Saudi Arabia Darts Masters: Luke Littler beats Paul Lim to stop Gian van Veen’s show as Danny Noppert is beaten | Arrow News
Luke Littler stormed to a 6-1 victory over the legendary Paul Lim in the first round of the Saudia Arabia Darts Masters to set up a quarter-final with Gian van Veen, a rematch of the World Championship Finals.
It will be the first time that Littler and Van Veen have met since Littler’s 7-1 victory that earned him his first back-to-back world crown in a decade.
In the replay of the first round of the Bahrain Darts Masters, Littler had a 4-0 lead over Lim, his power scoring more goals for the ‘Singapore Slinger’ to handle.
The 18-year-old started a flurry that allowed Lim to get a leg up on the board but as the double called for his opponent, Littler went over the line.
It was a quiet atmosphere in the Global Theater as the missiles landed in Saudi Arabia for the first time and Littler admitted it was a task to get used to the silence around the building.
“Obviously it’s a strange situation, everything is new for us players,” said Littler ITV Sport.
“It’s a very different place but as long as you play well you will win 90 percent of the time.
“It can mean everything [to win] here. There can only be one winner and I hope to win it tomorrow.”
Gian van Veen secured a 6-2 victory over Ally Pally crowd favorite Motomu Sakai.
Sakai won two legs in a row after the Dutchman hit a hard shot to make it 3-2.
That didn’t deter Van Veen though and with his energy kicking in, running in the 180s, he picked up three laps in a row to start another showdown with his childhood rival.
“I was happy to lose to Luke [Littler] then Michael [van Gerwen] but I was always happy to reach those finals,” said Van Veen ITV Sport.
“I know what I can do, especially last year, and if I can show it again it will be a great season.
“Especially in the Premier League – it’s going to be a brilliant 16 or 17 weeks. I’m looking forward to it.”
Noppert loses shock as Leung makes World Series history
There was a surprise in the opening match of the night, No 10 of the world Danny Noppert was defeated 6-3 by Hong Kong. Person Lok Leung as he became the third Asian winner in World Series history.
It means that seven of the eight PDC stars made it through their first round matches.
Leung raced to a 3-0 lead with a score of over 112 early in the process.
‘The Freeze’ managed to fight back and get a few more throws but it was too little too late as Leung raced to the front in the ninth lap and bagged D5 to complete the impressive victory.
You will face each other Nathan Aspinall who averaged over a ton in a stunning 6-1 win over Lawrence Ilagan.
Ilagan wasn’t given the dart to win the leg until the sixth when he stuck D19, ‘The Asp’ making sure that was his only chance as he stuck D12 the 11 dart leg to see for himself.
Price sets up Humphries clash with MVG vs Bunting
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Gerwyn Price scored a superb victory over Alexis Toylo to book a place in the final of the Saudi Arabia Darts Masters in Riyadh. Photo courtesy of @OfficialPDC.
Gerwyn Price scored a 6-0 victory over Alexi Toylo, the ‘Iceman’ running over Big Fish in a 100+ rated reality show.
Indeed, it was a tough night at the office for Toylo who did not get a single dart in the doubles.
The Welshman will take Luke Humphries after ‘Cool Hand’ showed steel in a 6-2 victory against Japan’s Ryusei Azemoto.
There was nothing to separate the two early in the contest as Azemoto got a 100 checkout and a throw break to help level things at 2-2.
However, Humphries then took four legs off the spin to book his place in Tuesday’s game.
Michael van Gerwen kept his hopes of back-to-back World Series titles alive with a comprehensive 6-1 victory over Nitin Kumar.
Kumar’s double made him the first Indian to win at Alexandra Palace last month but it was not to be at the Global Theater allowing the Dutchman to smash a 102-run break en route to victory.
You will face each other Stephen Bunting in the quarter-finals after ‘The Bullet’ cruised to a 6-1 victory over Japan’s Tomoya Goto, rolling five legs in a row before Goto got a chance to get a leg on the board.
Who will win this year’s Premier League Darts? Luke Humphries will be defending his title and you can watch the action every Thursday from February to May on Sky Sports. Stream darts and other top games NOW.
