Littler and Humphries start in style, as Noppert nails the nine

Luke Littler and Luke Humphries produced superb doubling displays to book their spots in round five of the UK Open, as former champion Danny Noppert achieved perfection on a thrilling opening day in Minehead.

The £750,000 event saw 125 matches played across eight stages on a marathon day at Butlin’s Minehead Resort. The opening four rounds were held across a bumper double session, as the 157-player field was whittled down to 32 by the conclusion of Friday’s play.

Reigning champion Littler began his bid for back-to-back titles with a 10-3 drubbing of Damon Heta, avenging his defeat to the Australian number one in the 2024 quarter-finals.

The world number one produced a sparkling 170 finish en route to victory, which was preceded by a magnificent 132 combination – featuring two bullseyes.

Humphries also impressed in his opener against Luke Woodhouse, averaging 105 and registering four ton-plus checkouts to begin his bid for a maiden UK Open crown.

However, the performance of the day was produced by 2018 champion Gary Anderson, who averaged 107.42 and crashed in eight 180s in his 10-6 success against Dirk van Duijvenbode.

Anderson was one of six former champions to progress to Saturday’s action, with Michael van Gerwen, James Wade and Peter Wright joining Littler and Noppert in round five.

Noppert produced a moment of magic in his clash against Dimitri Van den Bergh, landing a spectacular nine-darter to triumph 10-4 in a battle of the former UK Open winners.

Van Gerwen, meanwhile, averaged 101 in accounting for 2019 champion Nathan Aspinall in a high-quality encounter, while three-time champion Wade edged past Chris Dobey in a last-leg thriller.

Wright defeated Darius Labanauskas and Cameron Menzies to kick-start his title challenge, as Welsh duo Gerwyn Price and Jonny Clayton eased through in resounding fashion.

World Championship runner-up Gian van Veen was the highest-ranked casualty on Friday evening, succumbing 10-7 to a resurgent Rob Cross in a contest which saw both players average 101.

Wessel Nijman also averaged over a ton in his demolition of two-time winner Raymond van Barneveld, who survived five match darts to edge past Czechia’s Karel Sedlacek earlier in the day.

Stephen Bunting overcame French trailblazer Thibault Tricole in his opening round tie, while Josh Rock returned to winning ways with an epic deciding-leg victory over Ireland’s William O’Connor.

Gabriel Clemens prevailed in similar fashion, taking out 145 to stun Richard Veenstra in a last-leg thriller and advance alongside his compatriots Martin Schindler, Dominik Gruellich and Kai Gotthardt.

German number one Schindler ran out a 10-8 winner against Joe Cullen, while Gruellich and Gotthardt won seven matches between them to mark their best runs in a TV ranking event.

Leon Weber was unable to join his fellow countrymen after losing out to 2022 runner-up Michael Smith, with 2023 UK Open winner Andrew Gilding exiting at the hands of former European Champion Ross Smith.

TV title winners Daryl Gurney, Mike De Decker and Mensur Suljovic also enjoyed winning starts in Minehead, alongside former UK Open semi-finalists Dave Chisnall and Keane Barry.

There will be a continental flavour to Saturday afternoon’s line-up, with Poland’s Krzysztof Ratajski progressing alongside Latvia’s Madars Razma and Sweden’s Oskar Lukasiak.

World Championship semi-finalist Ryan Searle opened his title challenge in successful style, before Kevin Doets averaged almost 99 in dumping out Sweden’s Jeffrey de Graaf.

Ryan Joyce ended Charlie Manby’s promising run in round four, as Martin Lukeman and Darryl Pilgrim completed the round five line-up.

The draw for round five was made live on the Main Stage at the conclusion of Friday night’s action, with Littler pitted against Doets in an eye-catching affair.

Humphries will play six-time TV finalist Chisnall, while Anderson and Schindler go head-to-head and Price faces Nijman in arguably the tie of the round.

RESULTS
Round One: Charlie Manby 6-3 Stefan Bellmont; Sam Spivey 6-2 Kyle Gilding; Pascal Rupprecht 6-1 Jenson Walker; Mervyn King 6-4 Aden Kirk; Michael Unterbuchner 6-5 Rusty-Jake Rodriguez; Adam Leek 6-5 David Sharp; Rhys Griffin 6-2 Filip Bereza; Stephen Burton 6-2 Jake Eichen; Cristo Reyes 6-3 Graham Usher; Tyler Thorpe 6-0 Pero Ljubic; Kai Gotthardt 6-4 Daniel Lee; Jack Todd 6-4 Carl Sneyd; Stephen Rosney 6-5 Clive Langford; Alexander Merkx 6-3 Jannis Barkhausen; Tom Sykes 6-2 Sean Ryan; Sietse Lap 6-3 Ted Evetts; Samuel Whittaker 6-4 Jeffrey de Zwaan; Oliver King 6-3 Ryan Branley; Benjamin Pratnemer 6-3 Callum Goffin; Darius Labanauskas 6-4 Callum Francis; Owen Bates 6-3 Yorick Hofkens; Niall Culleton 6-3 Lewis Pearse; Jamai van den Herik 6-3 Graham Hall; Jurjen van der Velde 6-4 Jack Tweddell; Arno Merk 6-5 James Beeton; Scott Campbell BYE (Danny van Trijp withdrew due to personal reasons); Ron Meulenkamp 6-2 Samuel Price; Jeffrey Sparidaans 6-4 Scott Waites; Patrik Williams 6-4 Simon Stevenson; Marvin Kraft BYE (Matthias Ehlers withdrew due to injury); Chris Landman 6-2 Nathan Potter; Henry Coates 6-3 Neil Wild

