UK Open darts results: Michael van Gerwen beats defending champion Nathan Aspinall as Peter Wright and Gerwyn Price also win
A review of Friday's action at the Ladbrokes UK Open as Michael van Gerwen knocked out defending champion Nathan Aspinall and Peter Wright edged out Glen Durrant.
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Nathan Aspinall's reign as UK Open champion is over but it took a stunning average of 105 from Michael van Gerwen to knock him out in a compelling clash in Minehead.
The Stockport ace, who so memorably pinned a 170 checkout to land his maiden TV title this time last year, couldn't have been handed a much tougher draw at the 'FA Cup of Darts', where the world's top 32 joined the competition at the fourth-round stage.
Having beaten him in the Premier League this season to gain a measure of revenge for their Ally Pally semi-final showdown, Aspinall was as fearless as ever and could have surged 3-0 up had he not missed darts at a double in the third leg.
Van Gerwen, who is still without a title in 2020 and headed to the venue on the back of a second Premier League defeat on Thursday night, made him pay before moving into a 4-2 lead thanks to a 112 checkout.
Aspinall would later manage the same finish with his third leg on the spin as he turned the match on its head, only for the world number one to restore parity at 5-5.
The two-time UK Open champion, who last lifted this trophy in 2016 and suffered a fourth-round exit to Mervyn King 12 months ago, broke his opponent's throw with a brilliant 11-darter after the Asp's missed the bullseye for a 145 checkout and kept his nose in front at 7-6 when the pair traded 13-dart legs.
The 2019 US Darts Masters champion held his nerve from 84 to level up the scores once more but van Gerwen produced a brilliant 150 checkout to a complete a 12-dart break before holding in 13 to move one away from victory, which he'd clinch two legs later with a 12-darter.
Peter Wright made a superb start in his quest to win a third successive major title - and his second UK Open - thanks to a high-class 10-8 victory over Glen Durrant.
The world champion followed up his Alexandra Palace heroics by claiming the season-opening Masters and has been in fantastic form ever since, but was forced to hit the ground running.
Durrant headed to the Butlin's Minehead Resort fresh from moving to the top of the Premier League having upset the odds to beat man of the moment Gerwyn Price in Exeter and looked hungry for another scalp.
Snakebite moved into a 3-1 lead with the help of a 113 checkout and although Duzza won four legs on the trot, by the end of the 10th it was all square at five apiece.
Seven successive solid holds followed before Wright's stunning finish from 121, when Durrant waited on 52, completed a match-winning 12-darter.
Gerwyn Price fired serious warning shots to his rivals with an ominous 10-3 victory over Danny Noppert in which he only missed four darts at a double.
The two-time Grand Slam of darts champion, who really began to rise up the rankings at rapid pace when finishing runner-up to Wright here back in 2017, averaged 104.23 as he bounced back from Thursday's defeat to Durrant in style.
The Iceman managed three 12-darters, including one that was finished off with a 126 checkout, and two of his spurned attempts at the outer ring came in the final leg.
Price is certainly a man in red hot form despite his defeat to Durrant - which was just his second loss in 22 games - is bidding to reach his fourth PDC final in a row having won the recent Belgian Darts Championship and a Players Championship event.
Michael Smith got his bid for a maiden major title under way with a comfortable 10-4 victory over James Wilson.
Bully Boy, who has finished runner-up in five big tournaments including the 2018 Premier League, 2019 World Championship, 2019 World Matchplay and this year's the 2020 Masters, is in confident mood after following up his nine-dart heroics in the Premier League last week with a run to the final of the Belgian Darts Championship and victory over Michael van Gerwen on Thursday night.
He didn't need to stretch himself too much against Wilson, who averaged almost 10 points lower with 87.
There was a remarkable match of the highest quality on the Red's Bar stage, where Chris Dobey pipped Krzysztof Ratajski in a dramatic deciding leg.
Hollywood produced a barrage of 11 maximums compared with the Polish Eagle's four but couldn't shake off his opponent, who finished ruthlessly throughout to stay in touch.
Ratajski then threw checkouts of 128, 78 and 113 in successive legs to turn a 6-8 deficit into a 9-8 only for Dobey to hold his throw and force a tense crescendo.
The Pole, who has won seven PDC titles in two years and was widely fancied to go far this weekend, left 16 in the decider after failing to earn a shot at a double from 92 and Dobey made him pay with an exceptional checkout from 91 on the bullseye.
