Saudi Arabia Darts Masters Tips
The second of two World Series of Darts events in the Middle East gets underway on Monday, as the inaugural Saudi Arabia Darts Masters takes place at the Global Theatre in Riyadh.
There is added flavour to this tournament, with a bumper $100,000 prize on offer to any player who lands a nine-darter throughout the event, and that bonus could be doubled following the introduction of the Riyadh Season Bullseye.
If a nine-darter is hit during the tournament, the player will be given one dart at the bullseye to double their prize to $200,000, which would represent the biggest nine-dart prize in PDC history.
The seedings for this competition in Saudi Arabia are determined by the World Series Order of Merit, which is based solely on last week’s Bahrain Darts Masters.
That means Michael van Gerwen is the top seed, with runner-up in Sakhir Gian van Veen placed in the opposite half of the draw.
Luke Littler and Luke Humphries also sit in the bottom half alongside Van Veen, creating a slightly lopsided draw that could present an each-way opportunity in the top section.
Tipster Ben Smith has picked out an outright bet from that top half, and also has three match bets with
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Michael van Gerwen to Win the Tournament (Each-way) (9/1)
Van Gerwen was a worthy winner in Bahrain, maintaining a solid level throughout and producing a particularly clinical display in the final, in which he converted eight of his 12 attempts at double and averaged just shy of 101.
His semi-final triumph over Gerwyn Price was equally impressive. While his average was skewed by the final leg ending in the madhouse, Mighty Mike still fired in seven 180s across nine legs and never gave the Welshman a sniff once he got in front.
He still has a way to go before there can be any serious talk of Van Gerwen being “back”, but there have been signs in recent months that he is at least trending upwards again after a difficult spell.
Having won the World Series Finals in September, his form stayed fairly steady heading into the World Championship, and his exit there was perhaps a little harsh, at least in terms of the 4-1 scoreline against Gary Anderson. Van Gerwen played well in that match but was punished for a series of missed chances midway through.
He could hardly have asked for a better start to 2026, though. Considering what he has been through in his personal life, it is impressive that he won at the first time of asking, and he must be full of confidence as he bids to go back-to-back here.
The world’s top three are all in the other side of the draw, and while no tie is easy in this field from the second round onwards, there is a relatively manageable path to the final compared to what he might have had.
Danny Noppert vs Man Lok Leung - Over 4.5 180s (7/10)
Danny Noppert is starting to make a habit of losing without doing much wrong. That was the case in Sakhir, where he averaged 106 against Van Veen but still only won one leg.
Ever since the Grand Slam, he’s been scoring heavily and hitting plenty of maximums, averaging more than one 180 every three legs since the start of November.
Man Lok Leung also contributes enough to make the overs appealing on the 180s line in this one.
Nathan Aspinall vs Lourence Ilagan - Over 9.5 Legs (17/10)
I made the case for a fairly long match when Nathan Aspinall met Lourence Ilagan in Bahrain, and it paid off for readers as The Asp came through in over 8.5 legs to land a 21/20 winner.
The score was 6-4 that day, following an 11-8 leg count when the pair met at Alexandra Palace in December. With the Filipino consistently showing he can live with the best players in the world, at least in short bursts, I’m happy to go with overs on legs here.
Gerwyn Price vs Alexis Toylo - Toylo +3.5 Leg Handicap (10/11)
A lot is made of Alexis Toylo’s slow pace on the oche, but behind all that is a very solid player, and one who had a genuine chance of knocking Van Gerwen out last week. He took a 4-3 lead before ultimately falling short.
He beat Stephen Bunting at the Grand Slam, too, and he’s undoubtedly one that the PDC players will have hoped to avoid in round one.
Gerwyn Price was superb in beating Luke Littler in Bahrain, but his other two performances weren’t great. He should still come through here, but Toylo can take a few legs.
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