Bahrain Darts Masters 2025 LIVE RESULTS: Luke Littler faces Gerwyn Price TONIGHT, Humphries vs Aspinall latest – updates
DARTS is BACK with the Bahrain Darts Masters now underway in the Middle East - and Luke Littler has safely made it into the quarter-finals.
The teenage sensation beat Lourence Ilagan 6-3 to record his first win since becoming darts' youngest-ever world champion earlier this month.
Littler faces Gerwyn Price in the quarter-finals after World No1 Luke Humphries takes on Nathan Aspinall.
There has already been a MASSIVE shock in the tournament, with former world champion and current world No 4 Rob Cross LOSING to world No 94 Paolo Nebrida.
- Start time: From 4pm GMT
- TV channel: ITV4
- FREE live stream: ITVX
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Rob Cross 3-4 Paolo Nebrida*
And a 14-darter in reply from Cross. He needed it and with Nebrida back at 181, Cross wasn't put under any pressure there.
His finishing has got better the last two legs he's won. He just needs the one break of throw and could really do with it coming in the next.
*Rob Cross 2-4 Paolo Nebrida
Very tidy from Nebrida who hits a 13-darter to hold throw in what is a real upturn in quality.
This is getting very hairy for Cross, ironically.
He desperately needs to find a break of throw from somewhere or he's in real trouble.
Rob Cross 2-3 Paolo Nebrida*
Better from Rob Cross. Though that wouldn't be too hard.
Cross' second 180 of the night gets him down and away from Nebrida, who to his credit does battle back.
Nebrida puts pressure on Cross' 18 by leaving himself 60. But Cross splits it with 10, D4 to clean up and get the important hold.
*Rob Cross 1-3 Paolo Nebrida
The less said about that abysmal leg the better.
Paolo Nebrida holds his throw with a 29-dart leg. TWENTY-NINE!
Nebrida missed 10 darts at a double there and STILL won it. Rob Cross looked to be left well behind in the leg but was given plenty of chances himself to nick the break of throw.
Incredible.
Rob Cross 1-2 Paolo Nebrida*
Nebrida to throw first in this leg.
And a reminder it's first to six legs in these matches.
Rob Cross 1-2 Paolo Nebrida*
Rob Cross is on the board! And that was a change of gear from Voltage.
He hits his first maximum and with a chance at D16, his opponent is back on 221, so he knows he's got at least one more visit in him.
He misses D8 all three times in his next visit but is allowed back to clean up next time.
*Rob Cross 0-2 Paolo Nebrida
And the outsider has doubled his advantage with a hold of throw!
Nebrida hits a 140 and the match's first 180 on his way to have a shot at bull for the leg, which landed in 14.
He was allowed another visit and split the 36 to hit 4 and have two chances at D16, which both missed.
But Cross is still a mile away and has started so poorly here. So Nebrida is back AGAIN and hits double 8 with his second attempt.
Rob Cross 0-1 Paolo Nebrida*
A BREAK of throw in the first leg of the tournament - not a bad start from the man from the Philippines.
We have to be honest here, the leg itself was comfortably below average.
Rob Cross' scoring was especially poor and Nebrida had a dart at tops for the win which fell low. Cross came back and failed to take out 96 and Nebrida needed one dart on his next visit for D10.
*Rob Cross 0-0 Paolo Nebrida
It'll be the PDC's Rob Cross to throw first here.
Game on in Bahrain!
Here we go...
The two players are on the stage and we're getting ready for a start.
A disappointing World Championships for Rob Cross but he should have too much for Paolo Nebrida here.
Minutes to go...
Here's a remainder of the all 16 representatives who will fight it out for the Bahrain Darts Masters title.
Tonight's first round will pit eight PDC superstars against eight Asian representatives, which includes two local qualifiers and six players from the Asian Tour who competed at the recent World Darts Championship.
It's all to play for...