Both players averaged 105 and 10 of the 19 legs were won in 13 darts or fewer.
Gary Anderson ensured history would not be repeated as he defeated Steve Beaten 10-7 on the Main Stage.
The Flying Scotsman suffered a shock exit at the hands of the Bronzed Adonis in the fourth round last year but this time eased through despite a late wobble with a 99.38 average.
Anderson landed a 100 checkout to lead 7-3 and 112 to go 8-4 clear while his finish of 106 completed the victory five legs later.
Meanwhile, Rob Cross and Daryl Gurney were involved in hard-fought showdowns on the outer boards, with Voltage scraping past Niels Zonneveld 10-7 and SuperChin surviving match darts in a 10-9 triumph over Keegan Brown.
That was far from being the only match that went the distance, with Stephen Bunting beating Vincent van der Voort, Gabriel Clemens edging out Ryan Joyce, the popular Dirk van Duijvenbode pipping fellow Dutchman Jermaine Wattimena while Simon Stevenson defeated Darren Webster and Jamie Hughes survived three match darts from Brendan Dolan.
One of the two sole surviving Riley's Amateur Qualifiers, Lewis Williams, also lost out in an epic clash that went down to the wire as he blew a 9-7 lead against veteran Steve West.
The 18-year-old can leave Minehead with his head held firmly high, however, having claimed three victories over Jose de Sousa, Robert Owen and Adrian Gray during the afternoon session.
Fellow qualifier Rhys Hayden, who saw off James Richardson, James Clark and Toni Alcinas to reach round four, fired in 130 and 120 checkouts against Dimitri Van den Bergh but bowed out 10-5.
Luke Humphries was unable to follow up his history-making efforts in the Premier League as he crashed out to Andy Boulton.
Cool Hand, who beat Gary Anderson to become the first Challenger to win on Thursday night, began his campaign with a 6-5 win over Kyle Anderson in the third round but ran out of steam in a 10-8 defeat to 'X Factor'.
Dave Chisnall launched a stunning comeback from 7-0 down against William O'Connor only to lose 10-8 while Ryan Searle narrowly missed out on a nine-dart finish in a 10-8 defeat to Kim Huybrechts.
Of all the players who entered the competition way back in the first round, only Kyle McKinstry and Alan Tabern survive following their victories over Bradley Brooks and Richard North respectively.
Adrian Lewis remarkably blew a 4-1 lead to lose 10-4 against Jason Lowe while there were wins for Mensur Suljovic, Ian White, Simon Whitlock, Ricky Evans, Ian White, Joe Cullen, Jelle Klaasen, James Wade, Matthew Edgar, Martin Schindler and Jonny Clayton.
Martin Atkins received a bye into the fifth round due to Max Hopp pulling out due to illness.
Much earlier in the day, history-making duo Lisa Ashton and Fallon Sherrock crashed out at the first hurdle.
Ashton, who became the first woman to win a PDC Tour Card at Q School back in January, opened the Main Stage action but was soundly beaten 6-2 by Mike De Decker.
Sherrock earned a spot at her second PDC major by coming through a 200-player field at a Rileys Amateur qualifying event and was hoping to repeat her acts of heroism from the World Championship.
The Queen of the Palace, who recently earned an impressive 6-6 draw with Durrant in the Premier League, got off to a poor start against McKinstry and a 6-1 defeated was sealed by the Northern Irishman's 128 checkout.
UK Open: Friday Results & Fifth-Round draw
Afternoon Session
First, Second & Third Rounds (Best of 11 legs)
- The first round of the multi-board event features Tour Card Holders 97-127 along with the eight Challenge Tour Qualifiers, eight Development Tour qualifiers and 16 Rileys Amateur Qualifiers. Round two will contain the winners from round one along with Tour Card Holders 65-96. Round three features the winners from round two along with Tour Card Holders 33-64.
