UK Open
The Ladbrokes UK Open is a ranking major darts tournament held annually at the Butlins Minehead Resort by the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) in England.[1] Often referred to as the FA Cup of darts, the UK Open replicates the abolition of seedings, elimination play, and fixtures determined via open draw.[2] One-hundred-and-sixty players compete in the multi-board event over eight-stages before the PDC’s Top 32 enter the tournament in the fourth round. The tournament has a prize fund of £450,000; the victors prize is £100,000.[3]
UK Open | |
---|---|
Tournament information | |
Venue | Butlin's Minehead |
Location | Minehead |
Country | England |
Established | 2003 |
Organisation(s) | PDC |
Format | Legs |
Prize fund | £450,000 (2020) |
Month(s) Played | June (2003–2013) March (2014–) |
Current champion(s) | |
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History
From 2003 to 2013, the UK Open took place in June each year at the Reebok Stadium, in Bolton. In 2014, it moved to Butlin's Minehead taking place in early March. Phil Taylor beat Shayne Burgess in the inaugural final. Dutchman Raymond van Barneveld won the tournament in 2006, the first ever ranking tournament with the PDC in which he has played. He knocked out 13-times World Champion Phil Taylor 11–10 en route to the final where he beat Barrie Bates 13–7. He also successfully defended the title in 2007, again beating Taylor en route.
Taylor has achieved the perfect nine-dart finish four times (2004, 2005, 2007 & 2008). Mervyn King (2010), Gary Anderson (2012), Wes Newton (2013), Michael van Gerwen (2016 & 2020) and Jonny Clayton (2020) have also achieved a nine-dart leg (although Newton and Clayton's finishes were not televised live). The tournament had a different runner-up for the first 13 years.
Because of extreme weather conditions and fears for the safety of visiting fans the unprecedented decision was taken by the host venue Butlins to play the entire 2018 UK Open behind closed doors leaving the public only being able to watch the event though ITV4’s live coverage and the PDC live web feed.[4]
Format
Qualifying events for amateur players are organised by Rileys and held in various locations across the UK. 16 players qualify through these events.
The format is as follows (as of 2020):
- First round: The 16 Rileys qualifiers, 8 Challenge Tour qualifiers, 8 Development Tour qualifiers and Tour Card holders ranked 97–128 in the PDC Order of Merit.
- Second round: Players ranked 65–96 in the PDC Order of Merit join the 32 winners of the first round.
- Third round: Players ranked 33–64 join the 32 winners of the second round.
- Fourth round to final: Players ranked 1–32 in the PDC Order of Merit join the 32 winners of the third round.
The draws for the first three rounds are made in full after all qualifying players are known, while the draws for the fourth round onward are made separately on stage as soon as each preceding round has concluded.
UK Open Finals
Year[a] | Champion (average in final) | Score | Runner-up (average in final) | Prize money | Sponsor | Venue | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Total | Champion | Runner-up | ||||||
2003 | ![]() |
18–8 | ![]() |
£124,000 | £30,000 | £15,000 | Sky Bet | Reebok Stadium, Bolton |
2004 | ![]() |
11–6 | ![]() |
Budweiser | ||||
2005 | ![]() |
13–7 | ![]() | |||||
2006 | ![]() |
13–7 | ![]() | |||||
2007 | ![]() |
16–8 | ![]() |
£150,000 | Blue Square | |||
2008 | ![]() |
11–7 | ![]() |
£178,000 | £35,000 | |||
2009 | ![]() |
11–6 | ![]() |
£200,000 | £40,000 | £20,000 | ||
2010 | ![]() |
11–5 | ![]() |
Rileys Darts Zones | ||||
2011 | ![]() |
11–8 | ![]() |
Speedy Hire | ||||
2012 | ![]() |
11–5 | ![]() | |||||
2013 | ![]() |
11–4 | ![]() | |||||
2014 | ![]() |
11–1 | ![]() |
£250,000 | £50,000 | £25,000 | Coral | Butlin's Resort, Minehead |
2015 | ![]() |
11–5 | ![]() |
£300,000 | £60,000 | £30,000 | ||
2016 | ![]() |
11–4 | ![]() | |||||
2017 | ![]() |
11–6 | ![]() |
£350,000 | £70,000 | £35,000 | ||
2018 | ![]() |
11–7 | ![]() | |||||
2019 | ![]() |
11–5 | ![]() |
£450,000 | £100,000 | £40,000 | Ladbrokes | |
2020 | ![]() |
11–9 | ![]() |
Records and statistics
- As of 8 March 2020.
