DARTS – Paolo Nebrida from the Philippines made history last night and joined the game’s biggest stars in the quarter-finals of the 2025 Bahrain Darts Masters.
Nebrida stole the show in front of a sold-out, capacity crowd at Bahrain International Circuit (BIC) in Sakhir, upsetting former world champion Rob Cross from England 6-3 in their first round match-up.
With his win, the 30-year-old became the first-ever Asian representative in the Bahrain Darts Masters to take down a Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) professional, and he also became the first-ever Filipino to win a match in the PDC World Series of Darts.
“This is another achievement for my career, I am very happy of course,” Nebrida told the GDN. “I almost got my first win last year, and I just used that as motivation to get it done now.”
It was business as usual for the other PDC icons, all of whom marched through to the quarter-finals and joined Nebrida. They include reigning world champion and last year’s winner in the kingdom Luke Littler, world number one and 2024 world champion Luke Humphries, former world champions Gerwyn Price and Peter Wright, ex-world matchplay champion Nathan Aspinall, and Bahrain debutants Stephen Bunting and Chris Dobey.
The stage is now set for an exciting second day tonight at BIC. Gates are scheduled to open at 6pm and play will be held from 7pm onwards, starting with the quarter-finals.
In the round of eight, Nebrida will take on Wright, Price will face Littler, Humphries will go up against Aspinall, and Bunting will lock horns with Dobey.
The semi-finals and final will follow on this evening’s programme.
In last night’s action, following Nebrida’s stunning triumph, Price defeated Lok Yin Lee of Hong Kong 6-3, and then Bunting got the better of Nitin Kumar from India 6-2. Dobey swept past hometown star Basem Mahmood 6-0, and then Humphries enjoyed a similar 6-0 result against Bahrain’s other entrant Abdulla Saeed.
Littler then overcame a brief scare from Lourence Ilagan of the Philippines in a 6-3 victory, and then Wright beat Alexis Toylo, also from the Philippines, 6-3. Aspinall wrapped up the evening’s action by ousting Xiaochen Zong of China 6-2.
The Bahrain Darts Masters is organised by BIC and sports promoter CBX and supported by Bahrain Tourism and Exhibitions Authority. This year’s event is the third edition of the darts spectacle.
patrick@gdnmedia.bh
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