Knockout darts with a difference The PDC UK Open
Often dubbed the “FA Cup of darts,” the PDC UK Open tournament features an unseeded open draw after each round, with the draw for all rounds from round 4 onwards taking place live on the mainstage. Just like the FA Cup in football, the darts UK Open is a unique tournament in the PDC calendar as it is the only tournament where no player is protected by their ranking and numbers 1 and 2 in the world can face each other as early as round 4. The tournament takes place at the Butlins Minehead Resort in England having moved to this location from the Reebok Stadium in Bolton in 2014.
Darting minnows can shine bright under the spotlights
A total of 160 players compete across eight stages, with the PDC’s Top 32 joining the fray in the fourth round. Longstanding tradition in this event is the opportunity for the casual player to qualify for the tournament through regional qualifiers offering darting minnows a chance to take on the world’s elite. If coming through their first round matches these qualifiers also win prizemoney and an official spot on the PDC world ranking. The qualifiers are joined in the draw by the top 8 of both the PDC challenge tour and PDC development tour of the previous season.
Elite shines through despite random draw
Much like the FA Cup, the UK Open darts has traditionally seen the world’s elite come through the tournament as winners despite it’s random draw. Phil Taylor with 5 titles, Michael van Gerwen and James Wade with 3 titles dominate the UK Open roll of honour.
Raymond van Barneveld, Gary Anderson, Peter Wright and Adrian Lewis are just a few of the household names in darts to lift the trophy but the lesser known names have dominated in recent years. The then little known Nathan Aspinall won the title back in 2019 and has since been followed by Danny Noppert (2022) and Andrew Gilding (2023) in coming out of the darting slugfest victorious.
Full draw and schedule of play for UK Open darts 2026 updated after Day 3
The draw for rounds 1-3 takes place in advance of the tournament starting in order for all players travelling to the event to know their assignments. As you can see from the draw day 1 is a frantic first day of the tournament with players and their team needing to be fully aware of the schedule to ensure arriving at the match board in time. As mentioned above the draw for round 4 onwards takes place live on the mainstage after each previous round is completed.
2026 Ladbrokes UK Open
Friday March 6
Afternoon Session (1100 GMT)
Round One
Charlie Manby 6-3 Stefan Bellmont
Sam Spivey 6-2 Kyle Gilding
Pascal Rupprecht 6-1 Jenson Walker
Mervyn King 6-4 Aden Kirk
Michael Unterbuchner 6-5 Rusty-Jake Rodriguez
Adam Leek 6-5 David Sharp
Rhys Griffin 6-2 Filip Bereza
Stephen Burton 6-2 Jake Eichen
Cristo Reyes 6-3 Graham Usher
Tyler Thorpe 6-0 Pero Ljubic
Kai Gotthardt 6-4 Daniel Lee
Jack Todd 6-4 Carl Sneyd
Stephen Rosney 6-5 Clive Langford
Alexander Merkx 6-3 Jannis Barkhausen
Tom Sykes 6-2 Sean Ryan
Sietse Lap 6-3 Ted Evetts
Samuel Whittaker 6-4 Jeffrey de Zwaan
Oliver King 6-3 Ryan Branley
Benjamin Pratnemer 6-3 Callum Goffin
Darius Labanauskas 6-4 Callum Francis
Owen Bates 6-3 Yorick Hofkens
Niall Culleton 6-3 Lewis Pearse
Jamai van den Herik 6-3 Graham Hall
Jurjen van der Velde 6-4 Jack Tweddell
Arno Merk 6-5 James Beeton
