# 2019 UK Open

The 2019 888.com UK Open was a darts tournament staged by the Professional Darts Corporation. It was the seventeenth year of the tournament where players compete in a single elimination tournament to be crowned champion. The tournament was being held for the sixth time at the Butlin's Resort in Minehead, England, between 1–3 March 2019, and has the nickname, "the FA Cup of darts" as a random draw is staged after each round following the conclusion of the third round until the final.
Gary Anderson was the defending champion after defeating Corey Cadby 11–7 in the 2018 final. He was making his first public appearance since having to withdraw from both the 2019 Masters and the 2019 Premier League due to a persistent back injury, whilst Cadby was absent from this year’s competition due to visa problems. However, Anderson lost 8–10 in the fourth round to Steve Beaton.
Nathan Aspinall won his first PDC major title, beating Rob Cross 11–4 in the final and hitting 170 checkout to win the match.

## Prize money

The prize fund increased from last year's edition to £450,000.
| Stage (no. of players) | Stage (no. of players) | Prize money (Total: £450,000) |
| Winner | (1) | £100,000 |
| Runner-up | (1) | £40,000 |
| Semi-finalists | (2) | £20,000 |
| Quarter-finalists | (4) | £12,500 |
| Last 16 (sixth round) | (8) | £7,500 |
| Last 32 (fifth round) | (16) | £4,000 |
| Last 64 (fourth round) | (32) | £2,000 |
| Last 96 (third round) | (32) | £1,000 |
| Last 128 (second round) | (32) | n/a |
| Last 160 (first round) | (31) | n/a |

## Change

In a significant change of format, the tournament has increased from 128 to 160 participants. Also, the ProTour UK Open Qualifiers have been scrapped in favour of a new system. All 128 PDC Tour Card holders automatically qualify, along with the Top 16 from the 2018 PDC Challenge Tour, plus 16 qualifiers from the Riley's Qualifiers taking place in early 2019. Due to Corey Cadby‘s withdrawal from the competition the field is reduced to 159 players who will now compete in this year’s tournament.

### Format

The 159 participants will enter the competition incrementally, with 63 players entering in the first round, with match winners joining the 32 players entering in the second and third rounds to leave the last 64 in the fourth round.
* No players are seeded.
* A random draw is held for each of the following rounds following the conclusion of the third round.
* All matches in the first, second and third rounds will be played over best of 11 legs.
* All matches in the fourth, fifth, sixth rounds and quarter-finals will be played over best of 19 legs.
* All matches in the semi-finals and final will be played over best of 21 legs.
* Eight boards will be used for matches in the first, second, third and fourth rounds.
* Four boards will be used for matches in the fifth round.
* Two boards will be used for matches in the sixth round.
* One board will be used for all the matches in the quarter-finals, semi-finals and final.

## Qualifiers
### Number 1–32 of the PDC Order of Merit (receiving byes into fourth round)

* Michael van Gerwen
* Rob Cross
* Peter Wright
* Gary Anderson
* Daryl Gurney
* Michael Smith
* Gerwyn Price
* Mensur Suljović
* James Wade
* Simon Whitlock
* Dave Chisnall
* Ian White
* Darren Webster
* Joe Cullen
* Jonny Clayton
* Adrian Lewis
* Stephen Bunting
* Mervyn King
* John Henderson
* Steve West
* Kyle Anderson
* Steve Beaton
* Kim Huybrechts
* Jermaine Wattimena
* James Wilson
* Jamie Lewis
* Alan Norris
* Jelle Klaasen
* Raymond van Barneveld
* Max Hopp
* Benito van de Pas
* Cristo Reyes

### Number 33–64 of the PDC Order of Merit (receiving byes into third round)

* Dimitri Van den Bergh
* Nathan Aspinall
* Chris Dobey
* Steve Lennon
* Vincent van der Voort
* Keegan Brown
* Richard North
* Robert Thornton
* Brendan Dolan
* Justin Pipe
* Jeffrey de Zwaan
* Danny Noppert
* Jan Dekker
* William O'Connor
* Ricky Evans
* Martin Schindler
* Toni Alcinas
* Ryan Searle
* Ryan Joyce
* Ron Meulenkamp
* Krzysztof Ratajski
* Josh Payne
* James Richardson
* Luke Humphries
* Mark Webster
* Christian Kist
* Gabriel Clemens
* Devon Petersen
* Zoran Lerchbacher
* Ronny Huybrechts
* Mickey Mansell
* Corey Cadby
* Alan Tabern

