Bahrain Darts Masters: Luke Littler beats Paul Lim in first match since World Darts Championship success as Luke Humphries also progresses | Darts News

Two-time world champion Luke Littler made a winning debut at the Bahrain Darts Masters with a dominant 6-1 victory over Paul Lim, as Luke Humphries and Gerwyn Price also progressed to the quarter-finals.

In his first appearance since winning the Sid Waddell Trophy at Alexandra Palace on January 3, where he extended his advantage as world number 1, Littler brushed aside the fan favorite, who is 53 years his senior.

Littler – who won his first World Series of Darts title at this event in 2024 – shot an average of 106.5 and posted more than two tons in a one-sided contest, where he made the first “Big Fish” payout of the tournament and converted six of his eight doubles attempts.

The Nuke now faces a quarterfinal showdown with Price, who beat Littler at the same stage of last year's event, after “The Iceman” defeated fan favorite Motomu Sakai 6-4.

World runner-up Gian van Veen beat Man Lok Leung 6-2 and Humphries dispatched Abdulla Saeed in straight legs for the third year in a row, while Michael van Gerwen, defending champion Stephen Bunting, Danny Noppert and Nathan Aspinall also reached the last eight.

Littler and Humphries produce remarkable performances

Lim missed the chance to break Littler in the first leg, but carded a 74 at the next level, before “The Nuke” took control by following up his sensational 170 in the third by breaking the veteran in the fourth leg with an 11-darter.

The 18-year-old added a 121 to go further ahead and didn't miss a dart at doubles until his winning match, where he sealed victory with a 14-dart to book a meeting with Price in Friday's quarter-finals.

“Paul has been well behaved for many, many years,” Littler said. “He's a class performer and he's still going strong, but luckily I was able to get going and get the win. It's always good to be back in Bahrain. It's the start of a new season for us, and you want to start the year off on the right foot, with a title.”

Price needed a 107 to sneak into a scrappy opening match against Sakai, who repeatedly beat the Welshman and dominated him, but saw a poor finish hamper his hopes of a famous victory.

Van Veen also took advantage of Leung's wayward scoring to reach the round of 16, coming back from 2-1 down to string together five straight matches and set up an all-Dutch quarter-final with Noppert.

Bahrain's Basem Mahmood won his first ever leg in the event but was beaten 6-1 by Noppert, while his compatriot Saeed had just one dart at doubles in his straight leg defeat to Humphries.

“I'm pretty happy with my performance,” admitted Humphries, who averaged 103.66 and will face Aspinall for a place in the semi-final. “I want to come here and start the season a little better than usual, and I've been doing my best to keep up with my training this year.”

Aspinall beat Asian champions PDC Ilagan 6-4, in a repeat of their clash at last month's World Darts Championship, as Van Gerwen came back from 4-3 down to edge Alexis Toylo by the same score.

The Dutchman will continue his quest for a record 17th World Series of Darts crown against Bunting, who took advantage of Ryusei Azemoto's missed doubles to begin his quest for back-to-back titles in Bahrain with a 6-2 success.

Bahrain Darts Masters: Friday schedule

Quarter-finals (best of 11 rounds) – from 4:15 p.m.
Luke Littler vs. Gerwyn Price
Michael van Gerwen vs. Stephen Bunting
Luke Humphries vs. Nathan Aspinall
Gian van Veen vs. Danny Noppert

Semi-finals – Best of 13 rounds
Littler/Price versus Van Gerwen/Bunting
Humphries/Aspinall vs. Van Veen/Noppert

Final – Best of 15 rounds

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