Michael van Gerwen will begin his bid for back-to-back World Series of Darts titles against India’s Nitin Kumar as the Riyadh Season Saudi Arabia Darts Masters begins later today.
Van Gerwen – the most successful player in World Series of Darts history – opened the new season with victory in last week’s Bahrain Darts Masters, and now he’s eyeing silverware in Saudi Arabia.
The three-time World Champion overcame Stephen Bunting, Gerwyn Price and Gian van Veen on his way to glory in Bahrain, and he’s hoping to build on that momentum ahead of his opening round tie against India’s Nitin Kumar.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“It felt amazing to win in Bahrain. It meant the world to me,” insisted Van Gerwen, the reigning six-time World Series of Darts Finals champion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“Wherever I go, I always want to win. I always give 100%. I’ve had a tough couple of years, but you need to make sure you keep battling.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“This gives me confidence, and I think there’s more in the tank. As long as I keep believing in my own ability and performances, anything is possible.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
World Championship runner-up Van Veen also impressed in Bahrain, and after reaching two finals within the last fortnight, he arrives in Saudi Arabia brimming with confidence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Dutch number one has been pitted against the enigmatic Motomu Sakai in round one, and if he defeats the Japanese star, he could face Luke Littler in the quarter-finals, in a repeat of January’s World Championship final.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“I can’t be too upset with reaching two finals in a couple of weeks,”\u00a0reflected the reigning European Champion. This is something to build on, and I had a fantastic tournament in Bahrain.
“I’m here to win. That is the goal. I didn’t succeed last week, but now I’m looking forward to this tournament.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Littler will once again go head-to-head with 71-year-old icon Paul Lim in Monday’s opening round, in a repeat of their showdown in Bahrain last week.
The World Champion ran out an emphatic 6-1 winner on that occasion, and he’s targeting history on the PDC’s first visit to Riyadh.
There will be a bumper $100,000 prize on offer to any player who lands a nine-darter throughout the event – and this bonus could be doubled following the introduction of the Riyadh Season Bullseye.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If a nine-darter is hit during the event, the player will be given one dart at the bullseye to double their prize to $200,000, which would constitute the biggest prize pot for a nine-darter in PDC history.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“I’d love to do it. Obviously, it’s something that’s an opportunity for all of us players, but I would love to be the first one to do it,” admitted Littler.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“It’s going to be very interesting, and it’s an opportunity for us players to visit a different country, and just experience it all. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
“Riyadh is massive for the boxing, so hopefully we can go over there and make darts big over there.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
World number two Luke Humphries will begin his bid for a third World Series of Darts title against Japan’s Ryusei Azemoto, while former World Champion Gerwyn Price faces PDC Asian Tour winner Alexis Toylo.
2023 World Matchplay winner Nathan Aspinall and PDC Asian Champion Lourence Ilagan lock horns for a third consecutive televised event, with the winner advancing to a showdown against former UK Open champion Danny Noppert or Hong Kong’s premier player Man Lok Leung.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Elsewhere, Stephen Bunting – a two-time winner on the World Series circuit in 2025 – gets his campaign underway against two-time World Championship qualifier Tomoya Goto. Michael van Gerwen will begin his bid for back-to-back World Series of Darts titles against India’s Nitin Kumar<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":8151,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[44],"tags":[59],"class_list":["post-8150","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-international","tag-darts"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t
Draw Bracket<\/strong>
(1) Michael van Gerwen v Nitin Kumar
Stephen Bunting v Tomoya Goto
(4) Nathan Aspinall v Lourence Ilagan
Danny Noppert v Man Lok Leung
(2) Gian van Veen v Motomu Sakai
Luke Littler v Paul Lim
(3) Gerwyn Price v Alexis Toylo
Luke Humphries v Ryusei Azemoto<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"