PDC Representatives
Luke Humphries (England)
Luke Littler (England)
Rob Cross (England)
Stephen Bunting (England)
Gerwyn Price (Wales)
Chris Dobey (England)
Nathan Aspinall (England)
Peter Wright (Scotland)Asian Representatives
Lourence Ilagan (Philippines)
Alexis Toylo (Philippines)
Paolo Nebrida (Philippines)
Xiaochen Zong (China)
Lok Yin Lee (Hong Kong)
Nitin Kumar (India)
Basem Mahmood (Bahrain)
Abdulla Saeed (Bahrain)Who will be walking away with the Palm Tree on Friday?
Littler on his new darts ahead of 18th birthday
Luke Littler revealed: "I've got a brand new set of darts for tonight.
"I'm not going to throw with the darts I won the World Championship with - they're going to be in a frame, so now it's about breaking in a new set.
"I can't wait for tomorrow night when John McDonald calls me out for the first time as World Champion.
"I had a tough game against Lourence at the Grand Slam, and I cannot wait to get back on stage now. It feels good to be back and hopefully I can win.
"I think every player wants to kick off this year by winning here in Bahrain, and retaining my title would be a great present going into my 18th birthday!"
Littler beat Ilagan on his way to victory at the Grand Slam of Darts in November.
Master banker
Here is a full breakdown of the prize money up for grabs at the Bahrain Darts Masters:
- Winner: £20,000
- Runner-up: £10,000
- Semi-Finalists: £5,000
- Quarter-Finalists: £2,500
- First round: £1,250
- Total: £60,000
Littler is the reigning Bahrain Darts Masters champ What TV channel is the Bahrain Darts Masters 2025 on and can it be live streamed FREE?
- In the UK, the Bahrain Darts Masters will be broadcast live on ITV4.
- You can live stream the event for FREE via the ITVX website/app.
- Alternatively, you can keep up to date with all the action by following SunSport's live blog.
Darts in Bahrain
Littler will headline the two-day event - which takes place on January 16-17 - as the sport's biggest names return to The Dome at the Bahrain International Circuit for the third staging of the World Series of Darts event.
Thursday's first round will pit eight PDC superstars against eight Asian representatives, which includes two local qualifiers and six players from the Asian Tour who competed at the recent World Darts Championship.
Littler marked his arrival on the global stage with a nine-darter on his way to victory at last year's Bahrain Darts Masters, as he claimed the unique date palm trophy to triumph on his World Series debut.
The teenager then went on to win the Premier League, World Series Finals and Grand Slam of Darts in 2024, before capping off a fairy-tale year by storming to a historic World Championship success.
The reigning champion will begin his defence of the title against PDC Asian Champion Lourence Ilagan, and the teenage sensation is relishing his first outing as world champ.
Tonight's schedule of play
The Bahrain Darts Masters kick-starts at 5pm this evening.
We will cover all eight matches tonight.
First round (best of 11 legs)
(3) Rob Cross (ENG) v Paolo Nebrida (PHL)
(5) Gerwyn Price (WAL) v Lok Yin Lee (HKG)
(4) Stephen Bunting (ENG) v Nitin Kumar (IND)
(6) Chris Dobey (ENG) v Basem Mahmood (BAR)
(1) Luke Humphries (ENG) v Abdulla Saeed (BAR)
(2) Luke Littler (ENG) v Lourence Ilagan (PHL)
(8) Peter Wright (SCO) v Alexis Toylo (PHL)
(7) Nathan Aspinall (ENG) v Xiao Chen Zong (CHN)
Good afternoon and welcome to SunSport’s live coverage of the Bahrain Darts Masters!
The first post-World Darts Championship competition begins TODAY - and some huge names are set to feature.
Newly crowned world champion Luke Littler will headline the blockbuster event in the Middle East less than a fortnight after beating Michael van Gerwen to the Sid Waddell trophy.
Last year, the teenage sensation hit a nine-darter on his way to victory at the Bahrain Darts Masters - which was his first tournament win of a stunning breakout year.
World No1 Luke Humphries takes to the oche for the first time since his defeat to Peter Wright in the last-16 of the World Darts Championship.
New Premier League Darts recruits Stephen Bunting and Chris Dobey will make their debuts in Bahrain following their stunning runs to the World Darts Championship semi-finals.