Defending champion Luke Littler is through to the semi-finals of the UK Open in Minehead after a comeback 10-6 victory over 2022 winner Danny Noppert. The 19-year-old two-time world champion and world number one trailed the Dutchman 3-0 at the start of their best-of-19-legs quarter-final but reeled off three straight legs in reply, led for the first time at 6-5, and eventually sealed the win with a three-dart average of 104.47.
Littler went seven perfect darts into a potential nine-darter in the 15th leg but missed his attempt at treble 17. He is now aiming to become the first player to win back-to-back UK Open titles since Michael van Gerwen did so in 2015 and 2016. The semi-finals and final will be played from 19:00 GMT, with a £120,000 first prize going to the tournament winner.
In the other quarter-finals, Northern Ireland's Josh Rock beat Poland's Krzysztof Ratajski 10-7, while three-time UK Open champion James Wade was a 10-9 victor against 2018 world champion Rob Cross. Cross fought back from 9-7 behind to force a deciding leg, but fellow Englishman Wade, the runner-up to Littler in 2025, took out a 107 finish to secure his semi-final berth. Gerwyn Price, the 2021 world champion, completed the semi-final line-up with a 10-8 victory over fellow Welshman Jonny Clayton.
Had Clayton won, it would have resulted in the same players who reached last year's semi-finals in Minehead making up the final four again in 2026. The semi-final match-ups are now set: James Wade will take on Gerwyn Price, while Luke Littler will play Josh Rock for a place in the final.