Total finalist appearances
Rank | Player | Nationality | Won | Runner-up | Finals |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Phil Taylor | ![]() | 5 | 1 | 6 |
2 | Michael van Gerwen | ![]() | 3 | 0 | 3 |
3 | Raymond van Barneveld | ![]() | 2 | 0 | 2 |
James Wade | ![]() | 2 | 0 | 2 | |
5 | Peter Wright | ![]() | 1 | 2 | 3 |
6 | Gary Anderson | ![]() | 1 | 1 | 2 |
7 | Gregory Lister | ![]() | 1 | 0 | 1 |
Adrian Lewis | ![]() | 1 | 0 | 1 | |
Roland Scholten | ![]() | 1 | 0 | 1 | |
Robert Thornton | ![]() | 1 | 0 | 1 | |
11 | Gerwyn Price | ![]() | 0 | 2 | 2 |
12 | Barrie Bates | ![]() | 0 | 1 | 1 |
Shayne Burgess | ![]() | 0 | 1 | 1 | |
Corey Cadby | ![]() | 0 | 1 | 1 | |
Rob Cross | ![]() | 0 | 1 | 1 | |
Andy Hamilton | ![]() | 0 | 1 | 1 | |
Terry Jenkins | ![]() | 0 | 1 | 1 | |
Gary Mawson | ![]() | 0 | 1 | 1 | |
Wes Newton | ![]() | 0 | 1 | 1 | |
Colin Osborne | ![]() | 0 | 1 | 1 | |
John Part | ![]() | 0 | 1 | 1 | |
Vincent van der Voort | ![]() | 0 | 1 | 1 | |
Mark Walsh | ![]() | 0 | 1 | 1 |
- Active players are shown in bold
- Only players who reached the final are included
- In the event of identical records, players are sorted in alphabetical order by family name
Champions by country
Country | Players | Total | First title | Last title |
---|---|---|---|---|
![]() |
4 | 9 | 2003 | 2019 |
![]() |
3 | 6 | 2004 | 2020 |
![]() |
3 | 3 | 2012 | 2018 |
Nine-dart finishes
Ten nine-darters have been thrown at the UK Open. The first one was in 2004, and nine of them have been televised. The one that wasn't was thrown by Wes Newton in 2013 against Adrian Lewis.
Player | Year (+ Round) | Method (double-in double-out) | Opponent | Result |
---|---|---|---|---|
![]() |
2004, 4th Round | 3 x T20; 3 x T20; T20, T19, D12 | ![]() |
8–2 (L) |
![]() |
2005, Semi-Final | 3 x T20; 3 x T20; T20, T19, D12 | ![]() |
11–6 (L) |
![]() |
2007, 5th Round | 3 x T20; 3 x T20; T20, T19, D12 | ![]() |
11–5 (L) |
![]() |
2008, 4th Round | 3 x T20; 2 x T20, T19; 2 x T20, D12 | ![]() |
9–1 (L) |
![]() |
2010, 5th Round | 3 x T20; 3 x T20; T20, T19, D12 | ![]() |
8–9 (L) |
![]() |
2012, 3rd Round | 3 x T20; 3 x T20; T20, T19, D12 | ![]() |
9–3 (L) |
![]() |
2016, 4th Round | 3 x T20; 3 x T20; T20, T19, D12 | ![]() |
9–5 (L) |
![]() |
2020, 6th Round | 3 x T20; 3 x T20; T20, T19, D12 | ![]() |
10–8 (L) |
![]() |
2020, Semi-Finals | 3 x T20; 3 x T20; T20, T19, D12 | ![]() |
11–3 (L) |
High averages
Ten highest UK Open one-match averages | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Average | Player | Year (+ Round) | Opponent | Result |
118.66 | ![]() |
2010, Last 32 | ![]() |
9–0 |
115.62 | ![]() |
2009, Quarter-Final | ![]() |
10–0 |
115.51 | ![]() |
2009, Last 32 | ![]() |
9–3 |
114.91 | ![]() |
2015, Last 16 | ![]() |
9–2 |
114.54 | ![]() |
2008, Last 16 | ![]() |
9–3 |
113.05 | ![]() |
2010, Semi-Final | ![]() |
10–5 |
111.67 | ![]() |
2015, Last 16 | ![]() |
9–3 |
110.88 | ![]() |
2017, Quarter-Final | ![]() |
10–8 |
110.81 | ![]() |
2020, Quarter-Final | ![]() |
10–4 |
110.72 | ![]() |
2012, Last 16 | ![]() |
9–4 |
Five highest tournament averages | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Average | Player | Year | ||
109.17 | ![]() |
2015 | ||
107.38[5] | ![]() |
2009 | ||
106.81 | ![]() |
2013 | ||
106.43 | ![]() |
2010 | ||
105.57 | ![]() |
2015 |
Media coverage
From 2003 until 2013, coverage for the UK Open was shown on Sky Sports in June, but from 2014, the tournament was moved to March and shown on ITV4.
Sponsors
The inaugural event in 2003 was sponsored by Sky Bet. In 2004 Budweiser became the main sponsor. After Budweiser's three-year sponsorship ended in 2006, bookmakers Blue Square took over as title sponsor in 2007 until 2009. The 2010 event was sponsored by Rileys Darts Zones.[6] From 2011 to 2013 it has been sponsored by Speedy Hire. In 2014 Coral took over sponsorship, it lasted until 2018, when its sister company, Ladbrokes took over for the 2019 tournament.
Sponsor | Years |
---|---|
Sky Bet | 2003 |
Budweiser | 2004–2006 [7] |
Blue Square | 2007–2009 [8] |
Rileys Darts Zones | 2010 |
Speedy Hire | 2011–2013 |
Coral | 2014–2018 |
Ladbrokes | 2019–present |
References
- "Ladbrokes UK Open". PDC. Retrieved 2020-03-01.
- "UK Open Darts 2020 schedule and draw confirmed". Metro. 2020-02-26. Retrieved 2020-03-01.
- "Draw and Schedule for 2020 UK Open confirmed". Darts News. 2020-02-24. Retrieved 2020-03-01.
- "PDC Coral UK Open at Butlin's in Minehead to be played with no fans due to 'unprecedented extreme weather'". Somerset Live. 2 March 2018. Retrieved 2 March 2018.
- "2009 UK Open Stats". Dartsdatabase. Retrieved 4 March 2019.
- http://www.pdc.tv/page/UKOpen/0,,10180,00.html
- Bud on the oche
- Blue Square teams up with UK Open
Notes
- a Each year is linked to an article about that particular event's draw.