Luke Littler (Photo PDC)
World champion Luke Littler will be looking bounce back from his less than spectacular performances at the recent Premier League at the UK Open starting tomorrow.
The World Champion stormed to his maiden UK Open title on his third appearance in the competition last year, and will be aiming to emulate Raymond van Barneveld, Michael van Gerwen and Phil Taylor by becoming only the fourth player to retain the title in Minehead.
Van Gerwen will enter at the fourth round stage alongside other former champions Gary Anderson, James Wade, Danny Noppert, Nathan Aspinall, Dimitri Van den Bergh and Andrew Gilding, whilst two-time winner Van Barneveld and 2017 champion Peter Wright will enter in round three.
Two-time semi-finalist Jonny Clayton will be vying to win his first Premier ranking title since 2021, as he enters his 12th consecutive UK Open on Friday evening.
The Welsh number one has enjoyed a strong start to 2026, sitting top of the Premier League table after four weeks, and is hoping to carry this form into Minehead.
“It’s a unique tournament, it’s exciting,” said Clayton, who fell short to Littler in the semi-finals last year.
“We’ll finish at Cardiff tomorrow night and then we’ll head on down to Minehead. On the way down, I will switch mindset towards the UK Open.
“It’s like the FA Cup of darts! I can’t wait.”
Clayton’s World Cup partner Gerwyn Price is another player hungry for a Premier ranking title, having last tasted success in 2021 with the Grand Slam of Darts.
A two-time runner-up at the UK Open, Price has started the year in rampant fashion, reaching the semi-finals at the Winmau World Masters and claiming a Players Championship title in Leicester.
“I’m in a good spot at the moment. I’ve been playing well over the last couple of weeks,” insisted Price, who has already moved up two places to world number ten since the start of 2026.
“I’m defending absolutely nothing this year, so whoever is above me, I’m going to catch them.”
Premier League stars Luke Humphries, Gian van Veen, Stephen Bunting and Josh Rock will all begin their bids for their maiden UK Open title in round four, as well as last year’s finalist Wade.
Ross Smith will enter at the round four stage on Friday evening for the fourth year straight, after picking up his seventh Players Championship title in in February.
The former European Champion reached the quarter-finals in 2019, but has not progressed beyond round five since, and will be hoping that his stellar start to 2026 can buck that trend.
“The first few weeks of the year, I’ve actually been a bit nervy. You just want to get off to a good start,” admitted Smith.
“I’m really confident going into the tournament, but at the same time every day is different.
“I’m feeling really good, anyone who plays me is going to have to play well to beat me.”
Players will compete for the £120,000 top prize and the coveted title across the weekend in Minehead, with a total prize fund of £750,000 on offer being paid down to the last 128.
