Alexis Toylo celebrated back-to-back titles as the 2024 PDC Asian Tour season began in Dubai last weekend.
The Habtoor Palace Dubai played host to the year’s first three Asian Tour events on January 13-14, with 126 players in action across the weekend.
Toylo stole the headlines by clinching a brace of titles on Saturday’s opening day, before his fellow Filipino Paolo Nebrida claimed the spoils in Event Three on Sunday.
Nebrida also starred in Saturday’s Event One decider, succumbing 5-3 to his compatriot Toylo, who dumped out top seed Lourence Ilagan and the returning Noel Malicdem in the latter stages of the tournament.
Malicdem – a former World Darts Championship qualifier – was joined in the semi-finals by Singapore icon Paul Lim, who averaged 96 in his quarter-final success against Reynaldo Rivera.
Toylo continued his sparkling form with Event Two success later in the day, producing a spectacular 161 checkout to complete a 5-3 victory against his fellow countryman Joel Hizon.
After conceding just two legs in reaching the semi-finals, Toylo reeled off four straight legs from 2-1 down to deny Alain AbiAbi, before averaging 93 to sink Hizon and secure his second Asian Tour crown.
Hizon averaged 101 in his remarkable quarter-final win over Sandro Sosing, defying a 106.84 average from the recent World Championship debutant to triumph.
India’s Nitin Kumar enjoyed a run to the semi-finals, with Hong Kong’s Man Lok Leung and Japan’s Mikuru Suzuki featuring in a star-studded quarter-final line-up.
Elsewhere, PDC Asian Champion Haruki Muramatsu averaged 105.47 in his third round whitewash of Jaein Oh, before losing out to Kumar in a deciding-leg tussle in the last 16.
Sunday’s action saw Nebrida claim the second Asian Tour title of his career, as he recovered from 3-2 down to topple Kumar in a gruelling Event Three final.
Two-time World Championship qualifier Nebrida kicked off his campaign with wins over Muramatsu and Malicdem, before winning through a deciding-leg clash against Lim in the last eight.
The former PDC Asian Championship runner-up then averaged 96 in a semi-final whitewash of AbiAbi, before battling past Kumar to scoop the $2,000 top prize.
Kumar claimed the scalps of Ilagan and Leung in the quarter-finals and semi-finals respectively, after Leung had denied Toylo a hat-trick of titles with a 4-2 victory in the last eight.
Leung also produced the highest average of the tournament in his second round thrashing of Ramel Lavador, averaging 101.9 to continue his eye-catching form.
The Hong Kong youngster occupies sixth position on the embryonic Asian Tour Order of Merit alongside Lim, with Event Two finalist Hizon in fifth, just $100 adrift of AbiAbi.
Philippines’ Toylo boasts a $1,100 lead over Nebrida at the top of the Asian Tour Order of Merit, with Kumar a further $1,400 adrift in third position.
The PDC Asian Tour will visit Kyoto, Japan, for Events 4-6 on March 16-17, with coverage from each tournament set to be shown on PDCTV from the last 16 onwards.
2024 PDC Asian Tour
Saturday January 13, Dubai
Event One
Quarter-Finals
Alexis Toylo 4-3 Lourence Ilagan
Noel Malicdem 4-1 Jefferson Sholin
Paolo Nebrida 4-3 Nitin Kumar
Paul Lim 4-2 Reynaldo Rivera
Semi-Finals
Alexis Toylo 5-4 Noel Malicdem
Paolo Nebrida 5-1 Paul Lim
Final
Alexis Toylo 5-3 Paolo Nebrida
Event Two
Quarter-Finals
Alexis Toylo 4-1 Hussein Ali
Alain AbiAbi 4-1 Man Lok Leung
Nitin Kumar 4-1 Mikuru Suzuki
Joel Hizon 4-1 Sandro Sosing
Semi-Finals
Alexis Toylo 5-2 Alain AbiAbi
Joel Hizon 5-3 Nitin Kumar
Final
Alexis Toylo 5-3 Joel Hizon
Sunday January 14
Event Three
Quarter-Finals
Nitin Kumar 4-2 Lourence Ilagan
Man Lok Leung 4-2 Alexis Toylo
Paolo Nebrida 4-3 Paul Lim
Alain AbiAbi 4-2 Reynaldo Rivera
Semi-Finals
Nitin Kumar 5-4 Man Lok Leung
Paolo Nebrida 5-0 Alain AbiAbi
Final
Paolo Nebrida 5-3 Nitin Kumar