Main Stage (Televised)
- Mike De Decker 6-2 Lisa Ashton (R1)
- Damon Heta 4-6 Scott Waites (R1)
- Kyle McKinstry 6-1 Fallon Sherrock (R1)
- Scott Baker 5-6 Mark McGeeney (R2)
- Jeff Smith 5-6 John Michael (R2)
- David Pallett 3-6 Kevin Doets (R2)
- Jason Heaver 4-6 Kyle McKinstry (R2)
- Luke Humphries 6-5 Kyle Anderson (R3)
- Kim Huybrechts 6-1 Robert Thornton (R3)
- Josh Payne 6-4 Luke Woodhouse (R3)
Stage Two
- Cody Harris 6-5 Scott Taylor (R1)
- Kai Fan Leung 6-3 Kelvin Self (R1)
- Adam Hunt 0-6 Karel Sedlacek (R1)
- Keane Barry 2-6 Alan Tabern (R1)
- Andy Hamilton 6-3 Patrick Lynskey (R1)
- Marko Kantele 0-6 Dirk van Duijvenbode (R2)
- Scott Waites 6-1 Geert Nentjes (R2)
- Daniel Larsson 5-6 Mike De Decker (R2)
- Bradley Brooks 6-2 Nick Kenny (R2)
- Ryan Searle 6-5 Cristo Reyes (R3)
- William O'Connor 6-2 Jan Dekker (R3)
- Vincent van der Voort 6-4 John Michael (R3)
- William Borland 6-5 Mike De Decker (R3)
Stage Three
- Steffen Siepmann 6-4 Krzysztof Kciuk (R1)
- Peter Jacques 6-4 Ciaran Teehan (R1)
- Michael Barnard 5-6 Steve Brown (R1)
- Daniel Larsson 6-5 Ryan Meikle (R1)
- Harry Ward 6-5 Gavin Carlin (R2)
- Kirk Shepherd 2-6 Kai Fan Leung (R2)
- Karel Sedlacek 6-2 Barrie Bates (R2)
- Rhys Hayden 6-4 James Richardson (R2)
- Ron Meulenkamp 4-6 Richard North (R3)
- Conan Whitehead 6-3 Steve West (R3)
- Devon Petersen 4-6 Bradley Brooks (R3)
- Wesley Harms 5-6 Martin Atkins (R3)
- Stephen Burton 2-6 Kyle McKinstry (R3)
Stage Four
- Jason Askew 6-4 Greg Ritchie (R1)
- Jason Heaver 6-0 Jesus Noguera (R1)
- Adam Smith-Neale 6-4 Ben Cheeseman (R1)
- Darren Beveridge 3-6 Nathan Rafferty (R1)
- Andy Boulton 6-2 Reece Robinson (R2)
- Nathan Derry 3-6 Maik Kuivenhoven (R2)
- Justin Smith 5-6 Wesley Harms (R2)
- Derk Telnekes 4-6 Madars Razma (R2)
- Jamie Lewis 6-5 Ross Smith (R3)
- Ted Evetts 4-6 James Wilson (R3)
- Steve Lennon 4-6 Alan Tabern (R3)
- Mickey Mansell 2-6 Niels Zonneveld (R3)
Stage Five
- Adam Huckvale 1-6 Stephen Burton (R1)
- Rhys Hayden 6-5 James Clark (R1)
- Cameron Menzies 5-6 Bradley Brooks (R1)
- Kevin Burness 1-6 Harald Leitinger (R1)
- Jonathan Worsley 6-4 Matt Clark (R2)
- Carl Wilkinson 2-6 Steffen Siepmann (R2)
- Ted Evetts 6-1 Berry Van Peer (R2)
- Steve Brown 3-6 Alan Tabern (R2)
- Justin Pipe 6-3 Kai Fan Leung (R3)
- Ryan Joyce 6-2 Yordi Meeuwisse (R3)
- Jose De Sousa 4-6 Lewis Williams (R3)
- Nathan Rafferty 2-6 Jamie Hughes (R3)
Stage Six
- Aaron Beeney 3-6 Wesley Harms (R1)
- Boris Koltsov 4-6 Danny van Trijp (R1)
- Andrew Davidson 2-6 William Borland (R1)
- Lewis Williams 6-5 Robert Owen (R1)
- Cody Harris 1-6 Jason Lowe (R2)
- Martin Atkins 6-5 Christian Bunse (R2)
- Mike van Duivenbode 1-6 Nathan Rafferty (R2)
- Niels Zonneveld 6-4 Andy Hamilton (R2)
- Maik Kuivenhoven 3-6 Gabriel Clemens (R3)
- Darius Labanauskas 3-6 Dirk Van Duijvenbode (R3)
- Rhys Hayden 6-2 Toni Alcinas (R3)
- Matthew Edgar 6-3 Callan Rydz (R3)
Stage Seven
- Martin Atkins 6-5 Ryan Murray (R1)
- Shane McGuirk 5-6 Callan Rydz (R1)
