Darters laud 'best tournament of the year' UK Open: "This is where I started, and I’ll never disrespect it"

The UK Open remains a unique bastion within the world of darts. It is the only PDC tournament that fully embraces its pub roots and offers amateurs the chance to challenge the sport's greats.

The FA Cup of Darts is known as a chaotic tournament, but in the good sense of the word. An open draw is used, allowing anyone to face each other.

Superstars like Luke Humphries and Luke Littler shine on the main stage, but the soul of the tournament is upstairs in a small room with six dart boards side by side.

Here there are no spectacular walk-ons, no MCs whipping up the crowd - just the pure essence of the sport, played inches away from the spectators, who experience every dart intensely.

Premier League star Nathan Aspinall, who was still playing in front of 5,000 people on Thursday night, was pitching on board 5 a day later, with hundreds of fans panting on his neck from three feet away.

“It’s carnage,” Aspinall said to The Guardian. “I’ve got Ross Smith two yards to my right, arguing with José de Sousa because he’s got change in his pocket. I’ve got Willie O’Connor jumping around like an absolute nutter on my left. But that’s the beauty of the UK Open. This is where I started, and I’ll never disrespect it.”

For many, the UK Open is the tournament of the year. Cameron Menzies, winner of a Players Championship, is a big fan of the event in Butlins, Minehead.

“It’s the best tournament of the year for the proper fans,” Menzies said. “Premier League fans go for a drink. Here, everyone’s here for a certain player.”

For players like Adam Lipscombe, the UK Open is a chance to prove himself. The world number 121, who works as a groundskeeper in Portsmouth in addition to his darts career, was actually not even qualified.

“I’m sweating my f***** beans off here," Lipscombe panted after his third win of the afternoon. In January, he missed his chance for a PDC Tour Card at Q-School, but got a call on the way home: someone had withdrawn, and he got a second chance. He returned, won his tour card and changed his life.

Lipscombe defeated Jelle Klaasen and Ian White in Minehead and cleverly made it to the fourth round. "You’ve got to pinch yourself a little bit. Now I’ve just got to keep plodding."