Preview Sunday afternoon UK Open: Quarter-Finals headlined by Welsh titan clash between Clayton and Price

Eight players remain in contention for the title at the UK Open 2026 in Minehead. The final day gets underway on Sunday afternoon with the quarterfinals first, before the semifinals and final are played in the evening.

Three former UK Open champions have made the last eight. Defending champion Luke Littler is still chasing back-to-back titles, and he meets former winner Danny Noppert. James Wade is also among the contenders. Who reaches the last four? We look ahead in our preview.

A draw both will probably be content with. For the second time in his career, Krzysztof Ratajski is in the last eight of the FA Cup of Darts. And judging by the scorelines, Ratajski hasn’t had to dig too deep yet. The Warsaw thrower defeated Ricky Evans (10-4), Oskar Lukasiak (10-5), and Ryan Searle (10-5) in succession. It yields another hefty chunk of prize money for the rankings, after he also reached the World Championship quarterfinals earlier this season.

Josh Rock reached the semifinals in Minehead last year, and is well on course to at least match that achievement in 2026. Rocky escaped elimination in the fourth round against William O’Connor (10-9), but then took care of Dominik Gruellich (10-7) and Stephen Bunting (10-7).

The head-to-head is not a great omen for Ratajski. These two have met thirteen times before, and Rock has won no fewer than eleven, including the last six meetings.

James Wade delivered a masterclass on Saturday night in his clash with Michael van Gerwen. The Dutchman was sloppy early on, but once Wade got a grip, the game was gone. An average of 105.83, five 180s, and a 59 percent checkout rate were the sparkling numbers Wade posted. Before that, Wade had already beaten Chris Dobey (10-9) and Gabriel Clemens (10-2). Wade has won the UK Open three times before, though remarkably never in Minehead.

Rob Cross laid down an early marker on Friday night with an excellent 10-7 win over world number three Gian van Veen. In the fifth round, Cross battled back from 7-9 down against Mike De Decker to edge the Belgian 10-9. He then beat Daryl Gurney 10-6 to reach the last eight. The former world champion also did so in 2018, 2019, 2020, 2023, and 2024, but only in 2019 did Cross win his quarterfinal. He then lost the final to Nathan Aspinall.

This will be the 24th meeting between the two Englishmen. On past form, Wade is a slight favorite. The left-hander has walked off the stage as winner thirteen times, compared to ten for Cross.

Danny Noppert knocked out one Luke, and immediately faces the other. The Freeze drove Luke Humphries to despair on Saturday night. Cool Hand Luke squandered a host of doubles, while Noppert took his chances superbly to dump Humphries 10-6. Earlier, Noppert had already stolen the show with a nine-darter against Dimitri Van den Bergh, a match he won 10-4. He also swept aside two-time world champion Peter Wright 10-2.

Big names one after another, and now the best player of the moment awaits. Littler, though, hasn’t been as untouchable as he can be. Against Damon Heta (10-3), The Nuke won without dazzling, while the defending champion in Minehead was actually second best against Kevin Doets (10-8) in the last 32. Against Gary Anderson, however, Littler was back to a high level. The 19-year-old Englishman won that match 10-5 with a 102.48 average.

Noppert has beaten Littler once before. That came at a Euro Tour event in September 2025. The other three matches all went Littler’s way, including a 16-9 win in last year’s Grand Slam of Darts semifinals. Both men know what it takes to win the UK Open. Littler did so last year, while Noppert surprisingly lifted the trophy in Minehead in 2022.

At least one Welshman will feature in the UK Open semifinals, as Jonny Clayton and Gerwyn Price face off to decide the final semifinalist at this edition. This will be Clayton’s first standout opponent of the tournament, as The Ferret has yet to be seriously tested. He brushed aside Alexander Merkx 10-2 in his opener, followed by a 10-7 win over Darryl Pilgrim. Martin Lukeman couldn’t trouble Jonny Clayton much either, eventually losing 10-7 to the former Premier League champion.

That Price is still in the tournament is nothing short of a miracle. After wins over Greg Ritchie (10-3) and Wessel Nijman (10-5), the former rugby player’s run suddenly hung by a thread in the last 16. The Iceman started poorly against Keane Barry and trailed 4-9 after thirteen legs. Suddenly the engine kicked in, and on his birthday no less, Price produced a stunning comeback. With two 12-darters and checkouts of 81, 90, and 71, the former world champion turned it around to win 10-9.

After all these years on tour together, Price and Clayton have no secrets left for each other. Not only have they teamed up for Wales at the World Cup of Darts for years, they’ve also played 41 official matches against each other. Price clearly holds the edge over his compatriot, as The Iceman has beaten Clayton 29 times. The Ferret did defeat Price in February in the Premier League, his first win over Price in three years. Last week, however, Price took immediate revenge on Clayton at a Players Championship event.