The 2024 Bahrain Darts Masters kicks off today 18th January with 16 players, including newly crowned World Champion Luke Humphries, and sees a desert debut for darts kid Littler.
Desert debut for darts kid Littler
The event will take place at the Bahrain International Circuit on January 18-19, with eight PDC superstars competing against eight Asian representatives in the first round. The knockout event will crown the first World Series of Darts winner for 2024.
The tournament is being organized by BIC and CBX in partnership with the PDC and Bahrain Tourism and Exhibition Authority.
Darts fans haven’t had to wait long since for another chance to see the teenage sensation Luke ” The Nuke” Littler as this event sees the desert debut for darts kid Littler. Another chance for the youngster to raise the glass ceiling on the PDC circuit.
World Champ Humphries takes to the stage
World number one and world champ Humphries takes to the stage being introduced as the world champion by MC John McDonald for the first time.
Cool hand Luke will be making his first World Series appearance a couple of weeks on from defeating Littler in a record-breaking World Championship final at Alexandra Palace.
Reigning champion “Bullyboy” Michael Smith, who won the inaugural Bahrain Darts Masters 12 months ago with victory over Gerwyn Price, will also be competing.
Three-time PDC World Champion Michael van Gerwen will make his highly-anticipated Bahrain debut, while two-time World Champion Peter Wright, World Matchplay winner Nathan Aspinall, and 2018 World Champion Rob Cross will also be included in the star-studded line-up.
Asian representatives mix it with top stars of the game
The eight Asian representatives are headlined by Philippines’ World Cup star Lourence Ilagan, who made his eighth World Darts Championship appearance last month, after topping the 2023 PDC Asian Tour Order of Merit.
Ilagan will compete alongside his compatriots Paolo Nebrida and Reynaldo Rivera, while Japan’s PDC Asian Champion Haruki Muramatsu will make his World Series return following a seven-year hiatus.
Muramatsu’s fellow countryman Tomoya Goto will also feature after his impressive World Darts Championship debut, with Hong Kong’s Man Lok Leung included following his sensational win over Gian van Veen at Alexandra Palace.
The 16-player field is completed by Bahrain duo Abdulla Saeed and Hasan Haji, who won through last month’s Bahrain Qualifiers to confirm their televised debuts.
PDC World series of darts schedule 2024
The PDC World Series of Darts circuit will also visit the Netherlands, America, Denmark, Poland, Australia and New Zealand during 2024. The top players from the various events will compete in the season-ending World Series of Darts Finals which takes place in Amsterdam towards the end of the year.
2024 Bahrain Darts Masters Line up
January 18-19, Bahrain International Circuit
PDC Representatives
Luke Humphries (England)
Michael van Gerwen (Netherlands)
Michael Smith (England)
Nathan Aspinall (England)
Gerwyn Price (Wales)
Rob Cross (England)
Peter Wright (Scotland)
Luke Littler (England)
PDC Asian Representatives
Lourence Ilagan (Philippines)
Paolo Nebrida (Philippines)
Reynaldo Rivera (Philippines)
Man Lok Leung (Hong Kong)
Haruki Muramatsu (Japan)
Tomoya Goto (Japan)
Abdulla Saeed (Bahrain)
Hasan Haji (Bahrain)
Sensational Darts Kid Luke ” The Nuke” Littler destroys the worlds best
The darts kid might have been making his PDC World Series of darts debut in Bahrain but this didn’t fill him with nerves. Despite claiming not to have picked up a dart since the PDC World championships, Littler took on the best the world of darts has to offer and came away with the title.
After taking a leg or two to get warmed up, Littler beat Hong Kong star Leung to progress to a match up with World number 4 Nathan Aspinall. In the very first leg Littler became the youngest player in history to hit a perfect 9 dart finish before the 16-year-old went on to win that game 6-3 with an average of 104.50. A 7-3 demolition of former world champion Gerwyn Price which included a finish of 170 (the highest possible in darts) set up a final against 3 time world champ and legend of the sport Michael van Gerwen. Despite some early double trouble, Luke ran out a comfortable winner by 8 legs to 5 without giving MvG any real hope he could win the tournament.
A desert debut win for Littler, a history making 9 dart finish, and the first of what will undoubtedly be many trophies lifted by the darts kid who turned 17 years old a couple of days after his win. We look forward to tracking his progress in the weeks, months and years to come.
Editor’s note:
Those of you looking to see Luke at the PDC Masters in February will be disappointed I’m afraid. Luke Littler isn’t in the 2024 PDC Masters and many won’t know why. Luke Littler isn’t in the PDC Masters because this tournament is for the top 24 ranked players in the PDC order of merit. Despite his sensational run at the world’s, and winning the Bahrain masters, Luke is currently ranked 31st in the world.
The PDC order of merit is a 24 month rolling ranking which means prize money is earned over a 24 month period. The 200k Luke earned at Ally Pally moved him from no ranking to 31st in the world which is an incredible achievement, and it surely won’t be long before he ranks in the top 10 in the world. The Bahrain win was in the world series of darts which is a series of events that don’t count for the world rankings. So, despite the win, and defeating the best players in the world, it didn’t add to his ranking. But don’t worry, we know Luke will feature in televised events for many years to come starting with the next event on the world series tour, the Dutch Masters this coming weekend.