Again-to-back world champion Luke Littler made a profitable begin to the Bahrain Darts Masters with a dominant 6-1 victory over Paul Lim, as Luke Humphries and Gerwyn Value additionally progressed to the quarter-finals.
In his first look since efficiently retaining the Sid Waddell Trophy on the Alexandra Palace on January 3, the place he prolonged his benefit as world No 1, Littler brushed apart the followers’ favorite who’s 53 years his senior.
Littler – who gained his first World Sequence of Darts title at this occasion in 2024 – fired a 106.5 common and posted two ton-plus finishes throughout a one-sided contest, the place he delivered the primary ‘Massive Fish’ checkout of the match and transformed six of his eight makes an attempt at double.
The Nuke now faces a quarter-final showdown with Value, who beat Littler on the identical stage of final 12 months’s occasion, after ‘The Iceman’ struggled previous followers’ favorite Motomu Sakai 6-4.
World Championship runner-up Gian van Veen thrashed Man Lok Leung 6-2 and Humphries dispatched Abdulla Saeed in straight legs for the third straight 12 months, whereas Michael van Gerwen, defending champion Stephen Bunting, Danny Noppert and Nathan Aspinall additionally reached the final eight.
Littler and Humphries produce assertion performances
Lim missed the prospect to interrupt Littler within the opening leg however took out a 74 end within the subsequent to stage, earlier than ‘The Nuke’ took management by following his sensational 170 checkout within the third by breaking the veteran within the fourth leg with an 11-darter.
The 18-year-old added a 121 checkout to drag additional forward and did not miss a dart at double till his match-winning leg, the place he signed off victory with a 14-darter to guide a gathering with Value in Friday’s quarter-finals.
Littler solely dropped one leg throughout a formidable victory over Paul Lim
“Paul’s been performing well for many, many years,” Littler stated. “He’s a class act and he’s still going strong, but thankfully I was able to kick on and get the win. It’s always good to be back in Bahrain. This is the start of the new season for us, and you want to start the year off right, with a title.”
Value wanted a 107 end to sneak a scrappy opening leg towards Sakai, who broke the Welshman on a number of events and outscored him however noticed poor ending hamper his hopes of a well-known victory.
Gerwyn Value fired an 11- dart leg to assist guide a last-eight assembly with Littler
Van Veen additionally capitalised on wayward scoring from Leung to achieve the final eight, getting back from 2-1 right down to rattle off 5 consecutive legs and arrange an all-Dutch quarter-final with Noppert.
Bahraini Basem Mahmood gained his first ever leg within the occasion however was thrashed 6-1 by Noppert, whereas fellow dwelling favorite Saeed solely had one dart at double throughout his straight-legs loss to Humphries.
“I’m pretty happy with my performance,” admitted Humphries, who averaged 103.66 and can play Aspinall for a spot within the semi-finals. “I want to come here and start the season a little bit better than I usually do, and I’ve tried my best to keep in the flow with my practice this year.”
Aspinall edged previous PDC Asian Champion Ilagan 6-4, in a repeat of their conflict eventually month’s World Darts Championship, as Van Gerwen got here again from 4-3 right down to edge Alexis Toylo by the identical rating.
The Dutchman will proceed his pursuit of a record-extending seventeenth World Sequence of Darts crown towards Bunting, who benefitted from missed doubles from Ryusei Azemoto to start his bid for back-to-back titles in Bahrain with a 6-2 success.
Can Stephen Bunting efficiently defend his title in Bahrain?
Bahrain Darts Masters: Friday’s schedule
Quarter Finals (better of 11 legs) – from 4.15pm
Luke Littler v Gerwyn Value
Michael van Gerwen v Stephen Bunting
Luke Humphries v Nathan Aspinall
Gian van Veen v Danny Noppert
Semi-Finals – Better of 13 legs
Littler/Value v Van Gerwen/Bunting
Humphries/Aspinall v Van Veen/Noppert
Last – Better of 15 legs
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