Luke Littler and Luke Humphries produced superb doubling displays to book their spots in round five of the Ladbrokes UK Open, as former champion Danny Noppert achieved perfection on a thrilling opening day in Minehead.
The opening day of the £750,000 event saw 125 matches played across eight stages on a marathon day at Butlin’s Minehead Resort.
The opening four rounds were held across a bumper double session, as the 157-player field was whittled down to 32 by the conclusion of Friday's play.
Reigning champion Littler began his bid for back-to-back titles with a 10-3 drubbing of Damon Heta, avenging his defeat to the Australian number one in the 2024 quarter-finals.
The world number one produced a sparkling 170 finish en route to victory, which was preceded by a magnificent 132 combination - featuring two bullseyes.
Humphries also impressed in his opener against Luke Woodhouse, averaging 105 and registering four ton-plus checkouts to begin his bid for a maiden UK Open crown.
However, the performance of the day was produced by 2018 champion Gary Anderson, who averaged 107.42 and crashed in eight 180s in his 10-6 success against Dirk van Duijvenbode.
Anderson was one of six former champions to progress to Saturday’s action, with Michael van Gerwen, James Wade and Peter Wright joining Littler and Noppert in round five.
Noppert produced a moment of magic in his clash against Dimitri Van den Bergh, landing a spectacular nine-darter to triumph 10-4 in a battle of the former UK Open winners.
Van Gerwen, meanwhile, averaged 101 in accounting for 2019 champion Nathan Aspinall in a high-quality encounter, while three-time champion Wade edged past Chris Dobey in a last-leg thriller.
Wright defeated Darius Labanauskas and Cameron Menzies to kick-start his title challenge, as Welsh duo Gerwyn Price and Jonny Clayton eased through in resounding fashion.
World Championship runner-up Gian van Veen was the highest-ranked casualty on Friday evening, succumbing 10-7 to a resurgent Rob Cross in a contest which saw both players average 101.
Wessel Nijman also averaged over a ton in his demolition of two-time winner Raymond van Barneveld, who survived five match darts to edge past Czechia’s Karel Sedlacek earlier in the day.
Stephen Bunting overcame French trailblazer Thibault Tricole in his opening round tie, while Josh Rock returned to winning ways with an epic deciding-leg victory over Ireland’s William O’Connor.
Gabriel Clemens prevailed in similar fashion, taking out 145 to stun Richard Veenstra in a last-leg thriller and advance alongside his compatriots Martin Schindler, Dominik Gruellich and Kai Gotthardt.
German number one Schindler ran out a 10-8 winner against Joe Cullen, while Gruellich and Gotthardt won seven matches between them to mark their best runs in a TV ranking event.
Leon Weber was unable to join his fellow countrymen after losing out to 2022 runner-up Michael Smith, with 2023 UK Open winner Andrew Gilding exiting at the hands of former European Champion Ross Smith.
TV title winners Daryl Gurney, Mike De Decker and Mensur Suljovic also enjoyed winning starts in Minehead, alongside former UK Open semi-finalists Dave Chisnall and Keane Barry.
There will be a continental flavour to Saturday afternoon’s line-up, with Poland’s Krzysztof Ratajski progressing alongside Latvia’s Madars Razma and Sweden’s Oskar Lukasiak.
World Championship semi-finalist Ryan Searle opened his title challenge in successful style, before Kevin Doets averaged almost 99 in dumping out Sweden’s Jeffrey de Graaf.
Ryan Joyce ended Charlie Manby’s promising run in round four, as Martin Lukeman and Darryl Pilgrim completed the round five line-up.
The draw for round five was made live on the Main Stage at the conclusion of Friday night's action, with Littler pitted against Doets in an eye-catching affair.
Humphries will play six-time TV finalist Chisnall, while Anderson and Schindler go head-to-head and Price faces Nijman in arguably the tie of the round.
The draw for the sixth round will be made following the conclusion of round five on Saturday afternoon, with Saturday evening’s play to be held on two stages.
