DARTS – DUTCH darts legend and three-time world champion Michael van Gerwen was crowned champion last night in the 2026 Bahrain Darts Masters.
Van Gerwen secured the title for the first time in the kingdom following a thrilling 8-6 victory over compatriot Gian van Veen, which capped a sensational evening of world-class competition at a rocking Terminal 4 by Beyon in Exhibition World Bahrain.
Van Gerwen won the Bahrain Darts Masters crown in his second participation in the prestigious tournament. He was previously the runner-up in the 2024 edition.
“Not a bad result, ay?” van Gerwen told the GDN last night after receiving the glittering champion’s trophy, molded in the form of a palm tree, from Bahrain International Circuit (BIC) chief executive Shaikh Salman bin Isa Al Khalifa and CBX managing director Roy Boutagy.
“I love it over here – the people have been great to me and the crowd is fantastic,” van Gerwen added. “Next time, I’ll come for the win again.”
Van Gerwen became the first non-English player to triumph in the kingdom. He joins last year’s champion Stephen Bunting, reigning back-to-back world champion and 2024 winner in Bahrain Luke Littler, and 2022-23 world champion and the first-ever victor in the kingdom Michael Smith as title winners in the Bahrain Darts Masters.
This year marked the event’s fourth edition. It was held as the first round of the 2026 PDC World Series of Darts, and it was organised by BIC, the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC), and sports promoter CBX, and was supported by Bahrain Tourism and Exhibitions Authority.
In last night’s final, van Gerwen took a 3-0 lead but van Veen won the next two legs to narrow the deficit. The victor then got back on track by taking the sixth leg to complete half the job in his tile bid, and then won the next two for a commanding 6-2 advantage.
But van Veen battled back with three straight legs to make it 5-6, and the pair then split the next two to set up a dramatic finish. With a slim 7-6 edge, van Gerwen made the most of the opportunity to close things out, and he sealed the match with a triple 10 and double 18.
“I know what I am capable of and I think I did really well today – I’m glad with the performance I did,” van Gerwen said.
“When all the top players are here, you know it’s a big thing. We don’t come here for nothing – we all want to win. We always try to keep digging and try to add to our craft, and that’s the way darts is.”
Van Veen finished as runner-up in Bahrain after also taking second place in the world championship, which came to a close earlier this month in London.
Earlier yesterday evening, van Gerwen was first to secure his place in the title-decider after defeating 2020-21 world champion Gerwyn Price of Wales 7-2 in their best-of-13 legs semi-final. In the other contest of the last four, van Veen beat former World Matchplay champion Nathan Aspinall from England 7-4 to book his place in the championship match.
In the best-of-11 legs quarters, a pair of stunning outcomes kicked off the night’s action, with fan-favourites Littler and Bunting both exiting. Littler lost to Price 2-6 and Bunting was ousted by van Gerwen 4-6. Aspinall followed suit with a 6-3 victory over 2023-24 world champion Luke Humphries, also from England, and then van Veen completed the semi-final cast with a 6-1 triumph against countryman Danny Noppert.
Last night’s programme was briefly interrupted when the lights suddenly went out while van Veen was battling Noppert on stage. Play resumed just a few minutes later as the lights came back on to huge cheers from the crowd.
patrick@gdnmedia.bh
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