- Wayne Jones 6-1 Gary Blades (R1)
- Berry van Peer 6-3 Owen Roelofs (R1)
- Rowby-John Rodriguez 5-6 Jason Askew (R2)
- Peter Jacques 3-6 Yordi Meeuwisse (R2)
- Lewis Williams 6-3 Adrian Gray (R2)
- Harald Leitinger 3-6 Joe Murnan (R2)
- Martin Schindler 6-4 Benito van de Pas (R3)
- Mark McGeeney 4-6 Andy Boulton (R3)
- Jonathan Worsley 3-6 Jason Lowe (R3)
- Madars Razma 2-6 Scott Waites (R3)
Stage Eight
- Justin Smith 6-3 Andy Jenkins (R1)
- Derk Telnekes 6-3 Martijn Kleermaker (R1)
- James Richardson 6-4 Darren Penhall (R1)
- Kevin Doets 6-1 Alfie Thompson (R1)
- Stephen Burton 6-4 Vincent van der Meer (R2)
- Wayne Jones 3-6 Conan Whitehead (R2)
- Danny Van Trijp 0-6 William Borland (R2)
- Adam Smith-Neale 3-6 Callan Rydz (R2)
- Jelle Klaasen 6-4 Jason Askew (R3)
- Harry Ward 6-3 Steffan Siepmann (R3)
- Kevin Doets 5-6 Simon Stevenson (R3)
- Karel Sedlacek 3-6 Joe Murnan (R3)
Evening Session (7pm)
TV Coverage: ITV 4
Fourth Round (Best of 19 legs)
Players ranked in the world's top 32 will join the competition at this point, along with the 32 who have come through the previous three rounds.
Main Stage (Televised)
- Gerwyn Price 10-3 Danny Noppert
- Glen Durrant 8-10 Peter Wright
- Michael van Gerwen 10-8 Nathan Aspinall
- Gary Anderson 10-7 Steve Beaton
Stage Two
- Dimitri Van den Bergh 10-5 Rhys Hayden
- Dave Chisnall 8-10 William O’Connor
- Vincent van der Voort 9-10 Stephen Bunting
- Krzysztof Ratajski 9-10 Chris Dobey
Stage Three
- Ian White 10-6 Harry Ward
- Mensur Suljovic 10-4 Jamie Lewis
- Ryan Joyce 9-10 Gabriel Clemens
- Michael Smith 10-4 James Wilson
Stage Four
- Kim Huybrechts 10-8 Ryan Searle
- Alan Tabern 10-6 Richard North
- Dirk van Duijvenbode 10-9 Jermaine Wattimena
- Jeffrey de Zwaan 7-10 Simon Whitlock
Stage Five
- Kyle McKinstry 10-8 Bradley Brooks
- Rob Cross 10-7 Niels Zonneveld
- Joe Cullen 10-7 Mervyn King
- Adrian Lewis 4-10 Jason Lowe
Stage Six
- Jelle Klaasen 10-5 William Borland
- Ricky Evans 10-4 Joe Murnan
- Simon Stevenson 10-9 Darren Webster
- Jonny Clayton 10-7 Scott Waites
Stage Seven
- Andy Boulton 10-8 Luke Humphries
- Lewis Williams 9-10 Steve West
- Matthew Edgar 10-5 Josh Payne
- James Wade 10-5 John Henderson
Stage Eight
- Daryl Gurney 10-9 Keegan Brown
- Justin Pipe 2-10 Martin Schindler
- Brendan Dolan 9-10 Jamie Hughes
- Martin Atkins receives bye due to Max Hopp's illness
FIFTH ROUND DRAW (Saturday Afternoon)
Main Stage (Televised)
- Simon Whitlock v Chris Dobey
- Jason Lowe v Michael van Gerwen
- Peter Wright v Ian White
- Rob Cross v Michael Smith
Stage Two
- William O'Connor v Daryl Gurney
- Gerwyn Price v Ricky Evans
- James Wade v Kim Huybrechts
- Gary Anderson v Simon Stevenson
Stage Three
- Jonny Clayton v Joe Cullen
- Dirk van Duijvenbode v Mensur Suljovic
- Stephen Bunting v Alan Tabern
- Matthew Edgar v Dimitri Van den Bergh
Stage Four
- Martin Atkins v Jamie Hughes
- Jelle Klaasen v Steve West
- Kyle McKinstry v Martin Schindler
- Andy Boulton v Gabriel Clemens