The draw for the first three rounds of the 2020 UK Open has been made, with the schedule of play confirmed for the festival of darts which begins on Friday March 6 at Butlin's Minehead Resort.
The unique 160-player tournament will be broadcast live from March 6-8 on ITV4. This year's form at sees
PDC Tour Card Holders receive automatic entry into the
UK Open, with only Croatia's Boris Krcmar missing out. Those 127 players are joined by 17 qualifiers from the Challenge and Development Tour and 16 Rileys Amateur Qualifiers.
In the first round of the multi-board event the Tour Card Holders 97-127 (and Ben Cheeseman as replacement of Krcmar) will clash with 16 Challenge and Development Tour Qualifiers and 16 Rileys Qualifiers. The action gets underway on Friday at 1100 GMT on Stages 2-8, while the Main Stage action begins at 1200 GMT
Players ranked from 65-96 will enter in the second round, with the players ranked from 33-64 coming in at the third round stage. The world’s top 32 – including Michael van Gerwen, Peter Wright, Gerwyn Price and Gary Anderson – come into the event in Friday evening’s fourth round.
There will be female participants as Lisa Ashton and Fallon Sherrock are among the qualifiers. Ashton got her invite as she is one of the 128 PDC Tour Card holders, while Sherrock won one of the sixteen Rileys Amateur Qualifiers.
The UK Open is an unique tournament on the PDC calendar. It has the biggest playing field of all current majors, while a random draw will be staged after each round following the conclusion of the third round until the final.
Nathan Aspinall became the winner of the
FA Cup of Darts last year. The Asp claimed his first major title after
defeating Rob Cross 11-5 in the final as he
took out 170 to win the title.
Draw and Schedule 2020 UK Open
Friday March 6 – 1100 GMT Start (1200 GMT on Main Stage)
Main Stage
Mike De Decker v Lisa Ashton (R1)
Damon Heta v Scott Waites (R1)
Kyle McKinstry v Fallon Sherrock (R1)
Scott Baker v Mark McGeeney (R2)
Jeff Smith v John Michael (R2)
David Pallett v Doets/Thompson (R2)
Heaver/Noguera v McKinstry/Sherrock (R2)
Luke Humphries v Kyle Anderson (R3)
Kim Huybrechts v Robert Thornton (R3)
Josh Payne v Luke Woodhouse (R3)
Stage Two
Cody Harris v Scott Taylor (R1)
Kai Fan Leung v Kelvin Self (R1)
Adam Hunt v Karel Sedlacek (R1)
Keane Barry v Alan Tabern (R1)
Andy Hamilton v Patrick Lynskey (R1)
Marko Kantele v Dirk van Duijvenbode (R2)
Heta/Waites v Geert Nentjes (R2)
Larsson/Meikle v De Decker/Ashton (R2)
Menzies/Brooks v Nick Kenny (R2)
Ryan Searle v Cristo Reyes (R3)
William O'Connor v Jan Dekker (R3)
Vincent van der Voort v Smith/Michael (R3)
Koltsov/Van Trijp/Davidson/Borland v Larsson/Meikle/De Decker/Ashton (R3)
Stage Three
Steffen Siepmann v Krzysztof Kciuk (R1)
Peter Jacques v Ciaran Teehan (R1)
Michael Barnard v Steve Brown (R1)
Daniel Larsson v Ryan Meikle (R1)
Harry Ward v Gavin Carlin (R2)
Kirk Shepherd v Leung/Self (R2)