2026 Ladbrokes UK Open: Day one results & schedule
Friday March 6
Afternoon Session
Main Stage
Round One
Charlie Manby 6-3 Stefan Bellmont
Sam Spivey 6-2 Kyle Gilding
Pascal Rupprecht 6-1 Jenson Walker
Mervyn King 6-4 Aden Kirk
Michael Unterbuchner 6-5 Rusty-Jake Rodriguez
Adam Leek 6-5 David Sharp
Rhys Griffin 6-2 Filip Bereza
Stephen Burton 6-2 Jake Eichen
Cristo Reyes 6-3 Graham Usher
Tyler Thorpe 6-0 Pero Ljubic
Kai Gotthardt 6-4 Daniel Lee
Jack Todd 6-4 Carl Sneyd
Stephen Rosney 6-5 Clive Langford
Alexander Merkx 6-3 Jannis Barkhausen
Tom Sykes 6-2 Sean Ryan
Sietse Lap 6-3 Ted Evetts
Samuel Whittaker 6-4 Jeffrey de Zwaan
Oliver King 6-3 Ryan Branley
Benjamin Pratnemer 6-3 Callum Goffin
Darius Labanauskas 6-4 Callum Francis
Owen Bates 6-3 Yorick Hofkens
Niall Culleton 6-3 Lewis Pearse
Jamai van den Herik 6-3 Graham Hall
Jurjen van der Velde 6-4 Jack Tweddell
Arno Merk 6-5 James Beeton
Scott Campbell BYE (Danny van Trijp withdrew due to personal reasons)
Ron Meulenkamp 6-2 Samuel Price
Jeffrey Sparidaans 6-4 Scott Waites
Patrik Williams 6-4 Simon Stevenson
Marvin Kraft BYE (Matthias Ehlers withdrew due to injury)
Chris Landman 6-2 Nathan Potter
Henry Coates 6-3 Neil Wild
Round Two
Sebastian Bialecki 6-5 Christian Kist
Tom Bissell 6-2 Jimmy van Schie
Darryl Pilgrim 6-4 Beau Greaves
Pascal Rupprecht 6-5 Cam Crabtree
Thomas Lovely 6-4 Shane McGuirk
Adam Gawlas 6-0 Tavis Dudeney
Jim Long 6-0 Tytus Kanik
Sam Spivey 6-5 Max Hopp
Rob Owen 6-4 Stefaan Henderyck
Darius Labanauskas 6-3 Maximilian Czerwinski
Greg Ritchie 6-3 Adam Leek
Leon Weber 6-5 Jurjen van der Velde
Owen Bates 6-4 Wesley Plaisier
Oskar Lukasiak 6-2 Rhys Griffin
Henry Coates 6-4 Adam Paxton
Charlie Manby 6-2 Tyler Thorpe
Niall Culleton BYE (Viktor Tingstrom has withdrawn due to personal reasons)
Adam Warner 6-5 Ron Meulenkamp
Dominik Gruellich 6-1 Jamai van den Herik
Cristo Reyes 6-1 Sietse Lap
Patrik Williams 6-5 Cor Dekker
Scott Campbell 6-1 Dennie Olde Kalter
Alexander Merkx 6-2 Marvin van Velzen
Jeffrey Sparidaans 6-3 Chris Landman
Andy Boulton 6-4 Mervyn King
Michael Unterbuchner 6-5 Maik Kuivenhoven
Benjamin Pratnemer 6-1 Samuel Whittaker
Kai Gotthardt 6-2 Marvin Kraft
Adam Lipscombe 6-0 Jack Todd
Bradley Brooks 6-5 Oliver King
Tom Sykes 6-4 Arno Merk
Stephen Rosney 6-4 Stephen Burton
Round Three
Raymond van Barneveld 6-5 Karel Sedlacek
Ricky Evans 6-2 Brendan Dolan
Peter Wright 6-3 Darius Labanauskas
Kevin Doets 6-4 Ricardo Pietreczko
Gabriel Clemens 6-4 Sebastian Bialecki
Keane Barry 6-5 Kim Huybrechts
Joe Cullen 6-3 Pascal Rupprecht
Mensur Suljovic 6-2 Lukas Wenig
Niels Zonneveld 6-3 Tom Bissell
Connor Scutt 6-3 Jeffrey Sparidaans
Alexander Merkx 6-5 Sam Spivey
Jeffrey de Graaf 6-1 Adam Warner
