The 2025 Bahrain Masters draw is confirmed

As he gets ready for his first appearance as World Champion on Thursday night, Luke Littler will start his defence of the Bahrain Darts Masters against PDC Asian Champion Lourence Ilagan.

The third Bahrain Darts Masters will take place in The Dome at the Bahrain International Circuit from January 16–17, marking the start of the 2025 World Series of Darts.

The eight PDC superstars, led by the recently crowned World Champion Littler, will compete against the eight Asian representatives in the initial round on Thursday in order to advance to Friday’s Finals Day.

After defeating Michael van Gerwen in the final to win his first World Series, Littler celebrated his breakthrough on the international scene with a nine-darter on his way to victory in Bahrain last year.

The 2025 Bahrain Masters draw is confirmed
The 2025 Bahrain Masters draw is confirmed (PDC)

The young sensation, who also overcame Van Gerwen to win the renowned Sid Waddell Trophy at Alexandra Palace on January 3, will play again against the mysterious Ilagan in the Grand Slam of Darts in November.

After losing in the round of 16 at the World Darts Championship, world number one Luke Humphries will start his campaign against local qualifier Abdulla Saeed in an attempt to go back to winning ways.

Humphries defeated him 6-0 at the same level of the competition last year, and he will be looking for a rematch to keep up his undefeated record in Bahrain.

The debutants, Chris Dobey and Stephen Bunting, will be among the eight PDC representatives this week. They will face Basem Mahmood and Nitin Kumar, respectively.

After his run to the global Championship semi-finals, reigning Masters champion Bunting rose to a career-high of number five in the global rankings. He will meet India’s top player, Kumar, in his Bahrain debut.

As he gets ready to compete in his first international World Series tournament, Dobey, who was also a semi-finalist at Alexandra Palace earlier this month, takes on Bahrain’s Mahmood for a spot in the quarterfinals.

Rob Cross, the 2018 World Champion, will have a difficult challenge against Paolo Nebrida, who advanced to the World Championship’s third round by defeating Jim Williams and Ross Smith.

In other news, 2021 World Champion Gerwyn Price will face Lok Yin Lee of Hong Kong, while Nathan Aspinall, the winner of the 2023 World Matchplay, will face PDC China Champion Xiaochen Zong.

The eight-player PDC lineup is completed by Scottish legend Peter Wright, who will face 2024 PDC Asian Tour Order of Merit champion Alexis Toylo to start his campaign.

The 2025 Bahrain Masters draw is confirmed

Draw Bracket

(1) Luke Humphries v Abdulla Saeed

Nathan Aspinall v Xiaochen Zong

(4) Stephen Bunting v Nitin Kumar

Chris Dobey v Basem Mahmood

(2) Luke Littler v Lourence Ilagan

Gerwyn Price v Lok Yin Lee

(3) Rob Cross v Paolo Nebrida

Peter Wright v Alexis Toylo

Schedule of Play

Thursday January 16 (2000 local time, 1700 GMT)

First Round x8

Rob Cross v Paolo Nebrida

Gerwyn Price v Lok Yin Lee

Stephen Bunting v Nitin Kumar

Chris Dobey v Basem Mahmood

Luke Humphries v Abdulla Saeed

Luke Littler v Lourence Ilagan

Peter Wright v Alexis Toylo

Nathan Aspinall v Xiaochen Zong

Friday January 17 (1900 local time, 1600 GMT)

Quarter-Finals

Semi-Finals

Final

Format

First Round – Best of 11 legs

Quarter-Finals – Best of 11 legs

Semi-Finals – Best of 13 legs

Final – Best of 15 legs

 

Bahrain Darts Masters Roll of Honour

2023 Michael Smith

2024 Luke Littler