2018 UK Open

The 2018 Coral UK Open was a darts tournament staged by the Professional Darts Corporation. It was the sixteenth year of the tournament where, following numerous regional qualifying heats throughout Britain, players competed in a single elimination tournament to be crowned champion. The tournament was held for the fifth time at the Butlin's Resort in Minehead, England, between 2–4 March 2018, and has the nickname, "the FA Cup of darts" as a random draw was staged after each round until the final.

2018 Coral UK Open
Tournament information
Dates2–4 March 2018
VenueButlin's Resort
LocationMinehead
Country England
Organization(s)PDC
FormatLegs
Final – best of 21
Prize fund£350,000
Winner's share£70,000
High checkout170 Austria Michael Rasztovits
170 Northern Ireland Daryl Gurney
170 England Steve West
Champion(s)
Scotland Gary Anderson
«2017 2019»

Peter Wright was the defending champion after defeating Gerwyn Price 11–6 in the 2017 final,[1] but he lost in the third round to Nathan Rafferty.

Gary Anderson became the UK Open champion for the first time, defeating Corey Cadby (who was making his debut in the event) 11–7 in the final.

Michael van Gerwen's defeat to Jeffrey de Zwaan in the third round was the first time van Gerwen had lost a live match on ITV since the 2014 Players Championship Finals. Van Gerwen was unbeaten for 77 live matches (including the two live World Series events) on the channel during that period.

The tournament was severely affected by the extreme weather conditions caused by Storm Emma which had forced the complete cancellation of round five of the 2018 Premier League Darts that had been due to be held in Exeter the evening before the tournament started. Eleven players who were due to play in the first, second and third rounds withdrew from the competition, and on 2 March, the unprecedented decision was taken by Butlin's to not allow any fans apart from the players relatives, guests and friends into the venue, resulting in the whole tournament being played behind closed doors.

The tournament was still televised live on ITV4, but the Butlin's Skyline Pavilion Arena was unable to be used for the allocated Main Stage TV matches due to heavy snow and ice, so these matches were reallocated to the secondary Red's Bar stage.[2]

Format and qualifiers

UK Open qualifiers

There were six qualifying events staged in February 2018 to determine the UK Open Order of Merit Table. The tournament winners were:

No. Date Venue Winner Score Runner-up Ref.
1 Friday 2 February Robin Park Tennis Centre, Wigan Michael van GerwenNetherlands 6 – 3 England Michael Smith [3]
2 Saturday 3 February Michael van Gerwen Netherlands 6 – 3 England Darren Webster [4]
3 Sunday 4 February Michael Smith England 6 – 0 Austria Zoran Lerchbacher [5]
4 Friday 9 February Gary Anderson Scotland 6 – 2 Netherlands Jeffrey de Zwaan [6]
5 Saturday 10 February Corey Cadby Australia 6 – 4 England Rob Cross [7]
6 Sunday 11 February Krzysztof Ratajski Poland 6 – 4 Northern Ireland Daryl Gurney [8]

The tournament is featuring 128 players. The results of the six qualifiers shown above will be collated into the UK Open Order Of Merit. The top 32 players in the Order of Merit receive a place at the final tournament. In addition, the next 64 players (without ties in this year's edition) in the Order of Merit list qualify for the tournament, but start in the earlier rounds played on the Friday. A further 32 players qualify via regional qualifying tournaments.

Top 32 in Order of Merit (receiving byes into third round)

Number 33–64 of the Order of Merit (receiving byes into second round)

Number 65–96 of the Order of Merit qualifiers (starting in first round)

** René Berndt dropped out of the tournament because of health reasons.

Rileys qualifiers (starting in first round)

32 amateur players qualified from 28 Rileys Sports Bar qualifiers held across the UK between 20 January and 18 February.[9]

  • Scotland Andrew Davidson* (GRE, 20 January)
  • England Michael Burgoine (VIC, 21 January)
  • England Joe Davis (VIC, 21 January)
  • England Andrew Johnson (CHO, 27 January)
  • England Jason Mold (NOR, 27 January)
  • England Tony Mitchell (NOT, 27 January)
  • England Ian Jopling (TWI, 27 January)
  • England Mark Craddock (WOL, 27 January)
  • England Liam Kelly (WOL, 27 January)
  • England Benjamin McClelland (LEI, 28 January)
  • England Mark Rice* (LIV, 28 January)
  • England Paul Hogan (SBE, 28 January)
  • England David Airey (CHE, 3 February)
  • England Alex Roy (HAR, 3 February)
  • England Chris Lacey* (SHE, 3 February)
  • England Andy Hamilton (WOR, 3 February)
  • England Craig Winstanley* (CHE, 4 February)
  • England Harry Ward (COV, 4 February)
  • England Simon Tate (GRE, 4 February)
  • England Daniel Lee (SOL, 4 February)
  • England Martin Atkins (CHO, 10 February)
  • England Dan Read (TWI, 11 February)
  • Scotland Scott Robertson* (ABE, 17 February)
  • England Martin Biggs (COV, 17 February)
  • England Paul Whitworth (LIV, 17 February)
  • England Darren Brown (NOR, 17 February)
  • England Andy Hibbert (NOT, 17 February)
  • England Darryl Pilgrim (VIC, 18 February)
  • England John Scott (VIC, 18 February)
  • England Andreas Hajimena (SBE, 18 February)
  • England John Morris (WOL, 18 February)
  • England Andrew Pullen (WOL, 18 February)

