UK Open - Preview
The 2026 Ladbrokes Open gets underway on Friday, as a massive 160-player field compete for the coveted title from March 6-8 at Butlin's Minehead Resort.
The unique tournament will see Tour Card Holders pitted against Amateur Qualifiers and the top performing players from the 2025 Winmau Challenge Tour and Development Tour.
Day One of the multi-board darting festival will see all players in action, with eight stages hosting the first four rounds of action, with round one kicking off from 1100 GMT. The opening round will feature Tour Card Holders ranked 97-128, along with top-performing players from last year's Challenge and Development Tour rankings, plus Rileys Amateur Qualifiers and PDC in the Community Qualifiers.
Tour Card Holders ranked 65-96 will enter at the round two stage, whilst round three will see players ranked 33-64 enter the fray, with all matches from rounds one to three concluding before the evening session.
Friday evening's fourth round will introduce the top 32 players in the world to the tournament, with defending champion Luke Littler set to headline the event.
The World Champion stormed to his maiden UK Open title on his third appearance in the competition last year, and will be aiming to emulate Raymond van Barneveld, Michael van Gerwen and Phil Taylor by becoming only the fourth player to retain the title in Minehead. Van Gerwen will enter at the fourth round stage alongside other former champions Gary Anderson, James Wade, Danny Noppert, Nathan Aspinall, Dimitri Van den Bergh and Andrew Gilding, whilst two-time winner Van Barneveld and 2017 champion Peter Wright will enter in round three.
Two-time semi-finalist Jonny Clayton will be vying to win his first Premier ranking title since 2021, as he enters his 12th consecutive UK Open on Friday evening.
The Welsh number one has enjoyed a strong start to 2026, sitting top of the Premier League table after four weeks, and is hoping to carry this form into Minehead.
"It's a unique tournament, it's exciting," said Clayton, who fell short to Littler in the semi-finals last year. "We'll finish at Cardiff tomorrow night and then we'll head on down to Minehead. On the way down, I will switch mindset towards the UK Open. "It's like the FA Cup of darts! I can't wait."
Clayton's World Cup partner Gerwyn Price is another player hungry for a Premier ranking title, having last tasted success in 2021 with the Grand Slam of Darts. A two-time runner-up at the UK Open, Price has started the year in rampant fashion, reaching the semi-finals at the Winmau World Masters and claiming a Players Championship title in Leicester.
"I'm in a good spot at the moment. I've been playing well over the last couple of weeks," insisted Price, who has already moved up two places to world number ten since the start of 2026.
"I'm defending absolutely nothing this year, so whoever is above me, I'm going to catch them."
Premier League stars Luke Humphries, Gian van Veen, Stephen Bunting and Josh Rock will all begin their bids for their maiden UK Open title in round four, as well as last year's finalist Wade.
Ross Smith will enter at the round four stage on Friday evening for the fourth year straight, after picking up his seventh Players Championship title in in February. The former European Champion reached the quarter-finals in 2019, but has not progressed beyond round five since, and will be hoping that his stellar start to 2026 can buck that trend.
"The first few weeks of the year, I've actually been a bit nervy. You just want to get off to a good start," admitted Smith.
"I'm really confident going into the tournament, but at the same time every day is different.
"I'm feeling really good, anyone who plays me is going to have to play well to beat me."
Following the conclusion of round three on Friday afternoon, an open draw will be made live on the Main Stage for round four, with further draws to be made following each subsequent round. Saturday will see rounds five and six take place across another bumper double-session, whilst the Main Stage will host the quarter-finals, semi-finals and final across Sunday afternoon and evening.
Main Stage matches across all three days 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 Friday and Saturday will be streamed exclusively for all PDCTV Subscribers worldwide, with every match from Stages Three to Eight also available live on PDCTV.
Players will compete for the 120,000 pound top prize and the coveted title across the weekend in Minehead, with a total prize fund of 750,000 pound on offer being paid down to the last 128.
The unique tournament will see Tour Card Holders pitted against Amateur Qualifiers and the top performing players from the 2025 Winmau Challenge Tour and Development Tour.
Day One of the multi-board darting festival will see all players in action, with eight stages hosting the first four rounds of action, with round one kicking off from 1100 GMT. The opening round will feature Tour Card Holders ranked 97-128, along with top-performing players from last year's Challenge and Development Tour rankings, plus Rileys Amateur Qualifiers and PDC in the Community Qualifiers.
Tour Card Holders ranked 65-96 will enter at the round two stage, whilst round three will see players ranked 33-64 enter the fray, with all matches from rounds one to three concluding before the evening session.
Friday evening's fourth round will introduce the top 32 players in the world to the tournament, with defending champion Luke Littler set to headline the event.
The World Champion stormed to his maiden UK Open title on his third appearance in the competition last year, and will be aiming to emulate Raymond van Barneveld, Michael van Gerwen and Phil Taylor by becoming only the fourth player to retain the title in Minehead. Van Gerwen will enter at the fourth round stage alongside other former champions Gary Anderson, James Wade, Danny Noppert, Nathan Aspinall, Dimitri Van den Bergh and Andrew Gilding, whilst two-time winner Van Barneveld and 2017 champion Peter Wright will enter in round three.
Two-time semi-finalist Jonny Clayton will be vying to win his first Premier ranking title since 2021, as he enters his 12th consecutive UK Open on Friday evening.
The Welsh number one has enjoyed a strong start to 2026, sitting top of the Premier League table after four weeks, and is hoping to carry this form into Minehead.
"It's a unique tournament, it's exciting," said Clayton, who fell short to Littler in the semi-finals last year. "We'll finish at Cardiff tomorrow night and then we'll head on down to Minehead. On the way down, I will switch mindset towards the UK Open. "It's like the FA Cup of darts! I can't wait."
Clayton's World Cup partner Gerwyn Price is another player hungry for a Premier ranking title, having last tasted success in 2021 with the Grand Slam of Darts. A two-time runner-up at the UK Open, Price has started the year in rampant fashion, reaching the semi-finals at the Winmau World Masters and claiming a Players Championship title in Leicester.
"I'm in a good spot at the moment. I've been playing well over the last couple of weeks," insisted Price, who has already moved up two places to world number ten since the start of 2026.
"I'm defending absolutely nothing this year, so whoever is above me, I'm going to catch them."
Premier League stars Luke Humphries, Gian van Veen, Stephen Bunting and Josh Rock will all begin their bids for their maiden UK Open title in round four, as well as last year's finalist Wade.
Ross Smith will enter at the round four stage on Friday evening for the fourth year straight, after picking up his seventh Players Championship title in in February. The former European Champion reached the quarter-finals in 2019, but has not progressed beyond round five since, and will be hoping that his stellar start to 2026 can buck that trend.
"The first few weeks of the year, I've actually been a bit nervy. You just want to get off to a good start," admitted Smith.
"I'm really confident going into the tournament, but at the same time every day is different.
"I'm feeling really good, anyone who plays me is going to have to play well to beat me."
Following the conclusion of round three on Friday afternoon, an open draw will be made live on the Main Stage for round four, with further draws to be made following each subsequent round. Saturday will see rounds five and six take place across another bumper double-session, whilst the Main Stage will host the quarter-finals, semi-finals and final across Sunday afternoon and evening.
Main Stage matches across all three days 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 Friday and Saturday will be streamed exclusively for all PDCTV Subscribers worldwide, with every match from Stages Three to Eight also available live on PDCTV.
Players will compete for the 120,000 pound top prize and the coveted title across the weekend in Minehead, with a total prize fund of 750,000 pound on offer being paid down to the last 128.