UK Open Darts 2020 Day One preview and order of play: Darting mayhem commences in Minehead

The most frenetic day on the darting calendar sees Rounds 1-4 of the UK Open take place across two sessions at Butlins Minehead on Friday.

The unique multi-board tournament will see 160 players battle it out for £450,000 in prize money in the FA Cup of Darts.

The field is comprised of current PDC Tour Card holders, Challenge Tour and Development Tour qualifiers and Rileys amateur qualifiers as they compete in an open draw format.

Players ranked 97-127 on the Order of Merit will start out in Round One alongside eight Challenge Tour qualifiers, eight Development Tour qualifiers and 16 amateur qualifiers.

Those winners join players ranked 65-96 in the Second Round, before those ranked 33-64 enter in Round Three later in the afternoon and those ranked 1-32 enter in Round Four in the evening session.

This year’s Ladbrokes UK Open will the first to feature more than one female participant after Lisa Ashton qualified automatically as a Tour Card holder and Fallon Sherrock came through the Rileys qualifier in Wolverhampton.

Both ladies feature on the Main Stage, with four-time World Champion Ashton taking on Belgian youngster Mike De Decker in the opening match of the tournament.

Sherrock, who made global headlines with her ground-breaking run to the Last 32 of the World Championship, starts out against Northern Ireland’s Kyle McKinstry, a former Lakeside participant.

Scott Waites, the two-time BDO World Champion and former Grand Slam winner, marks his UK Open debut with a tasty First Round tie against fellow debutant Damon Heta – winner of last year’s Brisbane Masters.

Former Lakeside finalist Mark McGeeney faces Scott Baker – who hit a nine-dart finish on the ProTour last month, while Players Championship event finalist Jeff Smith of Canada faces Greece’s top darter John Michael.

Robert Thornton, the 2012 UK Open champion, faces a tough opener against former Players Championship Finals runner-up Kim Huybrechts, while another closely matched Third Round tie sees former ProTour event winner Josh Payne take on World Championship star Luke Woodhouse.

World Youth Champion Luke Humphries, who featured in Thursday’s Premier League in Exeter as a Challenger, starts his campaign against former Auckland Masters winner Kyle Anderson.

Stage Two sees 2013 UK Open runner-up Andy Hamilton mark his return to Minehead with a meeting with Challenge Tour Order of Merit qualifier Patrick Lynskey.

A resurgent Andy Hamilton celebrates (Photo by PDC Europe)

Reigning BDO and JDC World Champion Keane Barry marks his debut with a show-down against 2006 semi-finalist Alan Tabern, as New Zealand’s Cody Harris faces another Challenge Tour regular in Scott Taylor.

Dirk van Duijvenbode, quarter-finalist in last weekend’s Belgian Championship, aims to continue his fine start to the season by overcoming Finland’s Marko Kantele.

William O’Connor, who gave a fine account of himself as a Premier League Challenger in Dublin last week, starts out against former Lakeside semi-finalist Jan Dekker.

Players Championship event winner Ryan Searle takes on Spanish number one Cristo Reyes, while Hong Kong’s Kai Fan Leung meets Rileys qualifier Kelvin Self.

Elsewhere, former World Championship semi-finalist Jamie Lewis plays 2019 UK Open quarter-finalist Ross Smith in Round Three on Stage Four, while Dutch duo Derk Telnekes and Martijn Kleermaker vie for debut wins on Stage Eight.

The action gets underway from 11am GMT on Stages 2-8 and 12pm on the Main Stage, with First, Second and Third Round matches to be contested over the best of 11 legs and Fourth Round ties best of 19.

BET ON & WATCH UK OPEN DARTS LIVE HERE (18+)

Ladbrokes UK Open 2020 Match Schedule

Friday March 6

Afternoon Session (11am start, 12pm on Main Stage)

Main Stage
Mike De Decker v Lisa Ashton (R1)
Damon Heta v Scott Waites (R1)
Kyle McKinstry v Fallon Sherrock (R1)
Scott Baker v Mark McGeeney (R2)
Jeff Smith v John Michael (R2)
David Pallett v Doets/Thompson (R2)
Heaver/Noguera v McKinstry/Sherrock (R2)
Luke Humphries v Kyle Anderson (R3)
Kim Huybrechts v Robert Thornton (R3)
Josh Payne v Luke Woodhouse (R3)

Stage Two
Cody Harris v Scott Taylor (R1)
Kai Fan Leung v Kelvin Self (R1)
Adam Hunt v Karel Sedlacek (R1)
Keane Barry v Alan Tabern (R1)
Andy Hamilton v Patrick Lynskey (R1)
Marko Kantele v Dirk van Duijvenbode (R2)
Heta/Waites v Geert Nentjes (R2)
Larsson/Meikle v De Decker/Ashton (R2)
Menzies/Brooks v Nick Kenny (R2)
Ryan Searle v Cristo Reyes (R3)
William O’Connor v Jan Dekker (R3)
Vincent van der Voort v Smith/Michael (R3)
Koltsov/Van Trijp/Davidson/Borland v Larsson/Meikle/De Decker/Ashton (R3)

