UK Open
| UK Open | |
|---|---|
| Tournament information | |
| Venue | Reebok Stadium |
| Location | Bolton, Greater Manchester |
| Country | England |
| Established | 2003 |
| Organisation(s) | PDC |
| Format | Legs |
| Prize fund | £200,000 (2012) |
| Month(s) Played | June(until 2013), March |
| Current champion(s) | |
 Phil Taylor | |
The UK Open is a Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) darts tournament where, following regional qualifying heats throughout Britain, 128 players compete in an elimination tournament to be crowned champion.
The tournament has the nickname, the "FA Cup of darts", because of the wide mix of players of differing experience. There are also no seedings for the top players which means the top players can be drawn against each other at any stage. Just like the FA Cup, a random draw takes place after each round to determine the matches for the next round. However, a slight change was introduced in 2007 where a tournament bracket is introduced from the quarter-final stage to prevent players being forced into playing long back-to-back matches.
Since 2003, the UK Open has been broadcast in June each year from the Reebok Stadium, in Bolton. Phil Taylor beat Shayne Burgess in the inaugural final. Dutchman Raymond van Barneveld won the tournament in 2006, the first ever ranking tournament with the PDC in which he has played. He knocked out 13-times World Champion Phil Taylor 11–10 en route to the final where he beat Barrie Bates 13–7. He also successfully defended the title in 2007, again beating Taylor en route.
Taylor has achieved the perfect nine-dart finish four times (2004, 2005, 2007 & 2008). Mervyn King (2010) and Gary Anderson (2012) and Wes Newton (2013) have also achieved a nine-dart leg.
The tournament has had a different runner-up each year, with 11 different runners-up in 11 years.
Sponsors
The inaugural event in 2003 was sponsored by Sky Bet. In 2004 Budweiser became the main sponsor. After Budweiser's three-year sponsorship ended in 2006, bookmakers Blue Square took over as title sponsor in 2007 until 2009. The 2010 event was sponsored by Rileys Darts Zones.[1] From 2011 to 2013 it has been sponsored by Speedy Hire. In 2014 Coral took over sponsorship.
| Sponsor | Years |
|---|---|
| Sky Bet | 2003 |
| Budweiser | 2004–2006 [2] |
| Blue Square | 2007–2009 [3] |
| Rileys Darts Zones | 2010 |
| Speedy Hire | 2011–2013 |
| Coral | 2011–2013 |
Final Results
| Year | Champion | Legs | Runner-Up | Total Prize Money |
Champion | Runner-Up |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2003 | Phil Taylor (98.03) |
18–8 | Shayne Burgess |
£124,000 | £30,000 | £15,000 |
| 2004 |  Roland Scholten (89.49) |
11–6 |  John Part (85.98) |
£124,000 | £30,000 | £15,000 |
| 2005 | Phil Taylor (96.80) |
13–7 | Mark Walsh (84.52) |
£124,000 | £30,000 | £15,000 |
| 2006 | Raymond van Barneveld (91.51) |
13–7 |  Barrie Bates (82.98) |
£124,000 | £30,000 | £15,000 |
| 2007 | Raymond van Barneveld (94.99) |
16–8 | Vincent van der Voort (88.76) |
£150,000 | £30,000 | £15,000 |
| 2008 | James Wade (94.65) |
11–7 |  Gary Mawson (87.33) |
£178,000 | £35,000 | £15,000 |
| 2009 | Phil Taylor (100.81) |
11–6 | Colin Osborne (93.24) |
£200,000 | £40,000 | £20,000 |
| 2010 | Phil Taylor (97.71) |
11–5 |  Gary Anderson (92.41) |
£200,000 | £40,000 | £20,000 |
| 2011 | James Wade (96.25) |
11–8 | Wes Newton (88.51) |
£200,000 | £40,000 | £20,000 |
| 2012 | Robert Thornton (95.44) |
11–5 | Phil Taylor (98.58) |
£200,000 | £40,000 | £20,000 |
| 2013 | Phil Taylor (107.04) |
11–4 | Andy Hamilton (97.95) |
£200,000 | £40,000 | £20,000 |
| 2014 | – | £250,000 | £50,000 | £25,000 |
Finalists
| Player | Won | Runner-up |
|---|---|---|
| Phil Taylor | 5 | 1 |
| Raymond van Barneveld | 2 | 0 |
| James Wade | 2 | 0 |
| Roland Scholten | 1 | 0 |
| Robert Thornton | 1 | 0 |
| Shayne Burgess | 0 | 1 |
| John Part | 0 | 1 |
| Mark Walsh | 0 | 1 |
| Barrie Bates | 0 | 1 |
| Vincent van der Voort | 0 | 1 |
| Gary Mawson | 0 | 1 |
| Colin Osborne | 0 | 1 |
| Gary Anderson | 0 | 1 |
| Wes Newton | 0 | 1 |
| Andy Hamilton | 0 | 1 |
Format
As of 2013 qualifying events for amateur players are organized by Speedy Services and held in various locations across the UK (four events in 2013). At each of these events players are tasked with throwing 15 darts for as high a combined score as possible, with the top 16 scorers playing off in best of three legs 501 matches for eight available spots in the UK Open, for a total of 32 spots. In 2014 Rileys Sports Bars are hosting 32 qualifiers for this event.
In addition there are eight UK Open qualifiers for professional players, which also form part of the PDC Pro Tour. These events are only open to players holding an active PDPA membership - either a tour card or associate membership. Prize money won in these eight qualifiers is then collated into an Order of Merit table (Winner £6000; Runner-up £3000; 3-4 £2000; 5-8 £1000; 9-16 £600; 17-32 £400; 33-64 £200). The top 96 players plus ties in this Order of Merit join the amateur qualifiers at the televised stages in Bolton.
The format is as follows (as of 2013):
- Preliminary and First Round (Thursday): The 32 Speedy Services qualifiers and players ranked 65 and lower in the UK Open Order of Merit start the tournament here. Best of 9 legs.
- Second Round (Thursday): Players ranked 33-64 in the UK Open Order of Merit join the 32 winners of the first round. Best of 9 legs.
- Third Round (Friday): The top 32 in the UK Open Order of Merit join the 32 survivors from Thursday. Best of 17 legs.
- Fourth Round (Saturday): Best of 17 legs.
- Fifth Round (Saturday): Best of 17 legs.
- Quarter Finals (Sunday): Best of 19 legs.
- Semi Finals (Sunday): Best of 19 legs.
- Final (Sunday): Best of 21 legs.
The draws for the rounds played on Thursday are made in full after all qualifying players are known, while the draws for the third round onward are made separately as soon as each preceding round has concluded.
Media coverage
Sky Sports 2003-2013
ITV4 2014-
References
http://www.rileys.co.uk/tournaments/pdc-uk-open-qualifiers
External links
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