DARTS – Peter Wright overcame a spirited challenge from Japan’s Haruki Muramatsu in a hotly contested opener as the Bahrain Darts Masters kicked off last night with some exciting matches at the Bahrain International Circuit (BIC), Sakhir.
Day one featured some of the best performers in the world competing in eight best of 11 leg matches.
The Bahrain event is the first tournament in the World Series.
Wright got off to a strong start by leading the first set, but suffered a scare when he suddenly found himself down 2-3. Wright then won three sets in a row to lead 5-3, only for Muramatsu to bring it down to the wire by making it 5-5. Wright’s experience came through, however, and he was able to seal the final set to win the opening match 6-5.
Welshman Gerwyn Price won the second game, defeating Reynaldo Rivera from the Philippines 6-4.
Rivera started strong leading 2-1 after the first three sets. Price, known as ‘The Iceman’, however was able to keep cool and lead 5-3 before staving off a comeback to win the final set 6-4.
In game three, England’s Nathan Aspinall defeated the Philippines’ Lourence Ilagan in a tight contest. The Filipino started strong, leading 3-1 after four sets. He eventually led 5-3 and needed one more set to cause an upset. Aspinall, however, managed to turn things around, coming back to win 6-5, denying Ilagan what would have been an historic win.
In the fourth match, England’s Rob Cross overcame Japan’s Tomoya Goto. Cross started off leading 3-0, but the Japanese star made a comeback to reach 3-3. However, Cross put up a brave fight and managed to win the next three sets to ultimately win the match 6-3.
PDC world finalist, 16-year-old Englishman Luke Littler defeated Hong Kong’s Man Lok Leung in the next game. It was Leung who took a 2-0 lead at first. There was no stopping Littler once he got going though, with the teen snatching a comeback 6-3 win.
Meanwhile, PDC world champion Luke Humphries defeated Bahrain’s Abdulla Saeed, who went down 0-6. Saeed got some decent sets in, but the world champion was too much for the local hero.
Dutchman Michael Van Gerwen defeated Bahrain’s second representative Hasan Haji in the next match 6-0. Haji put up a decent performance, but the former world champion was too strong for him.
In the closing match for the night, 2023 Bahrain Darts Masters champion Michael Smith began his title defence by edging past the Philippines’ Paolo Nebrida in the final set. The two went back and forth, trading sets until they were tied 5-5 heading into the final leg. Smith eventually pulled off a win in a thrilling affair.
The tournament will continue today in the second and final day, featuring the quarter-finals, semi-finals and final. The quarter-finals will feature four best of 11 legs affair, and will be followed by the semi-finals which is a best of 13 legs series. The final will be a best of 15-leg showdown.
QUARTER-FINALS: Luke Humphries vs Gerwyn Price; Nathan Aspinall vs Luke Littler; Michael Van Gerwin vs Rob Cross; Michael Smith vs Peter Wright
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