UK Open - First Day
LITTLER & HUMPHRIES START IN STYLE AS NOPPERT NAILS THE NINE
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.Day One of the 750,000 pound 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.
Main Stage matches across the event will be broadcast live on ITV4 for UK viewers, through the PDC's international broadcast partners, including DAZN and Viaplay, and on PDCTV for Rest of the World Subscribers. Stage Two action on Saturday will be streamed exclusively for all PDCTV Subscribers worldwide, with commentary from Paul Nicholson and Dan McCarthy, while matches from Stages Three and Four will also be broadcast live on PDCTV on Saturday.