Anderson shines on Day one of the 2023 PDC UK Open

The top eight players in the world advanced to the fifth round of the 2023 Cazoo UK Open on Friday, as two former champions were eliminated on a dramatic first day in Minehead.

On the first day of the annual darts festival, 126 matches were played across eight stages at Butlin’s Minehead Resort on a frantic Friday.

The first four rounds were split into two sessions, and the 158-player field was reduced to 32 by the end of Friday’s action.

Gerwyn Price, a two-time runner-up, put on an imperious performance to end the fairy-tale run of teenage debutant Thomas Banks, one of two 16-year-old Rileys Amateur Qualifiers to reach round four.

Banks defeated Graham Hall and Conor Heneghan before falling 10-3 to Price, who averaged 103 and hit seven maximums to cap an outstanding performance in Friday’s curtain-raiser.

Meanwhile, Luke Littler, who competed in the Rileys Chorlton Qualifier on his 16th birthday, won a hat-trick of matches before losing in round four to Adam Gawlas, despite averaging over 100.

Three-time UK Open champion Michael van Gerwen held off a spirited rally from Dave Chisnall to advance to Saturday’s fifth round, firing in a timely 11-darter to win 10-8.

“It wasn’t an easy draw against Dave, but you need to make sure you win and I did that,” reflected Van Gerwen, who comes into Minehead fresh from back-to-back nightly wins in the Premier League.

“I don’t often have a lot of luck in the UK Open, but you have to produce your A-game, whoever you’re drawn against.

“I am winning games without playing well and that gives you confidence. That’s the only thing that matters at the moment.”

 

Reigning champion Danny Noppert also advanced with a 10-8 victory, overcoming a valiant fightback from Jim Williams to win in a high-quality match.

World Champion Michael Smith, who finished second in last year’s event, advanced in a more relaxed manner, averaging 101 and converting three ton-plus finishes in a 10-4 victory over Ian White.

“It was difficult being up there against one of my best mates and my practice partner, but I had a job to do,” admitted Smith, who has been struggling with a wrist injury in the last week.

“Ian made it 4-7 and he had darts for 5-7. If that had gone in, it could have been a different story, but I took out the 124 on the bull and then the 167 and 100 followed.

“I pulled it out from somewhere. Ian is a really good friend, but I wouldn’t have been happy if I’d lost that match and hopefully I can go all the way now.”

In a dramatic showdown against Stephen Bunting, Peter Wright won a last-leg shoot-out with a 14-dart break after Bunting missed double 12 for a nine-darter in the penultimate leg.

Chris Dobey missed double 12 for a nine-darter in his 10-6 victory over Ryan Searle, averaging 102 to join Premier League stars Dimitri Van den Bergh and Jonny Clayton in the last 32.

In his opener, Van den Bergh defeated World Championship semi-finalist Gabriel Clemens 10-5, while Clayton overcame nine 180s from European Champion Ross Smith to win in a deciding-leg thriller.

Nathan Aspinall won his first UK Open title since winning it in 2019. All eight Premier League players advanced to round five, with Aspinall coming back from 7-3 and 9-7 down to defeat Alan Soutar.

Raymond van Barneveld, a two-time winner, was one of two former champions to exit the tournament in the fourth round, after being defeated in a last-leg decider by 2018 World Champion Rob Cross.

Meanwhile, 2018 champion Gary Anderson turned in the performance of the night to defeat three-time champion James Wade, averaging nearly 105 points and crashing in eight 180s to secure a 10-8 victory.

Outside Boards

On the outside boards, 2021 runner-up Luke Humphries prevailed in a last-leg decider over World Cup winner Damon Heta, after Joe Cullen demonstrated his credentials by defeating Irish newcomer Dylan Slevin.

In other news, 2014 champion Adrian Lewis stormed through to round five, averaging 102 to beat Canada’s Matt Campbell after a whitewash win over Joe Murnan.

Brendan Dolan came back from 9-5 down to beat 2007 runner-up Vincent van der Voort, who had his compatriot Dirk van Duijvenbode come through a tense battle with Krzysztof Ratajski.

Jeffrey de Zwaan and Karel Sedlacek were the only two players who started their campaigns in round one to make it to Saturday’s action, while veteran trio Steve Beaton, Mervyn King, and Riche Burnett also made it.

