The 2026 World Series of Darts continues this week with the inaugural staging of the Saudi Arabia Masters. As with all events in the series, the format sees eight of the best players from the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) take on eight regional representatives in the last-16.
The winner of each international event earns £30,000 from a £100,000 prize fund, while the World Series of Darts Grand Final carries a total prize fund of £450,000, with £100,000 awarded to the champion.
Last week, Luke Littler was knocked out in the quarter-finals by Gerwyn Price, while Michael van Gerwen rediscovered his best form to overcome fellow Dutchman and rising star Gian van Veen 8–6 in a high-quality final.
This week, seven of the eight PDC representatives came through their last-16 matches against the invited regional opponents, though Man Lok Leung produced the shock of the round by defeating 2022 UK Open winner Danny Noppert, who is ranked tenth in the world.
First PDC event in Saudi Arabia event promises watchful eyes
As with all World Series events, the Saudi Darts Masters will see the quarter-finals, semi-finals and final all played tomorrow in one action-packed day.
There will be added eyes on this event, as it is the first PDC-sanctioned darts event held in Saudi Arabia, a country many feel is piling money into multiple sports in an attempt to distract attention from a poor human rights record, often referred to as “sportswashing”.
Quarter-finals: Match ups and predictions
Luke Littler v Gerwyn Price
‘Mighty Mike’ is top seed this week after his victory in Bahrain, where he defeated Bunting 6-4 in the quarter-finals. Their last ten matches have went 7-3 in favour of MvG. It must be said that Bunting, who was a controversial choice for this years Premier League given his poor showing in the 2025 event, does not look in great form.
If van Gerwen continues where he left off this week, he will have too much for the Englishman.
Prediction: van Gerwen 6-3
Nathan Aspinall v Man Lok Lueng
Lok Lueng is a rather unknown quantity, which made his victory over World No. 10 Danny Noppert all the more surprising. Aspinall won through his first round with an impressive 100.93 three dart average. Lueng and Aspinall have never met before.
It’s hard to see anything other than an Aspinall victory here.
Prediction: Aspinall 6-1
Gian van Veen v Luke Littler
This promises to be the match of the quarter-finals, provided van Veen can put behind him his heavy defeat to ‘the Nuke’ in last month’s World Championship final.
They have only met seven times on the PDC tour, with Littler edging the head-to-head 4-3.
If ‘The Nuke’ plays like in last weeks quarter-finals, van Veen has the game to gain a quick revenge.
Prediction: van Veen 6-5
Gerwyn Price v Luke Humphries
Price and Humphries tend to bring out the best in one another, with their last ten meetings evenly split at 5–5. Price was solid last week in his victory over Littler and, when his doubling clicks, he has the ability to drag any opponent out of their comfort zone.
With Humphries not in his richest vein of form, Price should edge this one.
Prediction: Price 6-4
Semi-final and final predictions
With van Gerwen showing something close to his best form last week and Littler exiting at the quarter-final stage, this shapes up as a tough week to predict a winner.
van Gerwen has the kinder side of the draw and should make the final at the expense of likely semi-final opponent Aspinall.
The lower half of the draw, however, contains three world champions and a runner-up, making it exceptionally difficult to predict with any real conviction who will emerge to reach the final. Littler could yet respond like a poked bear and bulldoze his way to the title, but it feels more likely that a semi-final between van Veen and Price awaits, with Price edging through to the final.
Who will win the title?
If van Gerwen reaches a second successive final and comes up against Price, he should hold the edge. The Dutchman leads their last ten meetings 6–4, a run that includes a dominant 7–2 victory in the Bahrain semi-finals last week.
Winner: Michael van Gerwen to beat Gerwyn Price 8-6
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