The first televised ranking event of 2019 takes place this weekend when the 128 tour players and 32 amateurs descend on Butlins in Minehead for the UK Open, the tournament regularly dubbed the ‘FA Cup of Darts’.
The defending champion Gary Anderson has confirmed his appearance in the event which begins on Friday, which means that the best of the best are competing for the title and a significant first prize on a busy weekend of darts.
Recent Winners
2018 – Gary Anderson
2017 – Peter Wright
2016 – Michael van Gerwen
2015 – Michael van Gerwen
2014 – Adrian Lewis
2013 – Phil Taylor
2012 – Robert Thornton
2011 – James Wade
2010 – Phil Taylor
2009 – Phil Taylor
The Format
There has been a few changes to the format this year. There is no longer a qualifying series of tournaments to determine the seeds. Instead the Order of Merit is used. In the first round those ranked 97-128 are joined by the Challenge Tour and pub qualifiers with the winners of those games joining those ranked 65-96 in the second round. The winners of them progress to the third round where the players ranked 33-64 come into the tournament. All those matches are the best of 11 legs.
The top 32 in the world come into the competition on Friday night to join the players who won through the third round in the afternoon. From this point until the semi-finals the tournament is the best of 19 legs with the semi-finals and the final being the best of 21 legs. From the fourth round onwards the draw is a random one which gives the event the FA Cup feel.
Favourites
Michael van Gerwen is the even money favourite to get his crown back on Sunday night but if we needed a reminder that he isn’t infallible we got it on Thursday night when he was turned over in the Premier League. Missed doubles have been a feature of his Premier League campaign and there are enough players waiting to turn him over this weekend so he isn’t going to be for me at the price.
Gary Anderson begins his title defence as the 8/1 second favourite to win the tournament. Anyone backing him would be taking a massive leap of faith that he is not only good enough to do three days of pretty intense action – he would have to win six matches in barely 48hrs – but also that he has been practicing to be able to perform at a decent level even if his back was ok. I can’t be touching him at the price.
Rob Cross is the third favourite to land the tournament for the first time. He is 18/1 to be the champion and comes into the competition off the back of a fine win in the Premier League in Exeter on Thursday night. I’m not completely convinced that he is back to his best yet but he is getting there and this tournament will have good memories for him as it was in this that he made his name. If there is any value on him it is extremely minimal.
Peter Wright is a former winner of this tournament and is 20/1 to get the title back. He hasn’t looked anything like his best for a while and I wonder if his star is fading. I guess if he is to get back winning on TV this event could be it where you can get a bit of luck with the draw. I can’t be backing him though. Michael Smith and Gerwyn Price are the same odds as Wright. Smith doesn’t convince me in the latter stages of tournaments. I actually really like Price this weekend but I’ve missed the boat on the better prices. It is 25/1 bar.
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Main Bets
I’ll go with a couple of main bets this weekend with the first of them being the BDO world champion Glen Durrant. Not many win a PDC tournament at the first time of asking but if anyone is good enough to it is Durrant. Make no mistake about it he is one of the best players in the world and he has already shown that on the floor winning a tournament and making the final of another. He’ll be at home on the big stage and competent on the other stages too. He is regularly averaging more than 100 on the floor and if he makes it through to round four and the draw is kind he’ll go deep.
If beating Michael van Gerwen doesn’t make you feel good about your game then nothing will so James Wade should be buzzing coming into this weekend. He has been a regular feature in TV tournaments and the business end of them in recent times having won the European Championship and World Series Finals at the end of last year and making The Masters final earlier in 2019. Wade is one of those players who goes under the radar but few have shown better form in the last six months than him. At 33/1 to four places he’s almost a no brainer bet.
Outsiders
This is the kind of tournament that can throw up some big priced finalists or players in the latter stages of it. In the past the likes of Gary Mawson, Shayne Burgess, Barrie Bates, Mark Walsh and Vincent van der Voort have all reached the final of this event while 12 months ago the losing semi-finalists were Robert Owen and Dave Pallett and the finalist Corey Cadby wouldn’t have been a top pick. With that in mind I’ll try my hand at a few outsiders.
Nathan Aspinall had a brilliant World Championship, making it all the way to the semi-final and here is his first chance to show that wasn’t a fluke. He has already made a semi-final and a quarter final on the floor in 2019 so his talent is really beginning to shine through. With a smooth draw initially there is no reason why he can’t have a deep run at a price probably twice as big as he should be given his exploits of the last three months.
Danny Noppert is another player who arrives in Minehead in decent form and overpriced. He actually made the semi-finals of both Players Championship events last weekend and was pinging in high 90 and 100 averages for fun over the course of the two days. He should have a good feeling for this venue having made the semi-final of the Players Championship Finals last year in this same place. Noppert is a class act and 200/1 is insulting especially with a kind draw.
There are a couple of real long shots to have a go at as well. John Henderson has made four quarter finals in the six Players Championship events this year and has been ploughing him high 90 averages for fun in those tournaments. If he can repeat that level here and the draw goes kind then 400/1 to four places on a man who isn’t in until the fourth round is ludicrous. Gabriel Clemens might only come in at the third round stage but he’s caught the eye this year already. He made the final of the Players Championship event last weekend and if he has that form with him then 500/1 is daft too.
Tips
Back G.Durrant to win UK Open (e/w) for a 1/10 stake at 26.00 with Betfred (1/4 1-4)
Back J.Wade to win UK Open (e/w) for a 1/10 stake at 34.00 with Betfred (1/4 1-4)
Back them here:
WON – Back N.Aspinall to win UK Open (e/w) for a 0.5/10 stake at 126.00 with Coral (1/4 1-4)
Back D.Noppert to win UK Open (e/w) for a 0.5/10 stake at 201.00 with Coral (1/4 1-4)
Back J.Henderson to win UK Open (e/w) for a 0.5/10 stake at 401.00 with Coral (1/4 1-4)
Back G.Clemens to win UK Open (e/w) for a 0.5/10 stake at 501.00 with Coral (1/4 1-4)
Back them here:
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