Scott Campbell BYE (Danny van Trijp withdrew due to personal reasons)
Ron Meulenkamp 6-2 Samuel Price
Jeffrey Sparidaans 6-4 Scott Waites
Patrik Williams 6-4 Simon Stevenson
Marvin Kraft BYE (Matthias Ehlers withdrew due to injury)
Chris Landman 6-2 Nathan Potter
Henry Coates 6-3 Neil Wild
Round Two
Sebastian Bialecki 6-5 Christian Kist
Tom Bissell 6-2 Jimmy van Schie
Darryl Pilgrim 6-4 Beau Greaves
Pascal Rupprecht 6-5 Cam Crabtree
Thomas Lovely 6-4 Shane McGuirk
Adam Gawlas 6-0 Tavis Dudeney
Jim Long 6-0 Tytus Kanik
Sam Spivey 6-5 Max Hopp
Rob Owen 6-4 Stefaan Henderyck
Darius Labanauskas 6-3 Maximilian Czerwinski
Greg Ritchie 6-3 Adam Leek
Leon Weber 6-5 Jurjen van der Velde
Owen Bates 6-4 Wesley Plaisier
Oskar Lukasiak 6-2 Rhys Griffin
Henry Coates 6-4 Adam Paxton
Charlie Manby 6-2 Tyler Thorpe
Niall Culleton BYE (Viktor Tingstrom has withdrawn due to personal reasons)
Adam Warner 6-5 Ron Meulenkamp
Dominik Gruellich 6-1 Jamai van den Herik
Cristo Reyes 6-1 Sietse Lap
Patrik Williams 6-5 Cor Dekker
Scott Campbell 6-1 Dennie Olde Kalter
Alexander Merkx 6-2 Marvin van Velzen
Jeffrey Sparidaans 6-3 Chris Landman
Andy Boulton 6-4 Mervyn King
Michael Unterbuchner 6-5 Maik Kuivenhoven
Benjamin Pratnemer 6-1 Samuel Whittaker
Kai Gotthardt 6-2 Marvin Kraft
Adam Lipscombe 6-0 Jack Todd
Bradley Brooks 6-5 Oliver King
Tom Sykes 6-4 Arno Merk
Stephen Rosney 6-4 Stephen Burton
Round Three
Raymond van Barneveld 6-5 Karel Sedlacek
Ricky Evans 6-2 Brendan Dolan
Peter Wright 6-3 Darius Labanauskas
Kevin Doets 6-4 Ricardo Pietreczko
Gabriel Clemens 6-4 Sebastian Bialecki
Keane Barry 6-5 Kim Huybrechts
Joe Cullen 6-3 Pascal Rupprecht
Mensur Suljovic 6-2 Lukas Wenig
Niels Zonneveld 6-3 Tom Bissell
Connor Scutt 6-3 Jeffrey Sparidaans
Alexander Merkx 6-5 Sam Spivey
Jeffrey de Graaf 6-1 Adam Warner
Jim Long 6-5 Callan Rydz
Darryl Pilgrim 6-5 Rob Owen
Kai Gotthardt 6-4 Niko Springer
William O’Connor 6-4 Ryan Meikle
Adam Lipscombe 6-5 Nick Kenny
Andy Boulton 6-4 Patrik Williams
Henry Coates 6-4 Michael Unterbuchner
Leon Weber 6-5 Mario Vandenbogaerde
Richard Veenstra 6-4 Alan Soutar
Greg Ritchie 6-5 Mickey Mansell
Thibault Tricole 6-4 Stephen Rosney
Tom Sykes 6-4 Cristo Reyes
Madars Razma 6-2 Adam Gawlas
Dominik Gruellich 6-4 Justin Hood
Oskar Lukasiak 6-3 Bradley Brooks
Charlie Manby 6-4 James Hurrell
Martin Lukeman 6-4 Thomas Lovely
Scott Campbell 6-2 Ian White
Niall Culleton 6-4 Owen Bates
Benjamin Pratnemer 6-4 Scott Williams
Rob Cross 10-7 Gian van Veen
Luke Humphries 10-3 Luke Woodhouse
Luke Littler 10-3 Damon Heta
Michael van Gerwen 10-8 Nathan Aspinall
Danny Noppert 10-4 Dimitri Van den Bergh
Martin Schindler 10-8 Joe Cullen
Gary Anderson 10-6 Dirk van Duijvenbode
James Wade 10-9 Chris Dobey
Mensur Suljovic 10-5 Jermaine Wattimena
Michael Smith 10-8 Leon Weber
Oskar Lukasiak 10-7 Benjamin Pratnemer
Keane Barry 10-2 Henry Coates
Gerwyn Price 10-3 Greg Ritchie
Martin Lukeman 10-6 Ritchie Edhouse
Ross Smith 10-4 Andrew Gilding
Kai Gotthardt 10-8 Tom Sykes
Dominik Gruellich 10-8 Niall Culleton
Krzysztof Ratajski 10-4 Ricky Evans
Madars Razma 10-9 Jim Long
Peter Wright 10-6 Cameron Menzies
Kevin Doets 10-5 Jeffrey de Graaf
Stephen Bunting 10-5 Thibault Tricole
Daryl Gurney 10-7 Niels Zonneveld
Ryan Joyce 10-6 Charlie Manby
Gabriel Clemens 10-9 Richard Veenstra
Wessel Nijman 10-1 Raymond van Barneveld
Darryl Pilgrim 10-5 Connor Scutt
