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 England Steve West | ||
| Champion(s) | |||
| |||
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
[edit | edit source]UK Open qualifiers
[edit | edit source]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 | 6 – 3 | File:Flag of England.svg Michael Smith | [4] | |
| 2 | Saturday 3 February | 6 – 3 | File:Flag of England.svg Darren Webster | [5] | ||
| 3 | Sunday 4 February | File:Flag of England.svg Michael Smith | 6 – 0 | [6] | ||
| 4 | Friday 9 February | 6 – 2 | [7] | |||
| 5 | Saturday 10 February | 6 – 4 | File:Flag of England.svg Rob Cross | [8] | ||
| 6 | Sunday 11 February | 6 – 4 | [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)
[edit | edit source]
Michael van Gerwen- England Michael Smith
Krzysztof Ratajski
Corey Cadby- England Rob Cross
Gary Anderson
Peter Wright
Daryl Gurney
Kim Huybrechts
Jeffrey de Zwaan- England Darren Webster
- England Mervyn King
Zoran Lerchbacher*
John Henderson- England Steve Beaton
- England Adrian Lewis
- England Steve West
- Wales Jamie Lewis
- England David Pallett
- England James Wade
- England Justin Pipe
Jelle Klaasen- England Matthew Edgar
- Wales Jonny Clayton
- England Jamie Hughes
- England Simon Stevenson
Simon Whitlock- England Dave Prins
Robert Thornton- England Ian White
Martin Schindler
Kyle Anderson
Number 33–64 of the Order of Merit (receiving byes into second round)
[edit | edit source]- Wales Gerwyn Price
- England James Wilson
- Wales Robert Owen
- England Jason Lowe
- England Joe Cullen
- England Nathan Aspinall
- England Keegan Brown
- England Alan Norris
Danny Noppert
Nathan Rafferty
Vincent van der Voort
John Goldie*- England David Evans
- England Richard North
Vincent Kamphuis
Jermaine Wattimena- England Stephen Bunting
- England Stuart Kellett
José Justicia
Gabriel Clemens- England Wayne Jones
- England Mike Norton
- England Carl Wilkinson
- England Andrew Gilding
Geert Nentjes
Toni Alcinas- England Dave Chisnall
Raymond van Barneveld- England Chris Dobey
- England James Richardson
Maik Langendorf*- England Ted Evetts
Number 65–96 of the Order of Merit qualifiers (starting in first round)
[edit | edit source]
Michael Rasztovits
Ron Meulenkamp- England Kirk Shepherd
- Wales Richie Burnett
- England Ricky Evans
- England Mark Walsh
Cody Harris
William O'Connor*- England Terry Jenkins
- England Chris Quantock
- England Michael Barnard
- England Bradley Brooks
Dirk van Duijvenbode- England Ryan Meikle
Dimitri Van den Bergh
Paul Nicholson- England Luke Humphries
Cristo Reyes
René Berndt**
René Eidams- England Lee Evans
- England Ryan Harrington
- England Robert Rickwood
Mickey Mansell- England Andy Jenkins
Benito van de Pas
Mick McGowan*- England Darren Johnson
John Part
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)
[edit | edit source]32 amateur players qualified from 28 Rileys Sports Bar qualifiers held across the UK between 20 January and 18 February.[10]
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)
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
[edit | edit source]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
[edit | edit source](Note: Due to extreme weather all matches in the tournament were played behind closed doors)
Friday 2 March
[edit | edit source]First round (best of eleven legs)
[edit | edit source]| Player | Score | Player | Player | Score | Player | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| w/o | England Michael Burgoine (Q) | England Darryl Pilgrim (Q) 86.29 | 6–2 | England Ian Jopling (Q) 70.81 | ||
| 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 | England |
w/o | England Martin Biggs (Q) | ||
| 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 | w/o | |||
| England Terry Jenkins 88.50 | 5–6 | 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 |
w/o | England Andy Hamilton (Q) | ||
| 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 | 5–6 | |||
| w/o | England Robert Rickwood | 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 | |
| 6–2 | England John Morris (Q) 72.11 | 5–6 | England Jason Mold (Q) 78.47 | |||
| England Ryan Meikle 74.13 | 6–5 | 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)
[edit | edit source]* Due to extreme weather, multiple players pulled out of the tournament.
Third round (best of nineteen legs)
[edit | edit source]* 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
[edit | edit source]Fourth round (best of nineteen legs)
[edit | edit source]| Player | Score | Player | Player | Score | Player | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 8–10 | England Paul Hogan (Q) 97.61 | England Rob Cross 98.29 | 10–7 | |||
| 9–10 | Wales Robert Owen 96.61 | 10–9 | ||||
| England Jason Lowe 92.12 | 5–10 | England Chris Dobey 95.72 | 10–5 | England Keegan Brown 95.66 | ||
| Wales Gerwyn Price 97.95 | 10–6 | England Steve West 95.42 | 10–7 | England Matthew Edgar 87.61 | ||
| 10–3 | England Ricky Evans 87.64 | 10–8 | England Stephen Bunting 94.66 | |||
| England Mervyn King 94.97 | 10–8 | Wales Jonny Clayton 89.89 | 10–7 | |||
| England Jamie Hughes 95.84 | 8–10 | England Ian White 102.45 | 5–10 | |||
| 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)
[edit | edit source]| Player | Score | Player |
|---|---|---|
| England Michael Smith 93.99 | 9–10 | England Steve West 93.91 |
| 10–6 | ||
| 10–7 | England Chris Dobey 96.23 | |
| England Mervyn King 87.84 | 8–10 | |
| England Ian White 92.24 | 7–10 | Wales Robert Owen 92.76 |
| 7–10 | England David Pallett 88.10 | |
| Wales Gerwyn Price 101.45 | 10–9 | England Paul Hogan (Q) 96.18 |
| 3–10 | England Rob Cross 103.88 |
Sunday 4 March
[edit | edit source]Quarter-finals (best of nineteen legs)
[edit | edit source]| Player | Score | Player |
|---|---|---|
| England Steve West 91.56 | 5–10 | England David Pallett 95.30 |
| Wales Robert Owen 98.94 | 10–3 | |
| 10–6 | Wales Gerwyn Price 94.25 | |
| England Rob Cross 95.53 | 5–10 |
Semi-finals and Final (best of twenty-one legs)
[edit | edit source]| Semi-finals (best of 21 legs) | Final (best of 21 legs) | ||||||||
| 11 | |||||||||
| England David Pallett 87.40 | 7 | ||||||||
| 11 | |||||||||
| 7 | |||||||||
| Wales Robert Owen 90.15 | 3 | ||||||||
| 11 | |||||||||
References
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