The UK Open has whittled down its 157 entrants to just sixteen players, who will battle on Saturday evening for a place on the FA Cup of Darts final day. Remarkably, eleven players from the top 12 of the PDC Order of Merit have survived the early cull, setting the stage for a mouthwatering last 16 under the tournament's open draw format, where ten legs are required to progress.
The evening session promises fireworks with three clashes between former UK Open finalists. Stephen Bunting, untroubled so far with wins of 10-5 over Thibault Tricole and 10-2 against Mensur Suljovic, faces Josh Rock, who edged William O'Connor 10-9 before beating Dominik Gruellich 10-7. Martin Lukeman, after victories over Thomas Lovely (6-4), Ritchie Edhouse (10-6) and Madars Razma (10-3), meets red-hot Jonny Clayton, who leads the Premier League and cruised past Alexander Merkx (10-2) and Darryl Pilgrim (10-7).
In a blockbuster tie, Gary Anderson, averaging 107.42 and 105.80 in wins over Dirk van Duijvenbode (10-6) and Martin Schindler (10-7), takes on reigning champion Luke Littler, who opened with a 10-3 win over Damon Heta but averaged only 94.81 and escaped Kevin Doets 10-8. Daryl Gurney, after beating Niels Zonneveld 10-7 and Ross Smith 10-8, faces Rob Cross, who overturned a 7-9 deficit to beat Mike De Decker 10-9 after ending Gian van Veen's run.
Two three-time UK Open champions collide as Michael van Gerwen, who saw off Nathan Aspinall 10-8 and Kai Gotthardt 10-6, duels James Wade, a survivor of a last-leg decider against Chris Dobey before a 10-2 win over Gabriel Clemens. Elsewhere, Gerwyn Price, with wins over Greg Ritchie (10-3) and Wessel Nijman (10-5), meets lowest-ranked survivor Keane Barry, who beat Kim Huybrechts (6-5), Henry Coates (10-2) and Ryan Joyce (10-7). Luke Humphries, breezing past Luke Woodhouse 10-3 and Dave Chisnall 10-4, faces Danny Noppert, who dispatched Dimitri Van den Bergh 10-4—hitting a nine-darter—and Peter Wright 10-2. The final tie pits Minehead local Ryan Searle, who beat Andy Boulton 10-7 and scraped past Michael Smith 10-9, against Krzysztof Ratajski, a 10-4 winner over Ricky Evans and 10-5 victor against Oskar Lukasiak.
