- 16-year-old sensation Luke Littler defeated Nathan Aspinall to win the Bahrain Masters
- Littler defeated Gerwyn Price and Michael van Gerwen on their way to the final
- After this, the Dutch Masters starts, before the Premier League darts returns in February
Luke Littler may have hit the headlines after a brilliant final performance to win the Bharain Masters, but another player also risked everything in the Middle East.
Littler defeated Nathan Aspinall with a superb performance, including a nine-dart finish, to take home the title, including the associated prize money of £20,000.
In a tournament that pitted him against big players like Gerwyn Price and Michael van Gerwen, the 16-year-old showed his quality throughout.
However, another player came into contact with some of the wildlife in Bahrain and barely escaped unscathed.
Former world champion Michael Smith almost had his hand bitten off while fishing for the tournament.
Michael Smith had an encounter with a shark while fishing for the Bahrain Master
Smith defeated Peter Wright and the Philippines’ Paolo Nebrida, but lost to Michael van Gerwen in the semi-finals
The shark was believed to be four feet long and almost took Smith’s hand off, but the Englishman recovered well
Nicknamed Bully Boy because of his work on a cattle ranch when he was younger, Smith’s downtime in the Middle East could have backfired heavily on him before he returned to the oche for the first World Series event of the year.
Smith told ITV: ‘In Arab fishing there are no rods, just lines.
‘Within a few minutes I managed to hook a four-foot shark.
“It didn’t feel that bad, but when I got it to the side of the boat it started kicking.
“It tore my hand, almost took my hand off, but it’s all healed now.”
The man from St. Helens recovered well enough to shake off another scare, beating Filipino Paolo Nebrida to win 6-5 even after his opponent missed two match darts.
Smith then got past Peter Wright 6-1 before losing 7-6 to Van Gerwen in the semi-finals in a repeat of the thrilling 2023 PDC World Darts Championship final.
Luke Littler hit an incredible nine-darter in his quarter-final against Nathan Aspinall
The youngest defeated Michael van Gerwen in the final and won the Bahrain Masters and the prize money
Reflecting on his journey, Smith emphasized, “Last year was a bit of a struggle. It was my own doing. Too busy partying, having fun and being world champion.
‘I will have reached all those finals in 2022. I pushed and pushed, but when I won, I didn’t push that hard. I sat back on my laurels and thought I had done it.
“When I saw Luke (Humphries) win, it started to hurt that I had lost my title. Now I have to work even harder to get back.”