Gerwyn Price stole the spotlight on the opening night of the Riyadh Season Saudi Arabia Darts Masters, firing in a sensational 170 checkout as Man Lok Leung etched his name into the history books at the Global Theater.
Price delivered one of the performances of the night, dismantling PDC Asian Tour winner Alexis Toylo in emphatic fashion. The Welshman averaged over 100 and sealed a dominant whitewash with a stunning maximum checkout.
“It was a slow start, but after the 170 finish, I felt like I was starting to find my feet,” claimed Price, who pinned six of his ten attempts at double.
“I want to hit the ground running at the beginning of the season and win here for the first time, and I’m definitely after that nine-darter as well!”
Price will now face world number two Luke Humphries in a blockbuster quarter-final, after Humphries powered to a 6-2 victory over Ryusei Azemoto.
“It’s mixed emotions for me. I struggled getting that first dart in the right place, but it’s a decent start,” asserted Humphries.
“Everybody wants to be the first player to win this title. It’s an exciting tournament and hopefully I can be the first player to put my name on it.”
The shock of the night came courtesy of Hong Kong’s Man Lok Leung, who defeated Danny Noppert 6-3 to become the first player to record a PDC stage win in Saudi Arabia.
“I am very happy to play my game on the stage,” reflected Leung.
“It is my first win in the first match [in Saudi Arabia], so this is a big win for me.”
Michael van Gerwen also advanced with a clinical 6-1 win over Nitin Kumar, while Stephen Bunting matched that scoreline against Tomoya Goto. Elsewhere, Luke Littler and Gian van Veen both impressed to set up a repeat of their recent World Championship final.
“This is all new to us players, but I felt good up there tonight,” said Littler.
“It would mean everything to win the first event over here. There can only be one winner, and hopefully I can do it tomorrow.”
The tournament concludes on Tuesday with a blockbuster Finals Day, featuring the quarter-finals, semi-finals and final, alongside the tantalising $200,000 nine-darter Bullseye challenge.
Source: PDC.TV
