Darts Star Removed From Saudi Arabia Masters and Immediately Replaced
A darts star has been forced to pull out of the Saudi Arabia Masters, with a replacement now confirmed.
This week, the 2026 Bahrain Masters took place, with Stephen Bunting looking to defend his title.
However, it was Michael van Gerwen who managed to go all the way, beating fellow Dutchman Gian van Veen 8-6 in the final.
Gerwyn Price beat world champion Luke Littler in the last eight before losing to Van Gerwen.
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Speaking after the final, Van Gerwen said: "It always feels good, especially when you win.
"Of course, it wasn’t too easy today. I made it a little bit difficult here and there for myself, but I think overall I played some really good darts today, and that made me win games like this."
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Next week, the Saudi Arabia Masters will take place for the first time, with eight PDC representatives taking on eight Asian stars.
The likes of Bunting, Van Gerwen, Van Veen, Price and Littler will be joined by Luke Humphries, Danny Noppert and Nathan Aspinall.
Ahead of the event, it was confirmed that Pablo Nebrida has had to withdraw due to illness.
In turn, India's Nitin Kumar will enter the competition.
A statement from the PDC read: "Nitin Kumar will replace Paolo Nebrida in the field for the 2026 Riyadh Season Darts Masters following Nebrida's withdrawal from the event due to illness.
"Kumar, who made history as the first Indian player to taste victory on the Alexandra Palace stage at the 2025/26 World Darts Championship, comes into the 16-player field as one of eight Asian Representatives."
The Saudi Arabia Masters line-up
PDC Representatives
Luke Littler (England)
Luke Humphries (England)
Gian van Veen (Netherlands)
Michael van Gerwen (Netherlands)
Stephen Bunting (England)
Danny Noppert (Netherlands)
Gerwyn Price (Wales)
Nathan Aspinall (England)
Asian Representatives
Alexis Toylo (Philippines)
Lourence Ilagan (Philippines)
Motomu Sakai (Japan)
Ryusei Azemoto (Japan)
Paul Lim (Singapore)
Man Lok Leung (Hong Kong)
Tomoya Goto (Japan)
Nitin Kumar (India)
Topics: Darts
Marcus Chan