Round Two: Sebastian Bialecki 6-5 Christian Kist; Tom Bissell 6-2 Jimmy van Schie; Darryl Pilgrim 6-4 Beau Greaves; Pascal Rupprecht 6-5 Cam Crabtree; Thomas Lovely 6-4 Shane McGuirk; Adam Gawlas 6-0 Tavis Dudeney; Jim Long 6-0 Tytus Kanik; Sam Spivey 6-5 Max Hopp; Rob Owen 6-4 Stefaan Henderyck; Darius Labanauskas 6-3 Maximilian Czerwinski; Greg Ritchie 6-3 Adam Leek; Leon Weber 6-5 Jurjen van der Velde; Owen Bates 6-4 Wesley Plaisier; Oskar Lukasiak 6-2 Rhys Griffin; Henry Coates 6-4 Adam Paxton; Charlie Manby 6-2 Tyler Thorpe; Niall Culleton BYE (Viktor Tingstrom has withdrawn due to personal reasons); Adam Warner 6-5 Ron Meulenkamp; Dominik Gruellich 6-1 Jamai van den Herik; Cristo Reyes 6-1 Sietse Lap; Patrik Williams 6-5 Cor Dekker; Scott Campbell 6-1 Dennie Olde Kalter; Alexander Merkx 6-2 Marvin van Velzen; Jeffrey Sparidaans 6-3 Chris Landman; Andy Boulton 6-4 Mervyn King; Michael Unterbuchner 6-5 Maik Kuivenhoven; Benjamin Pratnemer 6-1 Samuel Whittaker; Kai Gotthardt 6-2 Marvin Kraft; Adam Lipscombe 6-0 Jack Todd; Bradley Brooks 6-5 Oliver King; Tom Sykes 6-4 Arno Merk; Stephen Rosney 6-4 Stephen Burton

Round Three: Raymond van Barneveld 6-5 Karel Sedlacek; Ricky Evans 6-2 Brendan Dolan; Peter Wright 6-3 Darius Labanauskas; Kevin Doets 6-4 Ricardo Pietreczko; Gabriel Clemens 6-4 Sebastian Bialecki; Keane Barry 6-5 Kim Huybrechts; Joe Cullen 6-3 Pascal Rupprecht; Mensur Suljovic 6-2 Lukas Wenig; Niels Zonneveld 6-3 Tom Bissell; Connor Scutt 6-3 Jeffrey Sparidaans; Alexander Merkx 6-5 Sam Spivey; Jeffrey de Graaf 6-1 Adam Warner; Jim Long 6-5 Callan Rydz; Darryl Pilgrim 6-5 Rob Owen; Kai Gotthardt 6-4 Niko Springer; William O’Connor 6-4 Ryan Meikle; Adam Lipscombe 6-5 Nick Kenny; Andy Boulton 6-4 Patrik Williams; Henry Coates 6-4 Michael Unterbuchner; Leon Weber 6-5 Mario Vandenbogaerde; Richard Veenstra 6-4 Alan Soutar; Greg Ritchie 6-5 Mickey Mansell; Thibault Tricole 6-4 Stephen Rosney; Tom Sykes 6-4 Cristo Reyes; Madars Razma 6-2 Adam Gawlas; Dominik Gruellich 6-4 Justin Hood; Oskar Lukasiak 6-3 Bradley Brooks; Charlie Manby 6-4 James Hurrell; Martin Lukeman 6-4 Thomas Lovely; Scott Campbell 6-2 Ian White; Niall Culleton 6-4 Owen Bates; Benjamin Pratnemer 6-4 Scott Williams

Round Four: Rob Cross 10-7 Gian van Veen; Luke Humphries 10-3 Luke Woodhouse; Luke Littler 10-3 Damon Heta; Michael van Gerwen 10-8 Nathan Aspinall; Danny Noppert 10-4 Dimitri Van den Bergh; Martin Schindler 10-8 Joe Cullen; Gary Anderson 10-6 Dirk van Duijvenbode; James Wade 10-9 Chris Dobey; Mensur Suljovic 10-5 Jermaine Wattimena; Michael Smith 10-8 Leon Weber; Oskar Lukasiak 10-7 Benjamin Pratnemer; Keane Barry 10-2 Henry Coates; Gerwyn Price 10-3 Greg Ritchie; Martin Lukeman 10-6 Ritchie Edhouse; Ross Smith 10-4 Andrew Gilding; Kai Gotthardt 10-8 Tom Sykes; Dominik Gruellich 10-8 Niall Culleton; Krzysztof Ratajski 10-4 Ricky Evans; Madars Razma 10-9 Jim Long; Peter Wright 10-6 Cameron Menzies; Kevin Doets 10-5 Jeffrey de Graaf; Stephen Bunting 10-5 Thibault Tricole; Daryl Gurney 10-7 Niels Zonneveld; Ryan Joyce 10-6 Charlie Manby; Gabriel Clemens 10-9 Richard Veenstra; Wessel Nijman 10-1 Raymond van Barneveld; Darryl Pilgrim 10-5 Connor Scutt; Josh Rock 10-9 William O’Connor; Jonny Clayton 10-2 Alexander Merkx; Ryan Searle 10-7 Andy Boulton; Mike De Decker 10-8 Adam Lipscombe; Dave Chisnall 10-5 Scott Campbell