UK Open: Amateur darts players planning their quest to emulate the rise of Luke Littler and Rob Cross for £10

By Chris Hammer

Darts

Sat January 27, 2024 · 11M ago

It's that time of year again when amateur darts players around the UK can start to dream about emulating Luke Littler and Rob Cross.

Before they'd won their PDC Tour Cards back in 2023 and 2016 respectively, both players came through the Rileys Amateur Qualifiers for the price of just £10 to earn their PDC major debuts at the ITV4-televised UK Open - aka the 'FA Cup of Darts'.

Luke Littler won through the Rileys Chorlton Qualifier on his 16th birthday last January before going on to win three matches at the Butlin's Minehead Resort before bowing out 10-8 in a thrilling clash against Adam Gawlas, in which he averaged over 100.

This was obviously just a small sign of what the teenage sensation could do on the big stage and less than a year later he shot to sporting stardom - as well as giving the whole sport a massive global boost - with his fairytale run to the World Darts Championship final with victories over Christian Kist, Andrew Gilding, Matt Campbell, Raymond van Barneveld, Brendan Dolan and Rob Cross before narrowly losing to Luke Humphries.

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While Littler's rise from Rileys amateur to World Championship finalist as a 16-year-old seems ludicrous, the same could also be said of Cross.

Still working as an electrician back in February 2016, the Hastings man decided to make a 350-mile round trip to Norwich so he could take part in the qualifying event.

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Like everybody else of mixed abilities that night, he paid a small entry fee of less than £10 (this year it's £10 at all venues) before battling his way through to earn a spot at the major, which features 160 players across eight stages.

On debut, he won three matches to set up his first meeting with Michael van Gerwen and what happened next went down in folklore as the Dutchman nailed a nine-dart finish inbetween of two 170 checkouts.

Scroll down for more and this year's entry details

The @ClubRileys Amateur qualifiers for the UK Open begin this weekend.

Pay your £8 to enter just like @RobCross180 did four years ago and you could end up on the big stage against a player who throws two 170 checkouts & a nine-darter in three legs...pic.twitter.com/K5FtSHEw0p
— Chris Hammer (@ChrisHammer180) January 22, 2020

Although Cross lost that match - who wouldn't have?! - it gave him invaluable experience and the motivation to join the PDC's Challenge Tour and by the end of the season he'd topped the Order of Merit to earn himself a full PDC Tour card for 2017 and 2018.

A year on from that life-changing moment in Norwich he earned £250 prize money from his first event as a professional but it wasn't long before those cheques became a lot bigger as he won four Players Championship events and reached a major TV final at the European Championship, where he'd again lose to MVG in a thriller.

We all know what happened next at the season-ending World Championship as he thrilled the crowds with a string of epic wins - not least the unforgettable triumph over MVG in the semi-finals - before crushing Phil Taylor's hopes of a fairytale ending to his career in the final.

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And after all that he pocketed a cool £400,000 as well as a well-deserved guaranteed qualification for the money-spinning Premier League, in which he'd reach the semi-finals as a debutant.

While he was unable to reach the same heights throughout the rest of 2018, he bounced back emphatically in 2019 by winning the prestigious World Matchplay as well as the European Championship twice while he was also runner-up in the Premier League and UK Open.

Since coming through those Rileys Qualifers in 2016, he's earned over £3million in prize money and that of course doesn't include his sponsorships and appearance fees in both exhibition events and lucrative invitationals.

🏆Your new world darts champion!#LoveTheDarts pic.twitter.com/kWwguZPTqo
— Sporting Life (@SportingLife) January 1, 2018

Fancy a similar route to the top of this highly lucrative sport?

A total of 16 amateur qualifiers will join the sport's biggest names for the three-day festival of darts at Butlin's Minehead Resort from March 1-3.

Entries will cost £10 and are available through the Rileys website - with entry open to all players over the age of 16 who do not hold a PDC Tour Card.

Online entries will close at 1700 GMT on the day before a qualifying event takes place.

Please note that some venues cannot permit entries for under-18s. Please see the Rileys website for full details.