UK Open: Gerwyn Price leads the 'FA Cup of Darts' field at Minehead

The FA Cup of darts

All eyes in the darting world will be on Butlins Minehead Resort this weekend for the latest big event on the PDC Tour – the UK Open. 

Known as the FA Cup of darts, 158 players, including 16 amateur qualifiers, will take part in the fast and furious action across multiple boards all playing at the same time. 

The first three rounds start at 11:00am on Friday, with the top 32 in the world not entering until the fourth-round stage on Friday evening, as the chase for the trophy and £100,000 first prize really hots up. 

James Wade is the defending champion and the three-time winner is back to retain his ever-present record in the event, with only him and Steve Beaton featuring in every UK Open since it began in 2003. 

World number one Gerwyn Price and former winners Michael van Gerwen, Peter Wright, Gary Anderson and Nathan Aspinall will also all enter the competition on Friday night.  

Will Price or Wright be top dogs? 

Price is the favourite to win two big events in two weeks, after he defeated Wright in the final of the International Darts Open to retain his world number one spot. That would change if Snakebite wins in Minehead. 

Price is a worthy favourite though as he has proved recently that he can play at a level few can match – most notably at the recent Premier League event in Belfast when he threw two nine-darters in one night. 

The open draw format will cause few problems for Price, who is the most confident and intimidating figure on the oche so will have plenty of players beaten before they’ve even thrown a dart. 

The crowd is the one negative, as the Minehead fans at Butlins have given him a hard time before, but he’s shown he can handle that and is well worth being at the head of the market. 

Doubts around Van Gerwen’s recent form also help make Price and Wright the top two by a distance, while World Championship finalist Michael Smith has been suffering a huge hangover from Alexandra Palace and worth avoiding even at long odds.

Michael van Gerwen's form has been inconsistent this year, meaning Gerwyn Price and Peter Wright start as favourites

Each-way outsiders worth a chance 

Given the format of this competition, it might be worth looking at a few players at bigger odds as Wright and Price could come out of the hat together relatively early in the tournament. 

It’s usually one of the big guns that takes home the trophy, but Nathan Aspinall won this two years ago and has improved since then, now standing at 15 in the world so his odds may look on the generous side. 

Joe Cullen is a man in form after recent back-to-back Players Championship victories saw him string 14 straight wins together. He also got into the Premier League by winning the Masters, and more majors are sure to follow.

One man who has complained about being overlooked, and has been again by the bookmakers, is defending UK Open champion James Wade, who goes into his title defence as a big outsider. 

Wade has now won the UK Open three times, in three different decades, and is number four in the world rankings with 10 major titles under his belt.  

Yes, he’s not won a tournament since this one last year, but he made the semi-finals at the World Championship and knows how to get the job done in this confusing and all-action format with multiple boards operating at the same time. 

He may not win, but he should go close and his price is too big to ignore. 

Recommended bets 

Gerwyn Price

Joe Cullen 

James Wade