Hunt/Sedlacek v Barrie Bates (R2)
Hayden/J Clark v Richardson/Penhall (R2)
Ron Meulenkamp v Richard North (R3)
Jones/Blades/Whitehead v Steve West (R3)
Devon Petersen v Menzies/Brooks/Kenny (R3)
Justin Smith/Jenkins/Beeney/Harms v Atkins/Murray/Bunse (R3)
Huckvale/Burton/Van der Meer v Heaver/Noguera/McKinstry/Sherrock (R3)
Stage Four
Jason Askew v Greg Ritchie (R1)
Jason Heaver v Jesus Noguera (R1)
Adam Smith-Neale v Ben Cheeseman (R1)
Darren Beveridge v Nathan Rafferty (R1)
Andy Boulton v Reece Robinson (R2)
Nathan Derry v Maik Kuivenhoven (R2)
Justin Smith/Jenkins v Beeney/Harms (R2)
Telnekes/Kleermaker v Madars Razma (R2)
Jamie Lewis v Ross Smith (R3)
Evetts/Van Peer/Roelofs v James Wilson (R3)
Steve Lennon v Barnard/Brown/Barry/Tabern (R3)
Mickey Mansell v Zonneveld/Hamilton/Lynskey (R3)
Stage Five
Adam Huckvale v Stephen Burton (R1)
Rhys Hayden v James Clark (R1)
Cameron Menzies v Bradley Brooks (R1)
Kevin Burness v Harald Leitinger (R1)
Jonathan Worsley v Matt Clark (R2)
Carl Wilkinson v Siepmann/Kciuk (R2)
Ted Evetts v Van Peer/Roelofs (R2)
Barnard/Brown v Barry/Tabern (R2)
Justin Pipe v Shepherd/Leung/Self (R3)
Ryan Joyce v Jacques/Teehan/Meeuwisse (R3)
Jose De Sousa v Williams/Owen/Gray (R3)
Van Duivenbode/Beveridge/Rafferty v Jamie Hughes (R3)
Stage Six
Aaron Beeney v Wesley Harms (R1)
Boris Koltsov v Danny van Trijp (R1)
Andrew Davidson v William Borland (R1)
Lewis Williams v Robert Owen (R1)
Harris/Taylor v Jason Lowe (R2)
Atkins/Murray v Christian Bunse (R2)
Mike van Duivenbode v Beveridge/Rafferty (R2)
Niels Zonneveld v Hamilton/Lynskey (R2)
Derry/Kuivenhoven v Gabriel Clemens (R3)
Darius Labanauskas v Kantele/Van Duijvenbode (R3)
Hayden/J Clark/Richardson/Penhall v Toni Alcinas (R3)
Matthew Edgar v Smith-Neale/Cheeseman/McGuirk/Rydz (R3)
Stage Seven
Martin Atkins v Ryan Murray (R1)
Shane McGuirk v Callan Rydz (R1)
Wayne Jones v Gary Blades (R1)
Berry van Peer v Owen Roelofs (R1)
Rowby-John Rodriguez v Askew/Ritchie (R2)
Jacques/Teehan v Yordi Meeuwisse (R2)
Williams/Owen v Adrian Gray (R2)
Burness/Leitinger v Joe Murnan (R2)
Martin Schindler v Benito van de Pas (R3)
Baker/McGeeney v Boulton/Robinson (R3)
Worsley/M Clark v Harris/Taylor/Lowe (R3)
Telnekes/Kleermaker/Razma v Heta/Waites/Nentjes (R3)
Stage Eight
Justin Smith v Andy Jenkins (R1)
Derk Telnekes v Martijn Kleermaker (R1)
James Richardson v Darren Penhall (R1)
Kevin Doets v Alfie Thompson (R1)
Huckvale/Burton v Vincent van der Meer (R2)
Jones/Blades v Conan Whitehead (R2)
Koltsov/Van Trijp v Davidson/Borland (R2)
Smith-Neale/Cheeseman v McGuirk/Rydz (R2)
Jelle Klaasen v Rodriguez/Askew/Ritchie (R3)
Ward/Carlin v Wilkinson/Siepmann/Kciuk (R3)
Pallett/Doets/Thompson v Simon Stevenson (R3)
Hunt/Sedlacek/Bates v Burness/Leitinger/Murnan (R3)
Evening Session (1900 GMT start)
Fourth Round
Saturday March 7 (1530 GMT)
Fifth & Sixth Rounds
Sunday March 8
Afternoon Session (1245 GMT)
Quarter-Finals
Evening Session (1900 GMT)
Semi-Finals & Final