* Due to Storm Emma, multiple players pulled out of the tournament.[10][11]

Prize money

The prize fund stayed the same as last year, £350,000.

Stage (no. of players) Prize money
(Total: £350,000)
Winner (1) £70,000
Runner-up (1) £35,000
Semi-finalists (2) £17,500
Quarter-finalists (4) £11,500
Last 16 (fifth round) (8) £6,500
Last 32 (fourth round) (16) £3,500
Last 64 (third round) (32) £1,750
Last 96 (second round) (32) n/a
Last 128 (first round) (32) n/a

Draw

(Note: Due to extreme weather all matches in the tournament were played behind closed doors)

First round (best of eleven legs)
Player Score Player Player Score Player
Scotland Andrew Davidson (Q)* w/o England Michael Burgoine (Q) England Darryl Pilgrim (Q) 86.29 6–2 England Ian Jopling (Q) 70.81
Germany René Eidams 77.58 6–4 England Andrew Johnson (Q) 74.98 England Benjamin McClelland (Q) 68.35 4–6 England David Airey (Q) 78.30
England Michael Barnard w/o Scotland Scott Robertson (Q)* England Chris Lacey (Q)* w/o England Martin Biggs (Q)
Belgium Dimitri Van den Bergh 87.70 3–6 England Lee Evans 88.62 Wales Richie Burnett 86.03 5–6 England Ryan Harrington 83.52
England Dan Read (Q) 73.72 5–6 England Joe Davis (Q) 77.26 England Ricky Evans 93.40 6–1 England Andreas Hajimena (Q) 72.39
England Chris Quantock 72.52 4–6 England Bradley Brooks 78.67 Netherlands Dirk van Duijvenbode w/o Republic of Ireland Mick McGowan*
England Terry Jenkins 88.50 5–6 Australia Paul Nicholson 83.93 New Zealand Cody Harris 94.19 6–1 England Tony Mitchell (Q) 88.04
England Kirk Shepherd 85.21 6–4 England Adam Hunt 82.10 England Craig Winstanley (Q)* w/o England Mark Craddock (Q)
England Andrew Pullen (Q) w/o England Mark Rice (Q)* Republic of Ireland William O'Connor* w/o England Andy Hamilton (Q)
Austria Michael Rasztovits 82.33 6–3 England Simon Tate (Q) 78.62 England Martin Atkins (Q) 70.94 3–6 England Paul Whitworth (Q) 81.20
England Luke Humphries 94.93 6–0 England Liam Kelly (Q) 63.55 England Paul Hogan (Q) 80.18 6–5 England Darren Brown (Q) 92.88
England Mark Walsh 64.85 2–6 England Alex Roy (Q) 78.32 Spain Cristo Reyes 92.80 5–6 Netherlands Benito van de Pas 87.02
Germany René Berndt** w/o England Robert Rickwood Netherlands Ron Meulenkamp 79.56 6–4 England Andy Hibbert (Q) 73.75
England Harry Ward (Q) 86.71 6–0 England Daniel Lee (Q) 71.59 England Andy Jenkins 82.85 4–6 England George Killington 84.59
Canada John Part 82.24 6–2 England John Morris (Q) 72.11 India Prakash Jiwa 75.08 5–6 England Jason Mold (Q) 78.47
England Ryan Meikle 74.13 6–5 Northern Ireland Mickey Mansell 75.82 England Darren Johnson 78.57 4–6 England John Scott (Q) 82.48

