Singapore’s darting icon Paul Lim joined Filipino duo Alexis Toylo and Lourence Ilagan in claiming titles on the opening weekend of the 2025 PDC Asian Tour.
The first of six double-header weekends took place in Dubai on January 25-26, as over 100 players competed in Events 1-4 at the Le Méridien Dubai Hotel & Conference Centre.
Toylo scooped five Asian Tour titles to finish top of the 2024 Asian Tour Order of Merit, and he began the new season in similar vein, defeating Japan’s Tomoya Goto 5-3 to claim the $2,000 top prize.
Toylo conceded only two legs in his opening four matches, and after surviving multiple match darts in his semi-final success over Mikuru Suzuki, he averaged 94 to sink Goto in the Event One decider.
Ilagan then came out on top in Event Two, posting a ton-plus average to dispatch Hong Kong’s Man Lok Leung 5-1 in a high-quality affair, reeling off five straight legs in 14, 17, 13, 13 and 14 darts.
The nine-time World Championship qualifier relinquished just four legs on his way to the title, having also whitewashed his compatriot Jasper Alex Natividad in the semi-finals.
Ilagan maintained his winning run in Sunday’s Event Three, landing another ton-plus average to account for Paolo Nebrida, which secured his record-extending 14th Asian Tour crown.
The 46-year-old also averaged 100.74 in his opening round win over Yoshihisa Baba, before defeating Melvin Zheng, Ahmad Alshahabi, An Sheng Lu and Ting Chi Royden Lam en route to glory.
The weekend’s fourth and final event saw Lim return to winning ways on the Asian Tour, a day after celebrating his 71st birthday.
Following a deciding-leg win over Natividad in round one, Lim overcame Alexis Baricua, Suzuki and Alain AbiAbi to set up a semi-final showdown against Nebrida, who beat Rob Cross at last week’s Bahrain Darts Masters.
However, Lim converted consecutive 86 and 120 checkouts to complete a 5-1 thrashing of Nebrida, which he backed up with a 5-2 victory over Dolreich Jr. Tongcopanon in the Event Four showpiece.
Ilagan tops the embryonic Asian Tour Order of Merit after Event Four, with Toylo, Lim and Nebrida making up the top four heading into Events 5-8 in Shizuoka on April 12-13.
Coverage will be shown on PDCTV from each PDC Asian Tour event from the last 16 onwards.
2025 PDC Asian Tour
January 25-26, Dubai
Event One
Quarter-Finals
Alexis Toylo 4-1 Paul Lim
Mikuru Suzuki 4-2 Yuta Hayashi
Alain AbiAbi 4-2 Bryan Espinola
Tomoya Goto 4-0 Paolo Nebrida
Semi-Finals
Alexis Toylo 5-4 Mikuru Suzuki
Tomoya Goto 5-0 Alain AbiAbi
Final
Alexis Toylo 5-3 Tomoya Goto
Event Two
Quarter-Finals
Nitin Kumar 4-1 Ryuta Arihara
Man Lok Leung 4-2 Ryusei Azemoto
Lourence Ilagan 4-2 Yuta Hayashi
Jasper Alex Natividad 4-2 Teng-Lieh Pupo
Semi-Finals
Man Lok Leung 5-1 Nitin Kumar
Lourence Ilagan 5-0 Jasper Alex Natividad
Final
Lourence Ilagan 5-1 Man Lok Leung
Event Three
Quarter-Finals
Alexis Toylo 4-2 Paul Lim
Paolo Nebrida 4-1 Tomoya Goto
Lourence Ilagan 4-1 An Sheng Lu
Ting Chi Royden Lam 4-3 Ryuta Arihara
Semi-Finals
Paolo Nebrida 5-4 Alexis Toylo
Lourence Ilagan 5-2 Ting Chi Royden Lam
Final
Lourence Ilagan 5-2 Paolo Nebrida
Event Four
Quarter-Finals
Paul Lim 4-1 Alain AbiAbi
Paolo Nebrida 4-1 Ting Chi Royden Lam
Alvin Delgado 4-2 Yoshihisa Baba
Dolreich Jr. Tongcopanon 4-1 Joeffry Adumduman
Semi-Finals
Paul Lim 5-1 Paolo Nebrida
Dolreich Jr. Tongcopanon 5-3 Alvin Delgado
Final
Paul Lim 5-2 Dolreich Jr. Tongcopanon