Stage Three
Steffen Siepmann v Krzysztof Kciuk (R1)
Peter Jacques v Ciaran Teehan (R1)
Michael Barnard v Steve Brown (R1)
Daniel Larsson v Ryan Meikle (R1)
Harry Ward v Gavin Carlin (R2)
Kirk Shepherd v Leung/Self (R2)
Hunt/Sedlacek v Barrie Bates (R2)
Hayden/J Clark v Richardson/Penhall (R2)
Ron Meulenkamp v Richard North (R3)
Jones/Blades/Whitehead v Steve West (R3)
Devon Petersen v Menzies/Brooks/Kenny (R3)
Justin Smith/Jenkins/Beeney/Harms v Atkins/Murray/Bunse (R3)
Huckvale/Burton/Van der Meer v Heaver/Noguera/McKinstry/Sherrock (R3)

Stage Four
Jason Askew v Greg Ritchie (R1)
Jason Heaver v Jesus Noguera (R1)
Adam Smith-Neale v Ben Cheeseman (R1)
Darren Beveridge v Nathan Rafferty (R1)
Andy Boulton v Reece Robinson (R2)
Nathan Derry v Maik Kuivenhoven (R2)
Justin Smith/Jenkins v Beeney/Harms (R2)
Telnekes/Kleermaker v Madars Razma (R2)
Jamie Lewis v Ross Smith (R3)
Evetts/Van Peer/Roelofs v James Wilson (R3)
Steve Lennon v Barnard/Brown/Barry/Tabern (R3)
Mickey Mansell v Zonneveld/Hamilton/Lynskey (R3)

Stage Five
Adam Huckvale v Stephen Burton (R1)
Rhys Hayden v James Clark (R1)
Cameron Menzies v Bradley Brooks (R1)
Kevin Burness v Harald Leitinger (R1)
Jonathan Worsley v Matt Clark (R2)
Carl Wilkinson v Siepmann/Kciuk (R2)
Ted Evetts v Van Peer/Roelofs (R2)
Barnard/Brown v Barry/Tabern (R2)
Justin Pipe v Shepherd/Leung/Self (R3)
Ryan Joyce v Jacques/Teehan/Meeuwisse (R3)
Jose De Sousa v Williams/Owen/Gray (R3)
Van Duivenbode/Beveridge/Rafferty v Jamie Hughes (R3)

Stage Six
Aaron Beeney v Wesley Harms (R1)
Boris Koltsov v Danny van Trijp (R1)
Andrew Davidson v William Borland (R1)
Lewis Williams v Robert Owen (R1)
Harris/Taylor v Jason Lowe (R2)
Atkins/Murray v Christian Bunse (R2)
Mike van Duivenbode v Beveridge/Rafferty (R2)
Niels Zonneveld v Hamilton/Lynskey (R2)
Derry/Kuivenhoven v Gabriel Clemens (R3)
Darius Labanauskas v Kantele/Van Duijvenbode (R3)
Hayden/J Clark/Richardson/Penhall v Toni Alcinas (R3)
Matthew Edgar v Smith-Neale/Cheeseman/McGuirk/Rydz (R3)

Stage Seven
Martin Atkins v Ryan Murray (R1)
Shane McGuirk v Callan Rydz (R1)
Wayne Jones v Gary Blades (R1)
Berry van Peer v Owen Roelofs (R1)
Rowby-John Rodriguez v Askew/Ritchie (R2)
Jacques/Teehan v Yordi Meeuwisse (R2)
Williams/Owen v Adrian Gray (R2)
Burness/Leitinger v Joe Murnan (R2)
Martin Schindler v Benito van de Pas (R3)
Baker/McGeeney v Boulton/Robinson (R3)
Worsley/M Clark v Harris/Taylor/Lowe (R3)
Telnekes/Kleermaker/Razma v Heta/Waites/Nentjes (R3)

Stage Eight
Justin Smith v Andy Jenkins (R1)
Derk Telnekes v Martijn Kleermaker (R1)
James Richardson v Darren Penhall (R1)
Kevin Doets v Alfie Thompson (R1)
Huckvale/Burton v Vincent van der Meer (R2)
Jones/Blades v Conan Whitehead (R2)
Koltsov/Van Trijp v Davidson/Borland (R2)
Smith-Neale/Cheeseman v McGuirk/Rydz (R2)
Jelle Klaasen v Rodriguez/Askew/Ritchie (R3)
Ward/Carlin v Wilkinson/Siepmann/Kciuk (R3)
Pallett/Doets/Thompson v Simon Stevenson (R3)
Hunt/Sedlacek/Bates v Burness/Leitinger/Murnan (R3)

Evening Session (7pm-11pm)

Fourth Round matches (TBC)