### Number 65–96 of the PDC Order of Merit (receiving byes into second round)

* Ross Smith
* Matthew Edgar
* Simon Stevenson
* Robert Owen
* Wayne Jones
* Robert Marijanović
* Adam Hunt
* Kevin Burness
* Glen Durrant
* Luke Woodhouse
* Ryan Meikle
* Dirk van Duijvenbode
* Tytus Kanik
* Arron Monk
* Bradley Brooks
* Peter Hudson
* Davy Van Baelen
* Dawson Murschell
* Vincent Kamphuis
* Mario Robbe
* José Justicia
* Mark Wilson
* Ryan Harrington
* Mark Dudbridge
* George Killington
* Scott Baker
* Gary Eastwood
* John Goldie
* Tony Newell
* Gavin Carlin
* Harry Ward
* Andy Boulton

### Number 97–128 of the PDC Order of Merit (starting in first round)

* Eddie Dootson
* Terry Temple
* Darius Labanauskas
* Ted Evetts
* Carl Wilkinson
* Jamie Hughes
* Jonathan Worsley
* José de Sousa
* Mark McGeeney
* Rowby-John Rodriguez
* Barrie Bates
* David Pallett
* John Michael
* Kirk Shepherd
* Maik Kuivenhoven
* Nathan Derry
* Adrian Gray
* Conan Whitehead
* Geert Nentjes
* Madars Razma
* Matt Clark
* Yordi Meeuwisse
* Joe Murnan
* Reece Robinson
* Vincent van der Meer
* Christian Bunse
* Jamie Bain
* Marko Kantele
* Niels Zonneveld
* Michael Barnard
* Mike van Duivenbode

### PDC Challenge Tour qualifiers (starting in first round)

The top 16 ranked players from the 2018 Challenge Tour Order of Merit who didn't have a Tour Card for the 2019 season qualified for the first round.
* Cody Harris
* Cameron Menzies
* Martin Atkins (Wigan)
* Dennis Nilsson
* David Evans
* Simon Preston
* Adam Huckvale
* Michael Rasztovits
* Jason Cullen
* Diogo Portela
* Jarred Cole
* Mark Frost
* Matthew Dennant
* Darren Beveridge
* John Davey
* Lee Budgen

### Rileys amateur qualifiers (starting in first round)

16 amateur players will qualify from 16 Riley's Sports Bar qualifiers held across the UK between 26 January and 24 February.
* Michael Burgoine
* Shaun Fox
* Lee Harris
* Scott Taylor
* Wes Newton
* Mark Barilli
* Kevin Thoburn
* Lloyd Browning
* Ian McFarlane
* Andy Jenkins
* Chris Lacey
* Rob Collins
* Barry Lynn
* Daniel Day
* Callan Rydz
* Brian Raman
* ↑ Corey Cadby withdrew from the tournament prior to the draw. All players below him moved up one place, with a bye being added to the first round