Luke Woodhouse was one of Friday’s standout performers, posting ton-plus averages in convincing wins over Josh Rock and Jelle Klaasen to secure his place in Saturday’s draw while dropping only four legs.

At the conclusion of Friday night’s action, the draw for the fifth round was made live on the Main Stage, with reigning champion Noppert facing William O’Connor in a rematch of last year’s semi-finals.

Saturday 

Van Gerwen will face his countryman Martijn Kleermaker, while world number one Smith will face Humphries in an exciting match.

Price will face De Zwaan, Anderson will face a resurgent Kim Huybrechts, and Wright will face Callan Rydz, a former World Championship quarter-finalist.

The draw for the sixth round will be made following the conclusion of the fifth round, which will take place in two stages on Saturday evening.

2023 Cazoo UK Open

Friday March 3

Afternoon Session

First Round

Luke Littler 6-0 Nick Fullwell

Jelle Klaasen 6-2 Josh Payne

Gian van Veen 6-4 Robert Owen

James Richardson 6-4 Thibault Tricole

Jeffrey de Zwaan 6-3 Lukas Wenig

Joshua Richardson 6-4 Sebastian Bialecki

Jurjen van der Velde 6-4 Brett Claydon

Geert Nentjes 6-5 Christian Kist

Arron Monk 6-5 Vladimir Andersen

Dan Read 6-5 Callum Loose

Conor Heneghan 6-2 Daniel Lee

Graham Hall 6-4 Jeffrey Sparidaans

Daniel Klose 6-3 Jacques Labre

Karel Sedlacek 6-2 Harry Lane

Adam Warner 6-2 Andy Jenkins

Graham Usher 6-4 Noel Grant

Niels Zonneveld 6-2 Nathan Girvan

Michael Flynn 6-4 Jonathan Wynn

Robbie Knops 6-2 Callum Goffin

Nick Kenny 6-5 Pascal Rupprecht

Jitse Van der Wal 6-5 Jarred Cole

Jim McEwan 6-1 Danny Lauby

Jim Moston 6-4 Kenny Neyens

Dylan Slevin 6-0 Maik Kuivenhoven

Gary Davey 6-4 Lee Evans

Christopher Holt 6-3 Danny van Trijp

Darren Webster 6-4 Dom Taylor

Lewis Gurney 6-5 Darryl Pilgrim

Owen Roelofs 6-3 Stuart White

Stephen Burton 6-5 Adam Smith-Neale

 

Second Round

Danny Jansen 6-4 Bradley Brooks

Connor Scutt 6-3 Jimmy Hendriks

Richie Burnett 6-2 James Richardson

Niels Zonneveld 6-3 Keegan Brown

Kevin Doets 6-4 Jules van Dongen

Luke Littler 6-2 Rusty-Jake Rodriguez

Matt Campbell 6-4 Christopher Holt

Mario Vandenbogaerde 6-3 Daniel Klose

Mickey Mansell 6-4 Jose Justicia

Cameron Menzies 6-2 Jim Moston

Ted Evetts 6-2 Jim McEwan

Lewis Gurney 6-5 Stephen Burton

James Wilson 6-0 Luc Peters

Damian Mol 6-4 Gary Davey

Dan Read 6-4 Brian Raman

Owen Roelofs 6-3 Joshua Richardson

Richard Veenstra 6-1 Jamie Clark

Darren Webster 6-5 Tony Martinez

Conor Heneghan 6-5 Nick Kenny

Thomas Banks 6-3 Graham Hall

Nathan Rafferty 6-2 Kevin Burness

Graham Usher 6-5 John O’Shea

Jeffrey de Zwaan 6-3 Geert Nentjes

Jelle Klaasen 6-1 Ricardo Pietreczko

Radek Szaganski 6-3 Krzysztof Kciuk

Gian van Veen 6-5 Scott Waites

Jurjen van der Velde 6-4 Ronny Huybrechts

Karel Sedlacek 6-1 Michael Flynn

Ross Montgomery 6-5 Adam Warner

Dylan Slevin 6-4 Shaun Wilkinson

George Killington 6-1 Jitse Van der Wal

Robbie Knops 6-0 Arron Monk

 

