UK Open

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, in his first appearance in a PDC ranking event. 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.

As the event has amateur and semi-professional qualifiers, it has produced some upset results over the years.{{cite news|title= Five biggest ever UK Open darts shocks after Lynn upsets Anderson |url=https://sports.coral.co.uk/news/archive/2016/03/five-biggest-ever-uk-open-darts-shocks-ahead-of-coral-sponsored-event_132724.html|work=coral.co.uk|date=6 March 2016}} In 2014, Aden Kirk, playing in his first televised match, beat defending and five-time champion Phil Taylor 9–7 in the third round.{{cite news|title= Coral UK Open: Phil Taylor shocked by television debutant Aden Kirk in Minehead |url=https://www.skysports.com/darts/news/12288/9201930/coral-uk-open-phil-taylor-shocked-by-television-debutant-aden-kirk-in-minehead|work=Sky Sports|date=3 March 2014}} Kirk then beat Peter Wright 9–5 in the next round.{{cite web | url=http://www.pdc.tv/news/article/1l1zxqowxwax918xxjscx9zeft/title/coral-uk-open-saturday-afternoon | title=Coral UK Open - Saturday Afternoon | publisher=PDC | accessdate=9 July 2014}} In 2016, Rileys amateur qualifier Barry Lynn recorded a 9–3 win over reigning world champion Gary Anderson and reached the quarter-finals.{{cite news|title= Gary Anderson shocked by amateur Barry Lynn in UK Open, while Michael van Gerwen hits nine-darter |url=https://www.skysports.com/darts/news/12288/10193631/gary-anderson-shocked-by-amateur-barry-lynn-while-michael-van-gerwen-hits-nine-darter|work=Sky Sports|date=5 March 2016}} A year later, Anderson lost to another Rileys qualifier, Paul Hogan, who followed up by beating Adrian Lewis in the next round.{{cite news|title=Darts: Berkshire star Paul Hogan beats World Champions Gary Anderson and Adrian Lewis at UK Open|url=https://www.readingchronicle.co.uk/sport/15145240.darts-berkshire-star-paul-hogan-beats-world-champions-gary-anderson-and-adrian-lewis-at-uk-open/|work=Reading Chronicle|date=9 March 2017}}

Taylor 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), Jonny Clayton (2020), Sebastian Białecki (2021), Jitse van der Wal (2021), José Justicia (2022), James Wade (2022) and Michael Smith (2022) have also achieved a nine-dart leg (although Newton's, Białecki’s, van der Wal’s and Justicia's were not televised live, while Clayton's and Smith's were only live on the PDC website). 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.{{cite web|url=https://www.somersetlive.co.uk/sport/other-sport/pdc-coral-uk-open-butlins-1286493|title=PDC Coral UK Open at Butlin's in Minehead to be played with no fans due to 'unprecedented extreme weather'|date=2 March 2018|work=Somerset Live|access-date=2 March 2018}}

The Tournament was moved to the Marshall Arena in 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic and played behind closed doors.[https://www.skysports.com/darts/news/12288/12199276/the-uk-open-to-move-to-the-marshall-arena-in-milton-keynes-this-march "The UK Open to Move to Marshall Arena in Milton Keynes this March,"] Sky Sports, 26 January 2021.

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.

{{updated|2 March 2025}}

• 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

Fifteen nine-darters have been thrown at the UK Open. The first one was in 2004, and eleven of them have been televised. Wes Newton in 2013, Sebastian Białecki and Jitse van der Wal in 2021 and José Justicia in 2022 hit nine-darters that were not broadcast.

|9–1

|

|-

|{{PDCFlag|Mervyn King}}

|2010, 5th Round

|3 x T20; 3 x T20; T20, T19, D12

|{{PDCFlag|Gary Anderson}}

|8–9

|

|-

|{{PDCFlag|Gary Anderson}}

|2012, 3rd Round

|3 x T20; 3 x T20; T20, T19, D12

|{{flagg|csx|ENG}}{{sortname|Davey|Dodds|nolink=1}}

|9–3

|

|-style="background:#FFFFCC;"

