Luke Littler opened his bid for a second Bahrain Darts Masters title with a superb 6-1 success against darting icon Paul Lim, as reigning champion Stephen Bunting also advanced in Sakhir.
Day One of the year’s opening World Series of Darts event saw all eight PDC superstars progress to Finals Day, with Littler and world number two Luke Humphries delivering stand-out displays.
Newly-crowned two-time World Champion Littler - competing in his first game since retaining the Sid Waddell Trophy - averaged over 106 to topple Lim in a clash of the darting generations on Thursday, producing a spectacular 170 checkout in the process.
The pair exchanged holds in the early stages of the contest, before Littler raced to victory in blistering fashion, following up the 170 with a clinical 121 finish in leg five.
Elsewhere, defending champion Bunting swept aside Ryusei Azemoto to begin his bid for back-to-back titles in Bahrain, punishing a profligate display from the Japanese star to seal a 6-2 success.
Bunting’s reward will be a tussle against three-time World Champion Michael van Gerwen, who defied a spirited display from PDC Asian Tour winner Alexis Toylo to open his title challenge.
2026 Bahrain Darts Masters
Thursday January 15
Round One
Gerwyn Price 6-4 Motomu Sakai
Gian van Veen 6-2 Man Lok Leung
Danny Noppert 6-1 Basem Mahmood
Nathan Aspinall 6-4 Lourence Ilagan
Luke Humphries 6-0 Abdulla Saeed
Luke Littler 6-1 Paul Lim
Michael van Gerwen 6-4 Alexis Toylo
Stephen Bunting 6-2 Ryusei Azemoto
Friday January 16 (1900 local time, 1600 GMT)
Quarter-Finals
Luke Littler v Gerwyn Price
Michael van Gerwen v Stephen Bunting
Luke Humphries v Nathan Aspinall
Gian van Veen v Danny Noppert
Best of 11 legs
Semi-Finals
Littler/Price v Van Gerwen/Bunting
Humphries/Aspinall v Van Veen/Noppert
Best of 13 legs
Final
Best of 15 legs