Schedule and preview Thursday evening session 2023 Bahrain Darts Masters featuring Smith, Price, Wright and Van Barneveld

From 2023 onwards, the World Series of Darts kicks off its tour in January with little rest for the top darting stars as the Bahrain Darts Masters sits first on the schedule between January 12-13.

Action begins on Thursday night in the middle east starting at 4pm GMT on both tonight and Friday's conclusion in a field headlined by World Champion, Michael Smith.

The first round sees the PDC representatives compete against a mix of Asian representatives and local qualifiers. The latter starts with Alain Abiabi facing Dimitri van den Bergh in the first match.

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Rob Cross then makes his World Series return to face Nitin Kumar who lives in Dubai but has the honor of representing India again on the big stage. Luke Humphries makes his debut on the main World Series and faces Hong Kong's Man Lok Leung. While Gerwyn Price takes on a legend who wasn't seen at the last World Championship in 'The Singapore Slinger' Paul Lim.

Peter Wright after crashing out at Ally Pally early on will have Toru Suzuki as he looks to kick start his 2023 season. While in his first walk-on and first match as World Champion and World Number One, Michael Smith faces Abdulnasser Yusuf.

Raymond van Barneveld also makes his World Series return for the first time since his previous retirement, he faces Yuki Yamada before Jonny Clayton concludes the session against Basem Mahmood.

There is no Michael van Gerwen in Bahrain with the Green Machine deciding instead to go on a prior booked family holiday.

Schedule of Play

Thursday January 12 (1900 local time, 1600 GMT)

First Round

Dimitri Van den Bergh v Alain Abiabi

Rob Cross v Nitin Kumar

Luke Humphries v Man Lok Leung

Gerwyn Price v Paul Lim

Peter Wright v Toru Suzuki

Michael Smith v Abdulnasser Yusuf

Raymond van Barneveld v Yuki Yamada

Jonny Clayton v Basem Mahmood