** René Berndt withdrew from the tournament because of health reasons.

Second round (best of eleven legs)
Player Score Player Player Score Player
Northern Ireland Nathan Rafferty 94.56 6–3 England Jason Mold (Q) 86.93 Wales Gerwyn Price 93.40 6–2 England James Wilson 89.44
Netherlands Jermaine Wattimena 79.81 6–0 England Andy Hamilton (Q) 69.22 Germany Maik Langendorf* w/o Austria Michael Rasztovits
Netherlands Vincent van der Voort 81.29 6–3 England Martin Biggs (Q) 81.99 Spain Toni Alcinas 85.38 4–6 England Alex Roy (Q) 87.91
England Mike Norton 90.13 5–6 Netherlands Raymond van Barneveld 94.94 England Ryan Meikle 80.05 6–4 England Mark Craddock (Q) 73.79
England Richard North 78.85 5–6 Australia Paul Nicholson 84.22 England Keegan Brown 83.83 6–3 England George Killington 77.92
England Chris Dobey 97.67 6–5 England Lee Evans 91.48 England Stephen Bunting 82.50 6–2 England Bradley Brooks 73.28
England Dave Chisnall 96.05 6–2 Germany René Eidams 86.95 Netherlands Geert Nentjes 79.31 4–6 England Darryl Pilgrim (Q) 86.40
England Stuart Kellett 78.76 1–6 England David Airey (Q) 88.51 England Ted Evetts 86.55 1–6 England Harry Ward (Q) 90.50
Netherlands Danny Noppert 89.89 3–6 England Ryan Harrington 87.04 Netherlands Ron Meulenkamp 87.55 6–1 England Joe Davis (Q) 73.30
England Jason Lowe 82.53 6–4 England John Scott (Q) 77.72 New Zealand Cody Harris 91.55 2–6 England Michael Barnard 86.04
Wales Robert Owen 87.04 6–4 England Michael Burgoine (Q) 83.94 England David Evans 81.26 6–4 Netherlands Benito van de Pas 84.73
England Alan Norris 88.50 4–6 Netherlands Dirk van Duijvenbode 92.80 England Joe Cullen 90.25 6–2 Spain José Justicia 71.93
Scotland John Goldie* w/o England Paul Hogan (Q) England Nathan Aspinall 91.81 6–3 England Andrew Pullen (Q) 87.50
Netherlands Vincent Kamphuis 86.52 3–6 England Kirk Shepherd 87.94 England Carl Wilkinson 85.72 2–6 England Ricky Evans 90.65
England James Richardson 66.34 0–6 England Robert Rickwood 83.50 Canada John Part 71.57 6–0 England Paul Whitworth (Q) 53.45
England Wayne Jones 79.29 3–6 England Luke Humphries 81.41 Germany Gabriel Clemens 88.41 6–0 England Andrew Gilding 83.70

* Due to extreme weather, multiple players pulled out of the tournament.

Third round (best of nineteen legs)
Player Score Player Player Score Player
England Jason Lowe 91.35 10–3 England David Airey (Q) 82.52 England David Evans 83.82 2–10 Canada John Part 92.38
England David Pallett 90.00 10–8 Scotland Robert Thornton 89.57 England Ricky Evans 99.49 10–6 England Luke Humphries 94.35
England Steve Beaton 86.62 8–10 Netherlands Jermaine Wattimena 92.39 Wales Jamie Lewis 73.17 2–10 Wales Robert Owen 85.60
Belgium Kim Huybrechts 86.08 10–8 Germany Gabriel Clemens 89.04 England Steve West 88.61 10–9 England Darryl Pilgrim (Q) 87.22
Poland Krzysztof Ratajski 92.28 10–7 England Darren Webster 90.21 England James Wade 87.96 10–6 England Simon Stevenson 84.76
Scotland Peter Wright 88.75 9–10 Northern Ireland Nathan Rafferty 91.85 England Chris Dobey 93.74 10–2 England Harry Ward (Q) 85.01
Scotland John Henderson 87.81 4–10 England Matthew Edgar 91.00 Australia Paul Nicholson 84.37 6–10 England Paul Hogan (Q) 86.27
Netherlands Michael van Gerwen 96.47 8–10 Netherlands Jeffrey de Zwaan 96.77 Scotland Gary Anderson 97.41 10–3 England Robert Rickwood 94.88
England Michael Smith 98.38 10–5 England Kirk Shepherd 86.36 Australia Simon Whitlock 89.60 7–10 England Ian White 96.01
England Mervyn King 99.46 10–4 Netherlands Raymond van Barneveld 86.78 England Rob Cross 99.32 10–8 England Nathan Aspinall 94.87
Northern Ireland Daryl Gurney 95.93 10–9 Netherlands Jelle Klaasen 88.23 Germany Martin Schindler 97.78 10–7 England Ryan Harrington 89.57
England Adrian Lewis 88.58 5–10 Netherlands Dirk van Duijvenbode 94.00 Wales Gerwyn Price 89.94 10–6 England Alex Roy (Q) 88.36
England Justin Pipe 80.21 3–10 England Stephen Bunting 88.09 England Dave Chisnall 85.78 6–10 England Ryan Meikle 82.45
Wales Jonny Clayton 98.63 10–6 England Michael Barnard 93.64 England Dave Prins 85.02 4–10 Netherlands Ron Meulenkamp 88.83
Australia Kyle Anderson 92.11 10–7 Netherlands Vincent van der Voort 92.79 England Joe Cullen 89.77 8–10 England Keegan Brown 91.44
Australia Corey Cadby 92.21 10–5 Austria Michael Rasztovits 85.26 Austria Zoran Lerchbacher* w/o England Jamie Hughes

