UK Open Preview

This Thursday see's the start of the UK Open in Bolton. Its been named the FA.Cup of darts and rightly so, with a huge field of players, from the PDC and a Few of the BDO lads thrown in for good measure its quickly becoming a firm favourite on the darting calender. The good thing about the open is, if you win you never know who you have on the next night till the end of that night. This gives players less time to prepare and the underdog a big advantage. Robert Thornton was that underdog last year, casting aside all those who got in his way to take the crown and put himself on the map. You win this and your made for the next couple of years.

So lets have a look at a few of the stand out matches on night one.

First off are the Preliminary rounds, and straight away the first stand out match is Robbie Green (BDO) v James Wade (PDC) both players are in good form and there is the whole 'Brand' Has it were to fight for. It should be a cracker to start the weekend off. Gino Vos v Alan Derrett could also be a good match over on Stage 4. Another BDO player is the Bullet Stephen Bunting and hes in action against Vernon Sheppard on Stage 5. The Bullet is the BDO number 1 Ranked player and always puts up a good fight on TV.

The First round sees some of the big names enter the arena with Justin Pipe and Dean Winstanley all taking to the stage. Then at the end of the night is round two with more of the big names starting there campaign. The likes of Phil Taylor, Richie Burnett, Andy Smith, Jim Walker and Jelle Klaasen fighting for places it could be an exciting end to day one. But the potential match of the night could be Ricky Evans v Joe Cullen. These two young guns are good at this flinging of Tungsten lark. Ricky made it to the Youth Finals and Joe had a fantastic run at the Austrian Open at the weekend. Both are coming in to form at the right time.


Schedule of Play – Thursday June 6
Main Stage

Preliminary Round
Robbie Green v James Wade
Vincent van der Voort v Andy Murray

First Round

Conan Whitehead v Roland Scholten
James Hubbard v John Scott
Mark Lawrence v Mensur Suljovic
Darrell Thorpe v Bunting/Sheppard

Second Round

Ricky Sudale v Richie Burnett
Kevin Dowling v Phil Taylor
Matthew Edgar v Osborne/Hine/Dudbridge
Musto/Roith/Hankey v Weston/Winstanley

Stage Two

Preliminary Round

Nick Fullwell v Wayne Jones
Colin Osborne v Steve Hine

First Round

Dave Weston v Dean Winstanley
Paul Whitworth v Andy Boulton
Justin Pipe v Gareth Pass
Farmer/Aubrey v Gaz Cousins

Second Round

Alex Roy v Mark Cox
T West/J Lewis/Lowe/Pennington v Steve West
Magnus Caris v van der Voort/Murray/Shepherd
Joey Palfreyman v Griffiths/K Brown/Rooney

Stage Three

Preliminary Round
Steve Farmer v Chris Aubrey
Stuart Lowe v Jake Pennington

First Round

Michael Burgoine v Daz Twist
Green/Wade v Matt Gallett
Prakash Jiwa v Johnson/Alcinas
Gary Stone v Langendorf/Martin

Second Round

Adam Hunt v Paul Amos
Coleman/McGeeney/Marsh v Jyhan Artut
Finnan/Jackson/Vos/Derrett v S Brown/Gray
Thorpe/Bunting/Sheppard v Wilson/Seyler

Stage Four

Preliminary Round
Gino Vos v Alan Derrett
Keegan Brown v Keith Rooney

First Round

Jason Wilson v Tomas Seyler
Steve Brown v Adrian Gray
Dymond/Baker v Dave Place
T West/J Lewis v Lowe/Pennington

Second Round

Colin Fowler v Padgett/Copley
Stone/Langendorf/Martin v Dennis Smith
Green/Wade/Gallett v Fullwell/W Jones/Lam/Meaney
McNicol/Mead v Dunford/Stewart/Santana

Stage Five

Preliminary Round
Stephen Bunting v Vernon Sheppard
Connie Finnan v Campbell Jackson
Scott Coleman v Mark McGeeney

First Round

Andy Parsons v Jamie Hagen
Andrew McNicol v Steven Mead
Musto/Roith v Ted Hankey
Shaun Griffiths v K Brown/Rooney

Second Round

Co Stompe v Michael Mansell
Peter Hudson v Lawrence/Suljovic
Hubbard/Scott v Andy Smith
Bushby/Mortimer v Jim Walker

Stage Six

Preliminary Round
Michael Musto v Bernd Roith
Maik Langendorf v Tony Martin
Darren Johnson v Antonio Alcinas

First Round

Michael Bushby v John Mortimer
Nigel Daniels v Johnny Haines
Coleman/McGeeney v Scott Marsh
Finnan/Jackson v Vos/Derrett

Second Round

Mark Walsh v Lee Palfreyman
Arron Monk v Farmer/Aubrey/Cousins
De Geus/Robertson v Whitworth/Boulton
Pipe/Pass v Jelle Klaasen

Stage Seven

Preliminary Round
Royden Lam v Paddy Meaney
Tony West v Jamie Lewis

First Round

Matthew Dennant v Darrell Townsend
Matt Padgett v David Copley
Dunford/Stewart v Gus Santana
van der Voort/Murray v Kirk Shepherd

Second Round

Ricky Evans v Joe Cullen
Terry Temple v Jiwa/Johnson/Alcinas
Dymond/Baker/Place v John Henderson
Singleton/O'Connor v Daniels/Haines

Stage Eight

Preliminary Round
Tam Dymond v Gavin Baker
Terry Dunford v Dean Stewart

First Round

Robbie Singleton v William O'Connor
Leon De Geus v Scott Robertson
Osborne/Hine v Mark Dudbridge
Fullwell/Jones v Lam/Meaney

Second Round

Andy Jenkins v Nigel Heydon
Burgoine/Twist v Richie Howson
Kevin Thomas v Whitehead/Scholten
Dennant/Townsend v Parsons/Hagen


The draw will be held for the next rounds after the last of the second round matches have been played when the top 32 join in the fun and games for a chance of becoming the winner of the UK Open 2013.

Also this week see's the return of the stunning Daniella Allfree and Sammi Marsh has the Walk-on ladies. Its been a few weeks since we saw the dynamic duo doing what they do best, but we have them for a whole 4 days! So sit back, relax and enjoy beautiful ladies and one of the best darts Tournaments around.