Bahrain Darts Masters

The first edition of the Bahrain Darts Masters was played on January 12 and 13, 2023. World champion Michael Smith won a World Series tournament for the third time in his career, after beating Gerwyn Price in the final.

In the first round, eight PDC stars will compete against eight Asian stars. The closest to a victory comes the Filipino Alan Abiabi: he misses one match dart to beat Dimitri van den Bergh. The Belgian, who misses the double eighteen for a nine-darter on the way, escapes and wins 6-5. Raymond van Barneveld is the only Dutchman in Bahrain: he beats Yuki Yamada 6-2 in the first round. World champion Michael Smith beats local player Abdulnaser Yusuf 6-1, while Jonny Clayton does not lose a leg against another local player Basem Mahmood with an average of 103.66.

Van Barneveld will play against Luke Humphries in the quarterfinals. The Englishman takes a 4-0 and 5-1 lead, but sees a strong 'Barney' take a 6-5 victory. Michael Smith struggles against Dimitri van den Bergh, but partly due to many misses on the doubles of the Belgian, Smith manages to win 6-4. Rob Cross and Peter Wright need a decisive leg, in which Cross eventually proves to be the strongest. The last quarterfinal is between Gerwyn Price and Jonny Clayton. 'The Ferret' starts well, but eventually has to leave the victory 6-4 to Price.

The match between Smith and Van Barneveld is initially equal, but in the end the world champion is 7-5 too strong for the Dutchman. In the other semi-final, Price defeated his opponent Cross 7-3, making the final between Michael Smith and Gerwyn Price. Price starts well, but then Smith runs out to a big lead. 'Bully Boy' then misses some match darts, but manages to win the final 8-6. Ten days after winning his world title, he is crowned Bahrain Darts Masters champion of 2023.