* Lerchbacher was the only third-round qualifier to withdraw from the tournament due to the weather conditions, so Hughes received a bye to the fourth round.

Fourth round (best of nineteen legs)
Player Score Player Player Score Player
Netherlands Jeffrey de Zwaan 100.12 8–10 England Paul Hogan (Q) 97.61 England Rob Cross 98.29 10–7 Australia Kyle Anderson 95.11
Netherlands Ron Meulenkamp 86.55 9–10 Canada John Part 87.41 Wales Robert Owen 96.61 10–9 Northern Ireland Nathan Rafferty 96.75
England Jason Lowe 92.12 5–10 England Chris Dobey 95.72 Poland Krzysztof Ratajski 92.95 10–5 England Keegan Brown 95.66
Wales Gerwyn Price 97.95 10–6 Netherlands Dirk van Duijvenbode 94.68 England Steve West 95.42 10–7 England Matthew Edgar 87.61
Scotland Gary Anderson 93.97 10–3 England Ricky Evans 87.64 Netherlands Jermaine Wattimena 89.32 10–8 England Stephen Bunting 94.66
England Mervyn King 94.97 10–8 Wales Jonny Clayton 89.89 Australia Corey Cadby 97.20 10–7 Germany Martin Schindler 92.06
England Jamie Hughes 95.84 8–10 England Ian White 102.45 Northern Ireland Daryl Gurney 89.33 5–10 Belgium Kim Huybrechts 94.45
England Michael Smith 90.30 10–4 England Ryan Meikle 85.62 England David Pallett 98.43 10–6 England James Wade 94.23

Fifth round (best of nineteen legs)
Player Score Player
England Michael Smith 93.99 9–10 England Steve West 93.91
Scotland Gary Anderson 104.72 10–6 Netherlands Jermaine Wattimena 97.27
Australia Corey Cadby 98.79 10–7 England Chris Dobey 96.23
England Mervyn King 87.84 8–10 Canada John Part 86.14
England Ian White 92.24 7–10 Wales Robert Owen 92.76
Belgium Kim Huybrechts 84.08 7–10 England David Pallett 88.10
Wales Gerwyn Price 101.45 10–9 England Paul Hogan (Q) 96.18
Poland Krzysztof Ratajski 92.63 3–10 England Rob Cross 103.88

Quarter-finals (best of nineteen legs)
Player Score Player
England Steve West 91.56 5–10 England David Pallett 95.30
Wales Robert Owen 98.94 10–3 Canada John Part 80.72
Australia Corey Cadby 99.32 10–6 Wales Gerwyn Price 94.25
England Rob Cross 95.53 5–10 Scotland Gary Anderson 98.31

Semi-finals and Final (best of twenty-one legs)
Semi-finals
(best of 21 legs) 		Final
(best of 21 legs)
      
Scotland Gary Anderson 95.31 11
England David Pallett 87.40 7
Scotland Gary Anderson 95.71 11
Australia Corey Cadby 99.78 7
Wales Robert Owen 90.15 3
Australia Corey Cadby 99.90 11

References
  1. "UK Open: Peter Wright beats Gerwyn Price in Minehead". BBC Sport. 5 March 2017. Retrieved 8 March 2017.
  2. "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.
  3. "Coral UK Open Qualifier One". PDC. 2 February 2018.
  4. "100 Up For Van Gerwen". PDC. 3 February 2018.
  5. "Super Smith's Qualifier Three Success". PDC. 4 February 2018.
  6. "Coral UK Open Qualifier Four". PDC. 9 February 2018.
  7. "Coral UK Open Qualifier Five". PDC. 10 February 2018.
  8. "UK Open Qualifier Six". PDC. 11 February 2018.
  9. "Ten Players Complete Rileys Qualifiers". Professional Darts Corporation. 19 February 2018. Retrieved 19 February 2018.
  10. Allen, Dave. "2018 Coral UK Open Update". PDC. Retrieved 1 March 2018.
  11. Allen, Dave. "Coral UK Open - Fri Update". PDC. Retrieved 2 March 2018.
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