Third Round

Adrian Lewis 6-0 Joe Murnan

Luke Woodhouse 6-2 Josh Rock

Simon Whitlock 6-3 Ross Montgomery

Florian Hempel 6-3 Jamie Hughes

Jermaine Wattimena 6-4 Boris Krcmar

Steve Beaton 6-4 Connor Scutt

Jelle Klaasen 6-5 Scott Williams

William O’Connor 6-2 Devon Petersen

Danny Jansen 6-1 Lewy Williams

Kevin Doets 6-3 Radek Szaganski

Adam Gawlas 6-4 Mario Vandenbogaerde

Luke Littler 6-5 Ritchie Edhouse

Mike De Decker 6-5 Ryan Joyce

Ian White 6-2 Cameron Menzies

Jim Williams 6-3 Gian van Veen

Dylan Slevin 6-2 Robbie Knops

Martijn Kleermaker 6-4 Steve Lennon

Martin Lukeman 6-4 Dan Read

George Killington 6-5 Madars Razma

Richie Burnett 6-1 Jurjen van der Velde

Mensur Suljovic 6-3 Mickey Mansell

Keane Barry 6-3 Damian Mol

Matt Campbell 6-1 Jeff Smith

Karel Sedlacek 6-1 Lewis Gurney

Nathan Rafferty 6-5 Ryan Meikle

Andrew Gilding 6-2 Darren Webster

Darius Labanauskas 6-3 Niels Zonneveld

Ted Evetts 6-3 Owen Roelofs

Rowby-John Rodriguez 6-2 Richard Veenstra

Ricky Evans 6-5 Graham Usher

Jeffrey de Zwaan 6-5 James Wilson

Thomas Banks 6-2 Conor Heneghan

 

Evening Session

Fourth Round

Gerwyn Price 10-3 Thomas Banks

Michael van Gerwen 10-8 Dave Chisnall

Michael Smith 10-4 Ian White

Gary Anderson 10-8 James Wade

Dimitri Van den Bergh 10-5 Gabriel Clemens

Rob Cross 10-9 Raymond van Barneveld

Jonny Clayton 10-9 Ross Smith

Peter Wright 10-9 Stephen Bunting

Jose de Sousa 10-8 Darius Labanauskas

Luke Woodhouse 10-2 Jelle Klaasen

Martijn Kleermaker 10-6 George Killington

Karel Sedlacek 10-4 Mensur Suljovic

Adam Gawlas 10-8 Luke Littler

Adrian Lewis 10-4 Matt Campbell

William O’Connor 10-1 Jermaine Wattimena

Dirk van Duijvenbode 10-8 Krzysztof Ratajski

Jeffrey de Zwaan 10-9 Danny Jansen

Mervyn King 10-7 Keane Barry

Ted Evetts 10-8 Nathan Rafferty

Danny Noppert 10-8 Jim Williams

Joe Cullen 10-7 Dylan Slevin

Martin Schindler 10-7 Simon Whitlock

Callan Rydz 10-7 Daryl Gurney

Kim Huybrechts 10-8 Mike De Decker

Kevin Doets 10-9 Martin Lukeman

Richie Burnett 10-9 Florian Hempel

Steve Beaton 10-4 Rowby-John Rodriguez

Brendan Dolan 10-9 Vincent van der Voort

Chris Dobey 10-6 Ryan Searle

Andrew Gilding 10-5 Ricky Evans

Nathan Aspinall 10-9 Alan Soutar

Luke Humphries 10-9 Damon Heta

 

Cazoo UK Open

Fifth Round Schedule

Saturday March 4 (1245 GMT)

Main Stage

Gerwyn Price v Jeffrey de Zwaan

Michael Smith v Luke Humphries

Martijn Kleermaker v Michael van Gerwen

Peter Wright v Callan Rydz

 

Stage Two

William O’Connor v Danny Noppert

Kim Huybrechts v Gary Anderson

Dirk van Duijvenbode v Nathan Aspinall

Mervyn King v Dimitri Van den Bergh

 

Stage Three

Richie Burnett v Ted Evetts

Adrian Lewis v Martin Schindler

Joe Cullen v Karel Sedlacek

Jonny Clayton v Jose de Sousa

 

Stage Four

Adam Gawlas v Kevin Doets

Luke Woodhouse v Andrew Gilding

Chris Dobey v Brendan Dolan

Steve Beaton v Rob Cross