The UK Open 2026 is set to take place at Butlins Minehead from March 6-8, featuring a 160-player field in an open-draw format. The tournament, often dubbed the 'FA Cup of Darts', will see 128 PDC Tour Card holders joined by eight players from the Development Tour and Challenge Tour, plus 16 amateur qualifiers. Defending champion Luke Littler, who won the 2025 edition 11-2 against James Wade, enters as a favourite but will not play until the fourth round due to the staggered entry system.
All players compete unseeded, with entry staggered by Order of Merit ranking. Players ranked 97–128 begin in the first round alongside all other qualifiers. Those ranked 65–96 join in the second round, players ranked 33–64 enter in the third round, and the top 32 ranked players, including Littler, start in the fourth round. A fresh open draw is conducted before each round, with the schedule confirmed at the end of each round, utilising a main stage, second stage, and multi-board room until Sunday when all matches move to the Main Stage.
The field includes the top 128 ranked players: Luke Littler, Luke Humphries, Gian van Veen, Michael van Gerwen, Jonny Clayton, Stephen Bunting, Gary Anderson, James Wade, Josh Rock, Danny Noppert, Gerwyn Price, Ryan Searle, Chris Dobey, Nathan Aspinall, Ross Smith, Martin Schindler, Jermaine Wattimena, Damon Heta, Mike De Decker, Rob Cross, Luke Woodhouse, Dave Chisnall, Wessel Nijman, Daryl Gurney, Ryan Joyce, Dimitri Van den Bergh, Krzysztof Ratajski, Ritchie Edhouse, Cameron Menzies, Dirk van Duijvenbode, Michael Smith, Andrew Gilding, Peter Wright, Ricardo Pietreczko, Joe Cullen, Raymond van Barneveld, Martin Lukeman, Kevin Doets, Callan Rydz, Ricky Evans, Brendan Dolan, Niels Zonneveld, William O'Connor, Scott Williams, Madars Razma, Mickey Mansell, Gabriel Clemens, James Hurrell, Connor Scutt, Justin Hood, Jeffrey de Graaf, Ian White, Alan Soutar, Niko Springer, Mensur Suljović, Ryan Meikle, Richard Veenstra, Keane Barry, Nick Kenny, Kim Huybrechts, Thibault Tricole, Lukas Wenig, Rob Owen, Mario Vandenbogaerde, Karel Sedláček, Bradley Brooks, Cam Crabtree, Wesley Plaisier, Sebastian Białecki, Max Hopp, Adam Lipscombe, Dominik Grüllich, Cor Dekker, Maik Kuivenhoven, Andy Boulton, Tavis Dudeney, Oskar Lukasiak, Darryl Pilgrim, Tom Bissell, Christian Kist, Leon Weber, Dennie Olde Kalter, Jim Long, Thomas Lovely, Marvin van Velzen, Viktor Tingström, Adam Warner, Greg Ritchie, Adam Paxton, Maximilian Czerwinski, Tytus Kanik, Stefaan Henderyck, Rusty-Jake Rodriguez, Pero Ljubić, Kai Gotthardt, Stefan Bellmont, Darius Labanauskas, Beau Greaves, Owen Bates, Rhys Griffin, Adam Leek, Arno Merk, Filip Bereza, Carl Sneyd, Niall Culleton, Jeffrey Sparidaans, Cristo Reyes, Shane McGuirk, Tom Sykes, Matthias Ehlers, Yorick Hofkens, Charlie Manby, Samuel Price, Sietse Lap, Jeffrey de Zwaan, Stephen Burton, Mervyn King, Tyler Thorpe, Stephen Rosney, David Sharp, Jimmy van Schie, Chris Landman, Marvin Kraft, Benjamin Pratnemer, Adam Gawlas, Jurjen van der Velde, Alexander Merkx, and Pascal Rupprecht.
Development Tour qualifiers are Jamai van den Herik, Ryan Branley, James Beeton, Jenson Walker, Jannis Barkhausen, Patrik Williams, Nathan Potter, and Henry Coates. Challenge Tour qualifiers are Ted Evetts, Michael Unterbuchner, Jack Tweddell, Sam Spivey, Scott Waites, Scott Campbell, Danny van Trijp, and Graham Hall. Amateur qualifiers are Jack Todd, Clive Langford, Kyle Gilding, Callum Francis, Simon Stevenson, Graham Usher, Aden Kirk, Samuel Whittaker, Neil Wild, Sean Ryan, Daniel Lee, Oliver King, Callum Goffin, Ron Meulenkamp, Lewis Pearse, and Jake Eichen.
Expert predictions vary widely. Samuel Gill picks Gerwyn Price as champion, with Luke Littler and Jonny Clayton as secondary picks, and Luke Humphries, Gian van Veen, and Wessel Nijman as tertiary picks. Lucas Michael selects Luke Humphries as champion, with Jonny Clayton and Gian van Veen as secondary picks, and Luke Littler, James Wade, and Josh Rock as tertiary picks. Pieter Verbeek sees Luke Littler as the clear favourite, with Luke Humphries and Gerwyn Price as secondary picks, and Michael van Gerwen, Gian van Veen, and James Wade as tertiary picks. Oliver Ried predicts Luke Humphries to win, with Luke Littler and Gian van Veen as secondary picks, and Jonny Clayton, Michael van Gerwen, and Wessel Nijman as tertiary picks. Nicolas Gayer also picks Luke Littler as champion, with Luke Humphries and Gian van Veen as secondary picks, and highlights Krzysztof Ratajski, Wessel Nijman, and Gabriel Clemens as dark horses. Mats Leering favours Luke Littler as the main favourite, with Gerwyn Price and Gian van Veen as secondary picks, and Luke Humphries, Jonny Clayton, and Nathan Aspinall as tertiary picks. Theo Stodiek picks Luke Littler as champion, with Jonny Clayton and Gerwyn Price as secondary picks, and Luke Woodhouse and Kevin Doets as dark horses.
