Peter Wright and Raymond van Barneveld provided major feel-good stories during a busy Friday afternoon session at the UK Open, while Beau Greaves suffered an early exit. Wright, who has been averaging in the mid-70s on the ProTour and struggling for wins since the turn of the year, revived his fortunes with a 6-3 victory over Darius Labanauskas, averaging just over 90. Van Barneveld produced a dramatic comeback from 5-2 down to survive five match darts from Karel Sedlacek and win 6-5, securing an emotional spot in Round Four after months of poor results and even skipping a major to play an exhibition.
Greaves, a Tour Card holder who reached the latter stages last year, fell 6-4 to Darryl Pilgrim, missing key opportunities in the tie. Jimmy van Schie lost to Tom Bissell on the main stage, with a notable moment being a 130 checkout attempt on the bull that bounced out, and Shane McGuirk also exited early. On a brighter note, Ricky Evans shone with a 102 average in a main stage win over Brendan Dolan, who was defending semi-final money from last year.
Elsewhere, Kevin Doets, Gabriel Clemens, and Keane Barry advanced from Stage Two, while Charlie Manby booked his spot with a 6-4 win over James Hurrell in a match that saw needle and referee intervention. Henry Coates, one of the few remaining non-Tour Card holders, impressed, as did William O'Connor, who had the crowd singing 'Zombie' and averaged nearly 102 in a 6-4 defeat of Ryan Meikle. Jeffrey de Graaf continued good form, but Niko Springer lost to compatriot Kai Gotthardt. Sam Spivey, Tom Bissell, Adam Warner, Patrik Williams, and Callan Rydz—who was beaten by Jim Long—all made early runs but fell before the fourth-round draw, which is set to include Luke Littler and Luke Humphries later today.
