The darts world has quickly moved on from the World Championship as it descends onto Bahrain for the third staging of the Bahrain Masters and the first World Series event of the season. Luke Littler headlines the competitors and is the defending champion here after beating Michael van Gerwen 8-5 in the final to become only the third player to win on their World Series debut. Littler also hit a 9 darter in his Quarter Final match against Nathan Aspinall, just two days before his 17th birthday, and became the youngest player to hit a televised 9 dart leg.
Tonight's first-round matches will see eight PDC stars face off against eight Asian representatives, including two local qualifiers and six players from the Asian Tour who recently competed at the World Darts Championship.
World Championship semi-finalists Stephen Bunting and Chris Dobey will make their Bahrain debuts tonight and both were recently re-selected for the Premier League. Elsewhere former World Champions, Gerwyn Price, Rob Cross, and Peter Wright return to Bahrain, with the Welshman being handed a tough draw against Paolo Nebrida who recently knocked out Jim Williams and Ross Smith to reach the third round at Alexandra Palace.
Nathan Aspinall who perhaps was a surprise Premier League pick after an injury-ravaged season will have another tough draw on his hands as he faces Xiao-chen Zong. Headlining this year's tournament are World Number 1 Luke Humphries and reigning World Champion Luke Littler and both will be hoping to make a statement early in the 2025 PDC season.
James Hubbard's Bahrain Masters Betting Tips
Peter Wright vs Alexis Toylo
- Over 9.5 Legs: 13/10 at BoyleSports
- Alexis Toylo to win: 3/1 at Coral
Peter Wright had a surprisingly good World Championship campaign and dumped out the World Number 1 and reigning World Champion Luke Humphries en route to the quarter-finals. As always with 'Snakebite' it all depends on which darts he uses and it was great to see him back on form at Ally Pally using darts he knows are reliable. There were still plenty of times he decided to change darts mid-match though and I think that may well happen again this evening as he will probably see this as a perfect chance to experiment with this tournament being unranked.
Alexis Toylo was the star of the Asian Tour in 2024, winning five tournaments and finishing top of the order of merit. He came into the World Championship with a big reputation and he certainly delivered. He demolished Richard Veenstra in the first round 3-0 before losing to the ever-reliable Krzysztof Ratayski 3-1 but he did average 96.39. If Toylo averages that tonight he'll definitely cause Wright problems, especially with how slow and precise he plays which could certainly affect the Scotsman's rhythm.
I genuinely wouldn't be surprised at all with a Toylo win this evening but again it all depends on how Wright plays and how he approaches this match. I expect it to be close so I think the leg market is the safest player here.
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Nathan Aspinall vs Xiaochen Zong
- Over 8.5 legs: 5/6 at William Hill
- Xiaochen Zong to win: 11/2 at BetMGM
Nathan Aspinall will be a very relieved man to have been selected for the Premier League after his 2024 season was decimated by injury. He did have a great run in the World Championship though, reaching the Quarter Finals but succumbed to Luke Littler 5-2. In truth though he coasted through his matches until that point and wasn't put under a huge amount of pressure by his opponents. The tricky thing with predicting a performance from 'The Asp' at the moment is the dartitis that looms over him. It affected his rhythm at Alexandra Palace and I fear for him this season if he doesn't rectify that.
If you have followed my tips before you will know how much I rate Xiaochen Zong and even though he lost at the World Championship, he showed exactly what he was capable of at times but missed crucial doubles. If he scores tonight like he did at Ally Pally at times then he'll no doubt put Aspinall under pressure. I think it's time Zong had a big performance on TV and this event could be the perfect time for him.
I can't see any player running away with this match and it could well turn into a bit of a nervy affair so the over-legs market is again the safe play. If Zong capitalizes on Aspinall's inconsistent form then this could well become the night he introduces his massive talent to the world.
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James is a former professional dart player who enjoys writing about darts, golf and football. In 2012, he was crowned the PDC World Youth Champion and these days, he puts his expertise to use with betting tips for BettingLounge readers.