a sports journalist based in Wales and has been active in journalism since 2022. He contributes to DartsNews.com, where he covers professional darts through news, match reports, analysis, and live coverage across the PDC calendar and major tournaments.
A key part of his work is on-site reporting from leading events. Kieran has covered the PDC World Darts Championship in person, reporting daily from the venue and providing first-hand insight from the tournament. During his coverage, he has conducted interviews with leading players including Luke Littler, Luke Humphries, and Gerwyn Price.
He is also one of the leading voices of the English-language Dartsnews Podcast, contributing regular analysis and discussion on developments across the professional darts circuit.
In his reporting, Kieran places strong emphasis on careful sourcing, editorial accuracy, and updating articles when new, verified information becomes available.
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- And why should he listen to you?Deduce635807-11-2026
- Ultimately it is a bye for whoever draws Barney. It will be another stroppy and sulky performance once he goes behind. Barney was excellent but really must completely call it a day now.richieburnettrocks07-11-2026
- I'm disappointed he was not able to secure a spot at the Grand Slam. With Carl Sneyd taking care of Daryl Gurney, he would have had to beat Andy Boulton before facing the winner of Sneyd vs Mensur Suljović for a Grand Slam spot. Unfortunately, after beating Filip Bereza comfortably, he succumbed to Boulton, and the board would ultimately be won by the highly inconsistent Carl Sneyd. Since he could instead have been drawn against the likes of Cristo Reyes, Dirk van Duijvenbode and Stephen Bunting, I think once Gurney was out of the picture he would have been favourite to win his board, and it seems like a massive missed opportunity to put 5 grand on his ranking and seal another major TV appearance ahead of the Worlds. The highs and lows of following Raymond van Barneveld!Deduce635806-11-2026
- Probably i will receive a lot of backlash and hate for this reaction, but well, so be it. I am more than sick and tired of those lies of you Barry Hearn. How dare you defend yourself over the back of Fallon’s son! He has a disability and not an illness, so let me correct that for you! I know because I have the exact same disability. I have tried to reach out to Fallon in the past, and offered her to help her and her son, because I was struggling with the same problems, and I understood the boy. I wanted him to have finally someone who understood him. However she told me that she did not want my help, and I have respected Fallon’s choice. I have never asked Fallon for money. They don’t need money in that case. I only ever wanted the best for Fallon and Rory, but I have to be honest about the situation. Fallon should tell the true story and not be forced to tell lies. I don’t hate Fallon, and I don’t begrudge or envy a single penny that she gets, but this situation/case is just not fair. I hate the lies and the dishonesty and injustice. I don’t want Fallon to be hated because there is an unfair disadvantage created. Don’t proclaim your false lies over the back of Rory! I only stand for integrity and justice. I am precisely the one who always sticks up for Fallon. And you don't, you don't give a damn about them. You were never there for them, and now you only want to save your own position! You are just trying to talk your way out of your own bad behavior at the expense of someone with a disability. And to Fallon, I don’t know if this may ever reach you, and you read it, but I want you to know I love you and I love your son Rory very much, I am sorry how things developed and went. I hope you and Harriet are still friends. I am sorry if I were too persistent to you, or you experienced it that way, but it was never my intention. Please understand I have autism as well. As Barry Hearn would say, I am only just a human being too, and I also make mistakes and misjudge things sometimes. I promise you I did everything out of the deepest love and care for you and Rory. If I were you, I should just keep all the money, only please never be dishonest or tell lies anymore for Barry Hearn, or anyone else. I hope you have the best life, and I wish nothing more than the best for you. I have always loved the two of you. Farewell.Hiddo05-11-2026
- She is a professional. If darts is her income, she is a professional. Same as Adrian Lewis, Martin Adams. A tour card just means someone can play on the PDC tour. You could even make a case that Clayton wasn't a professional (until recently I believe) because he had employment elsewhere.BandB04-11-2026
- She's technically not a professional though as she doesn't hold a pro tour card.mr-pablo04-11-2026
- Such a shame that lakeside has been reduced to this. Fantastic venue,and previously a great tournament. Not any morerick6703-11-2026
