Van den Bergh misses nine-dart finish and survives Abiabi scare, Cross eases past Kumar as Bahrain Darts Masters begins

Dimitri van den Bergh survived a major scare to begin the Bahrain Darts Masters with unheralded Filipino qualifier who rocked UAE flags in Alain Abiabi missed a match dart in a 6-5 win for 'The Dreammaker'.

Van den Bergh's best moment was missing a nine-dart finish on double 18 but the doubling of Abiabi caused the Belgian major problems and he spared his blushes by sealing the win to open the session of the inaugural tournament.

There were three consecutive breaks of throw to start the tie as Abiabi hit a 103 to get a first leg on the board but finally Van den Bergh consolidated to make it 4-1 and go two away from victory.

Abiabi couldn’t get the treble 17 off 143 so Van den Bergh returned but a 72 checkout was missed and 58 was hit by the Filipino to make it 4-2.

He finally missed darts at a double but Van den Bergh couldn’t make him pay and Abiabi made it 4-3. Van den Bergh missed 141 on double 18 for a nine-dart finish but hit double nine to break and go one away at 5-3.

Abiabi survived match darts and hit double 16 for 5-4 and then double five last dart in hand for 5-5. Van den Bergh hit a 180 but missed 68 for the match and the Filipino returned only to miss double 20 for a 116 checkout for the win and on double two, he saved his skin.

While it was a lot more comfortable for Rob Cross as he eased past Nitin Kumar 6-2 with a 95 average and two 180's to reach the Quarter-Finals as he aims to add another World Series title.

Cross started in style with a 140 checkout and a 70 checkout before surging into a 4-0 lead. Kumar went into double eight off 101 for his first leg but returned with Cross well back to add a leg and hold for 4-1.

Cross set up 40 from 81 with Kumar not on a finish and went one away from victory at 5-1. A 52 checkout saw Kumar make it 5-2 to keep himself involved but ‘Voltage’ went on to seal the deal 6-2.