Jim Long 6-5 Callan Rydz
Darryl Pilgrim 6-5 Rob Owen
Kai Gotthardt 6-4 Niko Springer
William O'Connor 6-4 Ryan Meikle
Adam Lipscombe 6-5 Nick Kenny
Andy Boulton 6-4 Patrik Williams
Henry Coates 6-4 Michael Unterbuchner
Leon Weber 6-5 Mario Vandenbogaerde
Richard Veenstra 6-4 Alan Soutar
Greg Ritchie 6-5 Mickey Mansell
Thibault Tricole 6-4 Stephen Rosney
Tom Sykes 6-4 Cristo Reyes
Madars Razma 6-2 Adam Gawlas
Dominik Gruellich 6-4 Justin Hood
Oskar Lukasiak 6-3 Bradley Brooks
Charlie Manby 6-4 James Hurrell
Martin Lukeman 6-4 Thomas Lovely
Scott Campbell 6-2 Ian White
Niall Culleton 6-4 Owen Bates
Benjamin Pratnemer 6-4 Scott Williams
Evening Session
Round Four
Rob Cross 10-7 Gian van Veen
Luke Humphries 10-3 Luke Woodhouse
Luke Littler 10-3 Damon Heta
Michael van Gerwen 10-8 Nathan Aspinall
Danny Noppert 10-4 Dimitri Van den Bergh
Martin Schindler 10-8 Joe Cullen
Gary Anderson 10-6 Dirk van Duijvenbode
James Wade 10-9 Chris Dobey
Mensur Suljovic 10-5 Jermaine Wattimena
Michael Smith 10-8 Leon Weber
Oskar Lukasiak 10-7 Benjamin Pratnemer
Keane Barry 10-2 Henry Coates
Gerwyn Price 10-3 Greg Ritchie
Martin Lukeman 10-6 Ritchie Edhouse
Ross Smith 10-4 Andrew Gilding
Kai Gotthardt 10-8 Tom Sykes
Dominik Gruellich 10-8 Niall Culleton
Krzysztof Ratajski 10-4 Ricky Evans
Madars Razma 10-9 Jim Long
Peter Wright 10-6 Cameron Menzies
Kevin Doets 10-5 Jeffrey de Graaf
Stephen Bunting 10-5 Thibault Tricole
Daryl Gurney 10-7 Niels Zonneveld
Ryan Joyce 10-6 Charlie Manby
Gabriel Clemens 10-9 Richard Veenstra
Wessel Nijman 10-1 Raymond van Barneveld
Darryl Pilgrim 10-5 Connor Scutt
Josh Rock 10-9 William O'Connor
Jonny Clayton 10-2 Alexander Merkx
Ryan Searle 10-7 Andy Boulton
Mike De Decker 10-8 Adam Lipscombe
Dave Chisnall 10-5 Scott Campbell
Saturday March 7
Afternoon Session (1300 GMT)
Round Five
Main Stage
- Gary Anderson v Martin Schindler
- Wessel Nijman v Gerwyn Price
- Kevin Doets v Luke Littler
- Luke Humphries v Dave Chisnall
Stage Two
- Darryl Pilgrim v Jonny Clayton
- Peter Wright v Danny Noppert
- Mike De Decker v Rob Cross
- Kai Gotthardt v Michael van Gerwen
Stage Three
- Ross Smith v Daryl Gurney
- Mensur Suljovic v Stephen Bunting
- Josh Rock v Dominik Gruellich
- Ryan Joyce v Keane Barry
Stage Four
- Martin Lukeman v Madars Razma
- Gabriel Clemens v James Wade
- Oskar Lukasiak v Krzysztof Ratajski
- Ryan Searle v Michael Smith
Evening Session (1900 GMT)
Round Six
- 2x Stages, 4 Matches per board
Sunday March 8
Afternoon Session (1300 GMT)
Quarter-Finals (Best of 19 legs)
4 Matches on the Main Stage
Evening Session (1900 GMT)
Semi-Finals (Best of 19 legs)
Final (Best of 21 legs)
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