- Seems to me that the top 16 players pick and choose whatever they want to play. Good,all the money will get spread out more. They get more money from exhibitions than tournaments so let them all withdrawrick6703-11-2026
- Play all legs and the winners split the pot. Luke gets the lot of he wins them all. If your occupation is darts player you can't enter, regardless of ability.BandB01-11-2026
- I'm quite a jaded person all things considered, but to be honest I found Beat Luke Littler to be pretty entertaining. It certainly wasn't seamless, which is to be expected given the lack of precedence, but I actually think the pacing was pretty good, the production was impressive, and there was a good sense of humour and levity to it. I think it was a very ambitious undertaking but one that, for the most part, paid off. I liked the system with the four pots and I think it added to the drama and intrigue. I enjoyed seeing the diverse range of entrants and learning about their backstories. I think the interactivity was pretty clever and well-integrated. The panel was a little incoherent at times; Lee Mack shone however, and his improvisational skills were appreciated during some more awkward interstitial moments. As far as the darts is concerned, it was a shame that the format didn't allow Littler to get into full flow. You obviously don't want him to steamroll everyone but you want to feel like you're getting the full Littler package rather than seeing him struggling to get out of first gear. I will say that his leg against Jayden Walker was very impressive, but it was mostly downhill from there. The attraction revolves around Littler being this untouchable, indomitable force, yet the format doesn't really allow him to fulfil that characterisation. As for Fallon Sherrock, she was mightily impressive and deserved the victory. It is a testament to her unshakeable character that she was able to bang in a 14-darter under such mind-bending pressure. Everything that has been said about the misleading marketing is valid, though they were clear about their eligibility criteria and were able to offload the responsibility somewhat by bringing the viewers into the decision-making process in real time. What is clear though, is that Fallon played the game according to the rules, and she should not be criticised for that, much less abused. I will admit though that it is a kick in the teeth for those true amateurs who committed time and money to the course, and I would also question those who think pub players would have no chance, given that some of Littler's winning legs were dispatched in 7 visits to the board! The great thing about darts is that it isn't so much that amateurs cannot replicate the feats of brilliance pulled off by professionals of the sport, than it is that they simply cannot replicate the consistency of their output, something that this format almost entirely removes from the equation. It should also be noted that, financially, Fallon certainly stands to benefit much less in relative terms from the paycheque than would your average pub thrower, as I'm sure she nets a fair income from the lucrative exhibition circuit alone. What I do hope is that she might use this as an opportunity to really build up a head of steam heading into the new season, as it seems long overdue that she come through Q-School and really take it to the pros on a week-in week-out basis, but whatever she chooses to do, she has certainly achieved enough already for one if not several lifetimes, so who am I to dictate terms? To conclude though, I will state once again that I found Beat Luke Littler to be a pretty enjoyable evening of entertainment. I do feel for the contestants who never actually had the chance to try their luck against the world #1, although I suppose it comes with the format, but all which inevitably raises the question: will Netflix be tempted to do it all again next year? It's hard to say. Whether it would be financially viable, I can't weigh in there. One point I have been making though, and which I touched on earlier, is that the entire concept relies on a public perception that Littler is more or less unbeatable, and that certainly hasn't been the case of late. If the execs had been trying to pitch the show in recent months while Littler has seemed vulnerable, rather than when he was mopping up almost every major title on the calendar, it would certainly be a tougher sell. We will have to see in about 6 months' time whether Littler can still reliably command perception as a near-unstoppable force in darts, and then we'll have a clearer idea about whether we should expect a second helping. Even as a one-off experiment though, and with all the controversy taken into account, I still don't think they disgraced themselves by any means, and that will probably be my lingering assessment of the event when all is said and done.Deduce635801-11-2026
