March has arrived which means it is time for the first PDC televised ranking tournament on the darting calendar as the UK Open takes place in Minehead this weekend. 160 hopefuls descend on Butlins looking to come out on top in the event dubbed the ‘FA Cup of Darts’.
Nathan Aspinall had one of the weekends of his life last year when he powered to the title, and he will be looking to defend his crown this week and continue his ascent up the rankings. Some massive names will be out to stop him.
Recent Winners
2019 – Nathan Aspinall
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
The Format
The 128 players who have tour cards all enter the tournament this year. There have been no qualifying series for them. There have however been 16 pub qualifying events for those who are chasing the dream. Challenge Tour and Development Tour stars also get their chance to mix it with the professionals this week.
The non-tour players go into the first round against the pros ranked 97-128 on the order of merit with the winners going into the second round where players ranked 65-96 join the event. The 32 winners of that round are joined by players ranked 33-64. All these matches are the best of 11 legs and the 32 winners are joined by the top 32 in the world for round four which sees the format go up to the best of 19. The format stays the same for the last 16 and quarter finals before going up to the best of 21 for the semi-finals and final. From round four onwards there is a completely random draw like in the football equivalent of the FA Cup.
Favourites
Michael van Gerwen is yet to win a title this year heading into this tournament, which is pretty amazing for a man who is used to winning as regularly as he is. He is still the favourite for this event and you can get quotes of 5/2 about him winning this weekend which is the biggest he will have been for a TV event in some time. There is no signs of his best form being on the horizon though so even at that price I can’t bring myself to take him.
Peter Wright is a 13/2 second favourite to make it three TV tournament successes in succession after his glory in the World Championship and The Masters. He could easily take this down for a second time and at 2.5 times the van Gerwen price there is an easy argument that he is value but the draw can be brutal in this and so I’m reluctant to get involved at short prices on anyone, although I do think Wright should be respected.
The game should be said for Gerwyn Price who has turned himself into a machine from the depths of ridicule. You know a player is good when he can withstand the stick he was taking from crowds and turn it around to the extent that he is performing well that these crowds have to respect him now. That is bigger than any tournament win but he’s a danger every time he toes the oche. He’s 8/1 to win the tournament and I wouldn’t be surprised if he does, but everything I said about Wright can be echoed here. I respect him but I want more value with my bets.
Michael Smith is the 18/1 fourth favourite to finally land a TV title after agonisingly missing out in the final of The Masters. I’ll go into a bit more depth on him in a short while. The other man in the field who is 20/1 or less is Gary Anderson. He might just have had his confidence knocked a little too much by his defeat to Luke Humphries in the Premier League on Thursday night though, so while I expect him to be good in the second half of 2020, this one might just be a bit too soon for him.
Main Bets
There are two main bets for me this week but the first thing I’ll say is focus on where you bet because some bookmakers are rightly paying four places and some only two. The ones offering only two places don’t deserve your money so don’t give it to them.
Michael Smith is the first of my main bets. I’ll get the elephant in the room addressed straight away. We will have fears of him hitting the winning double when he gets to it because he’s bungled them too many times, but he won’t always miss and I’m prepared to take the chance on him here because the way the draw is he could be playing someone heavily inferior in the final. With no disrespect to any of these names, Shayne Burgess, Gary Mawson, Mark Walsh and Barrie Bates have all made the final of this before so it is nothing new for outsiders to go deep. Were Smith to face one of those he’ll have so much in hand he’ll hit the double. Smith is playing brilliant darts at the minute. He won in Belgium last weekend, beat van Gerwen in the Premier League on Thursday night and at 18/1 looks a knocking good bet to me.
The other bet I like as a main bet is Glen Durrant. Anyone who has read this site over the last 2-3 years will know I’m a massive fan of Glen Durrant. I backed him at the World Championship where he looked really good but ran into a brilliant Gerwyn Price in the last eight but he now sits top of the Premier League table which is an indication to the good darts he is playing, and from that he should have the confidence to have a huge weekend here. Durrant is now in the top 32 in the world so he don’t need to worry about him coming through a dodgy best of 11 against someone. He’s playing long course darts from the off and should go well.
Outsiders
I’ll throw four darts at the event too. Jeffrey de Zwaan has a win over Michael van Gerwen in this event to his name and he has the quality to see off inferior opposition so with the luck of the draw he is overpriced at 66/1. He is also in the top 32 so we don’t need to worry about him falling foul of someone in a best of 11. The longer formats suit him as when he finds a rhythm on that 60 he doesn’t come away from it too much. He can go deep if he avoids running into a big gun early doors.
Ryan Searle showed at the World Championship that he can plough in 180s like he’s got a magnet behind the 60 when he’s on form and he’s already followed that up with a win on the Players Championship circuit so he is a dark horse this week. Naturally we would want the draw to be nice but there is always someone who goes deep by virtue of not playing anyone elite. If that is Searle then a man who has a tournament win in 2020 – and there are only six who do have that – is overpriced at 150/1.
Devon Petersen has been doing some work with Wayne Mardle and it has certainly had an effect on his game as he made a semi-final in one of the Players Championship events and was slamming in 100+ averages for fun in it along the way. He’ll start his campaign deeper in the event than the others I’ve backed already but if he has that form with him it won’t matter a great deal. He’s a veteran on the big stages and clearly in good nick away from them. He’s a 200/1 shot to four places this weekend and that could be a touch of value.
I’ll also throw a few coins at Scott Waites. This might be the first season he has a PDC tour card but he has won a PDC major in the past having landed the Grand Slam. This sort of event might be bang up his street too. He can warm into it against lesser foes and if he can run under the radar for a while we know when he gets into the latter stages of events he can be hard to beat. I get the impression that the next two years are a bonus for him so I’ll pay to see how he does here.
Tips
Back M.Smith to win UK Open (e/w) for a 2/10 stake at 19.00 with Sky Bet (1/4 1-4)
Back G.Durrant to win UK Open (e/w) for a 1/10 stake at 29.00 with Coral (1/4 1-4)
Back R.Searle to win UK Open (e/w) for a 0.5/10 stake at 151.00 with Coral (1/4 1-4)
Back D.Petersen to win UK Open (e/w) for a 0.5/10 stake at 201.00 with Coral (1/4 1-4)
Back S.Waites to win UK Open (e/w) for a 0.5/10 stake at 251.00 with Coral (1/4 1-4)
Back them here:
Back J.de Zwaan to win UK Open (e/w) for a 0.5/10 stake at 67.00 with Betfair (1/4 1-4)
Back him here:
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