2018 UK Open
2018 Coral UK Open | |||
---|---|---|---|
Tournament information | |||
Dates | 2–4 March 2018 | ||
Venue | Butlin's Resort | ||
Location | Minehead | ||
Country | File:Flag of England.svg England | ||
Organization(s) | PDC | ||
Format | Legs Final – best of 21 | ||
Prize fund | £350,000 | ||
Winner's share | £70,000 | ||
High checkout | 170 Austria Michael Rasztovits Northern Ireland Daryl Gurney England Steve West | ||
Champion(s) | |||
Scotland Gary Anderson | |||
|
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. 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.[3] The tournament winners were:
No. | Date | Venue | Winner | Score | Runner-up | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Friday 2 February | Robin Park Tennis Centre, Wigan | File:Flag of the Netherlands.svg Michael van Gerwen | 6 – 3 | File:Flag of England.svg Michael Smith | [4] |
2 | Saturday 3 February | File:Flag of the Netherlands.svg Michael van Gerwen | 6 – 3 | File:Flag of England.svg Darren Webster | [5] | |
3 | Sunday 4 February | File:Flag of England.svg Michael Smith | 6 – 0 | File:Flag of Austria.svg Zoran Lerchbacher | [6] | |
4 | Friday 9 February | File:Flag of Scotland.svg Gary Anderson | 6 – 2 | File:Flag of the Netherlands.svg Jeffrey de Zwaan | [7] | |
5 | Saturday 10 February | File:Flag of Australia (converted).svg Corey Cadby | 6 – 4 | File:Flag of England.svg Rob Cross | [8] | |
6 | Sunday 11 February | File:Flag of Poland.svg Krzysztof Ratajski | 6 – 4 | File:Ulster Banner.svg Daryl Gurney | [9] |
The tournament featured 128 players. The results of the six qualifiers shown above were collated into the UK Open Order Of Merit. The top 32 players in the Order of Merit received byes into the third round of the UK Open. Players ranked 33–64 received byes to the second round, while Players ranked 65–96 entered the main tournament in the first round. A further 32 players qualified via regional qualifying tournaments.
Top 32 in Order of Merit (receiving byes into third round)
- Netherlands Michael van Gerwen
- England Michael Smith
- Poland Krzysztof Ratajski
- Australia Corey Cadby
- England Rob Cross
- Scotland Gary Anderson
- Scotland Peter Wright
- Northern Ireland Daryl Gurney
- Belgium Kim Huybrechts
- Netherlands Jeffrey de Zwaan
- England Darren Webster
- England Mervyn King
- Austria
Zoran Lerchbacher* - Scotland John Henderson
- England Steve Beaton
- England Adrian Lewis
- England Steve West
- Wales Jamie Lewis
- England David Pallett
- England James Wade
- England Justin Pipe
- Netherlands Jelle Klaasen
- England Matthew Edgar
- Wales Jonny Clayton
- England Jamie Hughes
- England Simon Stevenson
- Australia Simon Whitlock
- England Dave Prins
- Scotland Robert Thornton
- England Ian White
- Germany Martin Schindler
- Australia Kyle Anderson
Number 33–64 of the Order of Merit (receiving byes into second round)
- Wales Gerwyn Price
- England James Wilson
- Wales Robert Owen
- England Jason Lowe
- England Joe Cullen
- England Nathan Aspinall
- England Keegan Brown
- England Alan Norris
- Netherlands Danny Noppert
- Northern Ireland Nathan Rafferty
- Netherlands Vincent van der Voort
- Scotland
John Goldie* - England David Evans
- England Richard North
- Netherlands Vincent Kamphuis
- Netherlands Jermaine Wattimena
- England Stephen Bunting
- England Stuart Kellett
- Spain José Justicia
- Germany Gabriel Clemens
- England Wayne Jones
- England Mike Norton
- England Carl Wilkinson
- England Andrew Gilding
- Netherlands Geert Nentjes
- Spain Toni Alcinas
- England Dave Chisnall
- Netherlands Raymond van Barneveld
- England Chris Dobey
- England James Richardson
- Germany
Maik Langendorf* - England Ted Evetts
Number 65–96 of the Order of Merit qualifiers (starting in first round)
- Austria Michael Rasztovits
- Netherlands Ron Meulenkamp
- England Kirk Shepherd
- Wales Richie Burnett
- England Ricky Evans
- England Mark Walsh
- New Zealand Cody Harris
- Republic of Ireland
William O'Connor* - England Terry Jenkins
- England Chris Quantock
- England Michael Barnard
- England Bradley Brooks
- Netherlands Dirk van Duijvenbode
- England Ryan Meikle
- Belgium Dimitri Van den Bergh
- Australia Paul Nicholson
- England Luke Humphries
- Spain Cristo Reyes
- Germany
René Berndt** - Germany René Eidams
- England Lee Evans
- England Ryan Harrington
- England Robert Rickwood
- Northern Ireland Mickey Mansell
- England Andy Jenkins
- Netherlands Benito van de Pas
- Republic of Ireland
Mick McGowan* - England Darren Johnson
- Canada John Part
- India Prakash Jiwa
- England Adam Hunt
- England George Killington
** 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.[10]
- 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.[11][12]
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)
Friday 2 March
First round (best of eleven legs)
Player | Score | Player | Player | Score | Player | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Scotland |
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 |
England |
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 | |
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 |
w/o | England Mark Craddock (Q) | |
England Andrew Pullen (Q) | w/o | England |
Republic of Ireland |
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 |
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)
* Due to extreme weather, multiple players pulled out of the tournament.
Third round (best of nineteen legs)
* 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.
Saturday 3 March
Fourth round (best of nineteen legs)
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 |
Sunday 4 March
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
- ↑ "UK Open: Peter Wright beats Gerwyn Price in Minehead". BBC Sport. 5 March 2017. Retrieved 8 March 2017.
- ↑ "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.
- ↑ "PDC UK Open Qualifiers 2018". DartConnect TV. 9–11 February 2018. Retrieved 9 February 2018.
- ↑ Wood-Thompson, Lewis (2 February 2018). "Coral UK Open Qualifier One". PDC.tv.
- ↑ Wood-Thompson, Lewis (3 February 2018). "100 Up For Van Gerwen". PDC.tv.
- ↑ Allen, Dave (4 February 2018). "Super Smith's Qualifier Three Success". PDC.tv.
- ↑ Allen, Dave (9 February 2018). "Coral UK Open Qualifier Four". PDC.tv.
- ↑ Allen, Dave (10 February 2018). "Coral UK Open Qualifier Five". PDC.tv.
- ↑ Allen, Dave (11 February 2018). "UK Open Qualifier 6". PDC.tv. Retrieved 12 February 2018.
- ↑ "Ten Players Complete Rileys Qualifiers". Professional Darts Corporation. 19 February 2018. Retrieved 19 February 2018.
- ↑ Allen, Dave (March 2018). "2018 Coral UK Open Update". PDC. Retrieved 1 March 2018.
- ↑ Allen, Dave. "Coral UK Open - Fri Update". PDC. Retrieved 2 March 2018.[permanent dead link ]