Josh Rock 10-9 William O’Connor
Jonny Clayton 10-2 Alexander Merkx
Ryan Searle 10-7 Andy Boulton
Mike De Decker 10-8 Adam Lipscombe
Dave Chisnall 10-5 Scott Campbell
Saturday March 7
Afternoon Session (1300 GMT)
Round Five
Gary Anderson 10-7 Martin Schindler
Gerwyn Price 10-5 Wessel Nijman
Luke Littler 10-8 Kevin Doets
Luke Humphries 10-4 Dave Chisnall
Jonny Clayton 10-7 Darryl Pilgrim
Danny Noppert 10-2 Peter Wright
Rob Cross 10-9 Mike De Decker
Michael van Gerwen 10-6 Kai Gotthardt
Daryl Gurney 10-8 Ross Smith
Stephen Bunting 10-2 Mensur Suljovic
Josh Rock 10-7 Dominik Gruellich
Keane Barry 10-7 Ryan Joyce
Martin Lukeman 10-3 Madars Razma
James Wade 10-2 Gabriel Clemens
Krzysztof Ratajski 10-5 Oskar Lukasiak
Ryan Searle 10-9 Michael Smith
Evening Session
Round Six
Josh Rock 10-7 Stephen Bunting
Luke Littler 10-5 Gary Anderson
James Wade 10-3 Michael van Gerwen
Danny Noppert 10-6 Luke Humphries
Jonny Clayton 10-7 Martin Lukeman
Rob Cross 10-6 Daryl Gurney
Gerwyn Price 10-9 Keane Barry
Krzysztof Ratajski 10-5 Ryan Searle
Sunday March 8
Afternoon Session (1300 GMT)
Quarter-Finals
Josh Rock 10-7 Krzysztof Ratajski
James Wade 10-9 Rob Cross
Luke Littler 10-6 Danny Noppert
Gerwyn Price 10-8 Jonny Clayton
Evening Session
Semi-Finals
James Wade 11-8 Gerwyn Price
Luke Littler 11-9 Josh Rock
Final
Luke Littler 11-7 James Wade
Viktor Tingstrom and Danny van Trijp have withdrawn from the 2026 Ladbrokes UK Open due to personal reasons. Matthias Ehlers has also withdrawn due to injury. Their opponents in their respective scheduled matches receive a Bye on Friday afternoon, per PDC Rule 3.7.
The PDC UK Open 2026 Schedule and format of play
The first three rounds listed above, plus the fourth round, will all take place on Friday 6th March. The fifth and sixth rounds follow on Saturday 7th March, before the final stages play out over an afternoon and evening session on Sunday 8th March.
All matches in the first, second and third rounds are best of 11 legs of 501
All matches in the fourth (Last 64), fifth (Last 32), sixth (Last 16) rounds and quarter-finals are played as best of 19 legs
The semi-finals and final are played over the best of 21 legs
2026 UK Open darts prizemoney breakdown
Winner – £120,000
Runner-Up – £60,000
Semi-Finalists – £35,000
Quarter-Finalists – £20,000
Round Six Losers – £12,500
Round Five Losers – £7,500
Round Four Losers – £3,000
Round Three Losers – £2,000
Round Two Losers – £1,250
Total – £750,000
The PDC UK Open 2026 players to keep an eye on
As I mentioned earlier this tournament has seen the elite often coming out on top but every year there is a story to be told. My picks for players to keep an eye on this year:
Charlie Manby, a 19 year old who recently smashed the PDC Development tour record for highest match average where he averaged 130,70 points in a 4-0 win, he followed this up with a great run at the World Championships. Simply astonishing from the youngster and his averages over the entire weekend will make his opponents wary.
Beau Greaves, at the time of writing she is top of the order of merit for the Womens series and is now a PDC Tour Card holder.
Dimitri van den Bergh is a former UK Open winner but has no form to speak of over the past year. Like Dimitri, Peter Wright will need a good tournament to prevent the seemingly endless slide down the world rankings.