Dubai Duty Free Darts Masters (Season Tickets)

From Thu May 23 until Fri May 24

Discuss this article Dubai Tennis Stadium, Garhoud

The world's top eight darts players are to visit Dubai this year for the Dubai Duty Free Darts Masters, which will be played on May 23 & 24 at the Dubai Tennis Stadium as the first leg of the PDC's World Series of Darts.

Phil ‘The Power’ Taylor, the reigning and 16-time World Champion, will head the field of eight players who will compete in the knockout event, the first-ever professional darts tournament to be held in Dubai.

Taylor will be joined by seven world-class rivals in competing in the two-day event at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Stadium.

PLAYER INFORMATION

PHIL TAYLOR
THE greatest player in darts' history, Phil recent won his 16th World Championship title at the start of January, coming from 4-2 down against Michael van Gerwen to win five successive sets for a 7-5 triumph.

Taylor's first World Championship came in 1990, and he has since dominated the sport, winning 13 World Matchplay titles, ten World Grand Prix titles, six Premier League Darts title, five Las Vegas Desert Classic titles and four wins in the UK Open, European Championship and Grand Slam of Darts.

His success has seen him win countless other events worldwide over the past 25 years in claiming over £5 million in prize money.

Taylor also hit the PDC's first live televised nine-dart finish at the 2002 World Matchplay, and he became the first player to complete two perfect legs in one game during the 2010 Premier League Darts final.

Taylor celebrates five years as the number one in the PDC Order of Merit in 2013, and his success has been further recognised by two nominations for the BBC Sports Personality of the Year, including a second-placed finish in the 2010 vote.

ADRIAN LEWIS
ADRIAN completed double World Championship glory with victories at Alexandra Palace in 2011 and 2012, making him only the second player in PDC history - behind Phil Taylor - to win back-to-back titles in the event.

A teenage prodigy when he emerged in 2004, Lewis has also been the runner-up in two European Championships and at the 2010 World Grand Prix, and he partnered Taylor to victory for England in the 2012 World Cup of Darts.

Lewis has also won ten other ranking titles during his career, most recently at the German Darts Masters last September, and hit televised nine-dart finishes at the 2011 World Championship and European Championship events.

JAMES WADE
JAMES has established himself as the PDC's second most successful star with seven major title victories since he first emerged on the professional circuit a decade ago.

The left-hander, a former mechanic, became a full-time professional in 2006 and reached his first major final soon afterwards at the World Matchplay - sparking a run in the Blackpool event which has seen him reach five of the last seven finals in the event.

His 2007 World Matchplay victory has been followed by a pair of World Grand Prix and UK Open titles, and he has also won the 2009 Premier League Darts and 2010 Championship League Darts events.

Wade is also a three-time World Championship semi-finalist and a former runner-up in the Premier League, Grand Slam of Darts and Las Vegas Desert Classic events.

MICHAEL VAN GERWEN
MICHAEL was darts' shooting star during 2012, jumping over 30 places in the PDC Order of Merit to fourth and winning the World Grand Prix title amongst eight tournament victories during the year.

Having burst onto the circuit as a teenager, van Gerwen won the 2006 World Masters event before joining the PDC the following year, and is now one of the sport's most exciting players.

The Dutchman has followed his World Grand Prix triumph by reaching the Grand Slam of Darts and World Championship finals, and hit nine-darters in both the 2012 World Matchplay and the recent World Championship semi-finals.


SIMON WHITLOCK
THE most successful Australian in the sport's history, Whitlock claimed his first major title at the European Championship last September.

A former Lakeside Championship and PDC World Championship runner-up, he also reached the final of the 2012 Premier League Darts and partnered Paul Nicholson to the World Cup of Darts final last year.

Since joining the PDC circuit in 2009, Whitlock has made the quarter-finals or better in 13 televised events and won nine other PDC ranking titles, most recently the Dutch Darts Masters European Tour event last October.

ANDY HAMILTON
A two-time major finalist, Hamilton has been one of the most consistent performers on the big stage for the past 18 months since his career was kick-started with a run to the 2011 World Matchplay semi-finals.

He subsequently reached the 2012 World Championship final, losing to Adrian Lewis, and the semi-finals of the Premier League and Grand Slam of Darts last year, as well as the quarter-finals in five other televised majors over the past 12 months.

Also the 2008 Grand Slam of Darts runner-up, Hamilton has two ranking titles to his name but is a highly-respected competitor.

WES NEWTON
WES' status as one of the world's leading players has been confirmed with his inclusion in the McCoy's Premier League Darts in 2013, recognising his consistency in the past three years which has seen him become a fixture inside the world's top eight.

Newton was a semi-finalist in the Las Vegas Desert Classic in 2005 and 2006, but left his job as an accountant to become a full-time professional three years later when he slid out of the world's top 32.

He has since won seven ranking titles and reached televised ranking finals at the 2011 UK Open and 2012 European Championship, losing to James Wade and Simon Whitlock respectively, made two other major semi-finals and hit a nine-darter at the World Matchplay last summer.

RAYMOND VAN BARNEVELD
THE five-time World Champion is one of darts' most popular players following a career spanning two decades at the top level, with his four Lakeside Championship triumphs followed by his epic 7-6 win over Phil Taylor to win the 2007 PDC World Championship.

Holland's most decorated player, van Barneveld ended five years without a major individual title last November when he won the Grand Slam of Darts, overcoming Michael van Gerwen in the final.

The winner of the 2010 World Cup of Darts alongside Co Stompe for the Netherlands, van Barneveld has also won three International Darts League titles and claimed two victories apiece in the UK Open, World Masters and World Darts Trophy amongst dozens of career titles.
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