|{{PDCFlag|Wes Newton}}

|2013, 6th Round

|3 x T20; 3 x T20; T20, T19, D12{{dagger}}

|{{PDCFlag|Adrian Lewis}}

|8–9

|{{cite web |title=UK Open: Wes Newton hits nine-dart finish but still loses in last 16 |url=https://www.skysports.com/darts/news/12288/8765714/uk-open-wes-newton-hits-nine-dart-finish-but-still-loses-in-last-16 |date=11 June 2013}}

|-

|{{PDCFlag|Michael van Gerwen}}

|2016, 4th Round

|3 x T20; 3 x T20; T20, T19, D12

|{{PDCFlag|Rob Cross}}

|9–5

|

|-

|{{PDCFlag|Jonny Clayton}}

|2020, 6th Round

|3 x T20; 3 x T20; T20, T19, D12

|{{PDCFlag|Chris Dobey}}

|10–8

|

|-

|{{PDCFlag|Michael van Gerwen}}

|2020, Semi-Final

|3 x T20; 3 x T20; T20, T19, D12

|{{PDCFlag|Daryl Gurney}}

|11–3

|

|-style="background:#FFFFCC;"

|{{PDCFlag|Sebastian Bialecki}}

|2021, 1st Round

|3 x T20; 3 x T20; 141 {{abbr|CO|Checkout}} {{dagger}}

|{{PDCFlag|Jim McEwan}}

|6–2

|{{cite web |title=Game Detail |url=https://members.dartconnect.com/history/report/games/match/6042145c62787d0c5eebd2ee |website=DartConnect |access-date=7 March 2021}}{{cite web |title=RECORD BREAKING DEBUTANT BIALECKI PINS EARLY NINE-DART FINISH TO BEGIN 2021 UK OPEN |date=5 March 2021 |url=https://dartsnews.com/pdc/record-breaking-debutant-bialecki-pins-early-nine-dart-finish-to-begin-2021-uk-open}}

|-style="background:#FFFFCC;"

|{{PDCFlag|Jitse van der Wal}}

|2021, 2nd Round

|3 x T20; 3 x T20; 141 {{abbr|CO|Checkout}} {{dagger}}

|{{PDCFlag|Sebastian Bialecki}}

|3–6

|{{cite web |title=UK Open: Lisa Ashton sets women's scoring record as Peter Wright and Gary Anderson crash out on day one |url=https://www.skysports.com/darts/news/12288/12236719/uk-open-lisa-ashton-sets-womens-scoring-record-as-peter-wright-and-gary-anderson-crash-out-on-day-one |website=Sky Sports |access-date=7 March 2021}}{{cite web |title=Game Detail |url=https://members.dartconnect.com/history/report/games/match/6042319862787d0c5eebd85e |website=DartConnect |access-date=7 March 2021}}

|-style="background:#FFFFCC;"

|{{PDCFlag|José Justicia}}

|2022, 3rd Round

|3 x T20; 3 x T20; 141 {{abbr|CO|Checkout}} {{dagger}}

|{{PDCFlag|Adam Gawlas}}

|5–6

|{{cite web |title=Game Detail |url=https://recap.dartconnect.com/history/report/games/match/622229fc48ce420b35782646 |website=DartsConnect |access-date=4 March 2022}}

|-

|{{PDCFlag|James Wade}}

|2022, 6th Round

|3 x T20; 3 x T20; T20, T19, D12

|{{PDCFlag|Boris Krcmar}}

|10–8

|

|-

|{{PDCFlag|Michael Smith}}

|2022, 6th Round

|3 x T20; 3 x T20; T20, T19, D12

|{{PDCFlag|Mensur Suljovic}}

|10–9

|

|}

{{color box|#FFFFCC|{{dagger}}}} not televised

From 2003 until 2013, coverage for the UK Open was shown on Sky Sports in June. In 2014 the tournament was moved to March and coverage of the event moved to ITV4.

{{reflist}}

• {{note label|Indoor|a|a}}Each year is linked to an article about that particular event's draw.

• [https://web.archive.org/web/20170612161636/http://www.pdc.tv/uk-open Official Page on PDC website]
• [http://www.dartsdatabase.co.uk/TournamentDetails.aspx?TournKey=15 PDC UK Open on Darts database]

{{UK Open}}

{{PDC Darts Tournaments}}

Category:Professional Darts Corporation tournaments

Category:Recurring sporting events established in 2003

Category:2003 establishments in England

Category:Annual sporting events in the United Kingdom