Paolo Nebrida claimed a brace of titles in Kuala Lumpur to surge up to third spot on the PDC Asian Tour rankings, on a weekend which saw Yuta Hayashi produce one of the best performances in the tour’s history. Following visits to Dubai and Japan, the 2026 PDC Asian Tour season continued in the Malaysian […]
Paolo Nebrida claimed a brace of titles in Kuala Lumpur to surge up to third spot on the PDC Asian Tour rankings, on a weekend which saw Yuta Hayashi produce one of the best performances in the tour’s history.
Following visits to Dubai and Japan, the 2026 PDC Asian Tour season continued in the Malaysian capital, as the Raintree Club played host to Events 9-12 on May 2-3.
Saturday’s double-header began with a breakthrough victory for Aris Quijano, who defeated Japan’s Ryusei Azemoto 5-3 in Event Nine to become the first Filipino to claim an Asian Tour title in 2026.
Having edged past Hayashi in a decider, Quijano also swept aside Malaysian duo Duncan Vincent Devakaran and Eric Pedley, before winning through another attritional affair against Jefferson Sholin.
Following a 4-2 win over his compatriot Nebrida, the 38-year-old then dispatched Ryuta Arihara 5-1 in the semi-finals, before averaging north of 94 against Azemoto to take the title.
Quijano looked poised to claim back-to-back titles in Kuala Lumpur, only to succumb to an impressive Nebrida in the Event Ten showpiece.
The four-time World Championship qualifier followed up 96 and 156 finishes with a terrific 12-darter to close out a 5-3 victory – his first of the current campaign.
Nebrida raced through to the last 16 for the loss of a solitary leg, defeating Hong Kong’s former World Cup star Royden Lam 4-1, which he backed up with whitewash wins over Ganzorig Lkhagvasuren and Sho Okano.
The 31-year-old maintained his title pursuit with victories against his fellow countrymen Eduardo Largo and former PDC Asian Champion Christian Perez, before halting Quijano’s 13-match winning run.
Japan’s Haruki Muramatsu then kicked off Sunday’s double-header with Event 11 success, demolishing China’s Lihao Wen 5-1 to secure his third Asian Tour title of the season.
The former PDC Asian Champion sailed through to the quarter-finals courtesy of four consecutive whitewash wins, featuring a 100.2 average in his demolition of Malaysia’s Norisyam Sebi.
Muramatsu also ran out an emphatic 4-1 winner against Kam Weng Cheng in the last eight, while claiming the semi-final scalp of Motomu Sakai – who he will partner in June’s World Cup of Darts.
Nebrida returned to winning ways later in the afternoon, defeating Hayashi 5-3 to celebrate his eighth career title on the Asian Tour circuit.
The Filipino registered back-to-back ton-plus averages to kick off his campaign, before advancing to the semi-finals with successive 4-0 thrashings of Chinese Taipei duo Pupo Teng-Lieh and Yan Bin Chen.
Nebrida delivered another high-quality display against Sakai in the last four, reeling off legs of 13, 13, 12, 14 and 15 darts to set up a winner-takes-all showdown against Hayashi.
The Japanese star took centre stage earlier in the day, averaging a staggering 120.24 in his round two tie against Muhammad Syarifuddin Bin Hj Japarrudin.
Hayashi won four straight legs in 13, 14, 11 and 12 darts and also dumped out Quijano and Alexis Toylo en route to the Event 12 showpiece, where he was beaten by a resilient Nebrida.
Despite failing to add to his title tally in Kuala Lumpur, Sakai occupies top spot on the 2026 PDC Asian Tour rankings, following his consistent showings in the Malaysian capital.
Nebrida has closed the gap on his compatriot Toylo – who remains in second – with Hong Kong’s World Cup partnership of Man Lok Leung and Lok Yin Lee in fourth and fifth positions respectively.
The top five players on the PDC Asian Tour rankings following the conclusion of the 2026 season will qualify for the 2026/27 Paddy Power World Championship.
The PDC Asian Tour will continue with Events 13-16 from May 16-17 in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, with coverage shown on PDCTV from the last 16 onwards.
2026 PDC Asian Tour
May 2-3, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Event Nine
Quarter-Finals
Jenn Ming Tan 4-1 Christian Perez
Ryusei Azemoto 4-3 Yuya Fukuchi
Ryuta Arihara 4-2 Alain AbiAbi
Aris Quijano 4-2 Paolo Nebrida
Semi-Finals
Ryusei Azemoto 5-1 Jenn Ming Tan
Aris Quijano 5-1 Ryuta Arihara
Final
Aris Quijano 5-3 Ryusei Azemoto
Event Ten
Quarter-Finals
Christian Perez 4-1 Pupo Teng-Lieh
Paolo Nebrida 4-2 Eduardo Largo
Motomu Sakai 4-1 Yuta Hayashi
Aris Quijano 4-0 Abdul Qahar Ukail Hj Shamsul Ariffin
Semi-Finals
Paolo Nebrida 5-3 Christian Perez
Aris Quijano 5-2 Motomu Sakai
Final
Paolo Nebrida 5-3 Aris Quijano
Event 11
Quarter-Finals
Motomu Sakai 4-2 Muhammad Rusli
Haruki Muramatsu 4-1 Kam Weng Cheng
Lihao Wen 4-3 Ganzorig Lkhagvasuren
Sonny Balagat 4-2 Man Lok Leung
Semi-Finals
Haruki Muramatsu 5-3 Motomu Sakai
Lihao Wen 5-4 Sonny Balagat
Final
Haruki Muramatsu 5-1 Lihao Wen
Event 12
Quarter-Finals
Motomu Sakai 4-2 Christian Perez
Paolo Nebrida 4-0 Yan Bin Chen
Alexis Toylo 4-1 Takayuki Masatsu
Yuta Hayashi 4-3 Jenn Ming Tan
Semi-Finals
Paolo Nebrida 5-2 Motomu Sakai
Yuta Hayashi 5-2 Alexis Toylo
Final
Paolo Nebrida 5-3 Yuta Hayashi