## Draw
### Friday 1 March
#### First round (best of eleven legs)

| Player | Score | Player | Player | Score | Player |
| Mark McGeeney 97.92 | 6 – 3 | David Pallett 91.40 | Wes Newton (Q) 86.56 | 4 – 6 | Cameron Menzies (CT) 86.15 |
| Barry Lynn (Q) 75.48 | 4 – 6 | Michael Rasztovits (CT) 80.74 | Jamie Hughes 97.89 | 6 – 3 | Callan Rydz (Q) 90.94 |
| Dennis Nilsson (CT) 83.13 | 2 – 6 | Madars Razma 97.76 | Mike van Duivenbode 85.92 | 2 – 6 | Ted Evetts 95.76 |
| Scott Taylor (Q) 99.41 | 6 – 4 | Darius Labanauskas 95.98 | Conan Whitehead 95.40 | 6 – 3 | Michael Burgoine (Q) 88.38 |
| Shaun Fox (Q) 74.50 | 1 – 6 | Andy Jenkins (Q) 92.87 | Joe Murnan 85.22 | 6 – 3 | Mark Frost (CT) 78.95 |
| Diogo Portela (CT) 87.71 | 6 – 4 | Barrie Bates 83.40 | Adam Huckvale (CT) 88.87 | 6 – 3 | Mark Barilli (Q) 85.43 |
| Geert Nentjes 90.28 | 6 – 5 | David Evans (CT) 88.94 | Cody Harris (CT) 92.69 | 6 – 5 | John Davey (CT) 84.67 |
| Kirk Shepherd 88.95 | 6 – 2 | Jonathan Worsley 86.06 | José de Sousa 84.56 | 6 – 4 | Brian Raman (Q) 84.44 |
| Nathan Derry 93.00 | 6 – 4 | Lee Budgen (CT) 86.64 | Vincent van der Meer 87.36 | 6 – 1 | Eddie Dootson 76.72 |
| Matt Clark 90.11 | 6 – 3 | Niels Zonneveld 83.72 | Jarred Cole (CT) 82.62 | 6 – 4 | Michael Barnard 75.94 |
| Jason Cullen (CT) 84.74 | 3 – 6 | Reece Robinson 88.27 | Christian Bunse 83.22 | 4 – 6 | John Michael 90.85 |
| Martin Atkins (CT) 82.65 | 3 – 6 | Jamie Bain 89.01 | Marko Kantele 93.45 | 6 – 2 | Chris Lacey (Q) 81.05 |
| Lloyd Browning (Q) 76.08 | 6 – 5 | Lee Harris (Q) 78.77 | Kevin Thoburn (Q) 83.26 | 6 – 5 | Matthew Dennant (CT) 85.87 |
| Adrian Gray 81.14 | 6 – 1 | Ian McFarlane (Q) 76.41 | Daniel Day (Q) 81.48 | 1 – 6 | Maik Kuivenhoven 94.24 |
| Carl Wilkinson 85.31 | 4 – 6 | Yordi Meeuwisse 83.62 | Terry Temple 78.29 | 5 – 6 | Simon Preston (CT) 78.79 |
| Rob Collins (Q) 83.82 | 6 – 1 | Rowby-John Rodriguez 77.05 | Darren Beveridge (CT) | w/o | Bye |

#### Second round (best of eleven legs)

| Player | Score | Player | Player | Score | Player |
| Dawson Murschell 79.40 | 3 – 6 | Ross Smith 89.73 | Glen Durrant 98.60 | 6 – 1 | Maik Kuivenhoven 87.33 |
| Diogo Portela (CT) 101.03 | 1 – 6 | Jamie Hughes 107.72 | Scott Taylor (Q) 87.44 | 6 – 3 | Kevin Burness 78.00 |
| Wayne Jones 83.54 | 2 – 6 | Vincent Kamphuis 86.09 | Cody Harris (CT) 86.02 | 2 – 6 | Adam Hunt 94.43 |
| Simon Preston (CT) 84.66 | 3 – 6 | Arron Monk 95.65 | Kirk Shepherd 99.80 | 6 – 4 | Bradley Brooks 97.91 |
| Mark Wilson 82.04 | 4 – 6 | Mark Dudbridge 83.54 | Madars Razma 84.72 | 6 – 3 | Mark McGeeney 85.14 |
| Ted Evetts 92.57 | 3 – 6 | George Killington 91.88 | Rob Collins (Q) 85.08 | 3 – 6 | Andy Boulton 89.35 |
| Matthew Edgar 90.41 | 6 – 4 | Gary Eastwood 84.54 | Harry Ward 90.71 | 6 – 3 | Lloyd Browning (Q) 81.72 |
| Cameron Menzies (CT) | t/o | Jamie Bain | Nathan Derry 91.15 | 6 – 4 | Vincent van der Meer 92.31 |
| Robert Marijanović 90.70 | 3 – 6 | Davy Van Baelen 89.92 | Andy Jenkins (Q) 89.43 | 5 – 6 | Mario Robbe 84.67 |
| Simon Stevenson 88.07 | 6 – 2 | Adrian Gray 78.22 | Gavin Carlin 92.68 | 6 – 2 | John Michael 89.05 |
| Scott Baker 90.89 | 6 – 2 | Ryan Harrington 88.54 | Tony Newell 81.56 | 4 – 6 | Adam Huckvale (CT) 84.98 |
| Tytus Kanik 80.25 | 0 – 6 | Yordi Meeuwisse 92.97 | Michael Rasztovits (CT) 83.90 | 6 – 5 | Conan Whitehead 81.91 |
| Peter Hudson 84.60 | 6 – 3 | John Goldie 82.03 | Geert Nentjes 93.15 | 6 – 3 | Jarred Cole (CT) 82.11 |
| Robert Owen 92.44 | 6 – 4 | Marko Kantele 86.79 | Joe Murnan 85.64 | 6 – 4 | Ryan Meikle 84.74 |
| Darren Beveridge (CT) 94.34 | 2 – 6 | Luke Woodhouse 96.31 | Reece Robinson 89.03 | 6 – 1 | José de Sousa 89.84 |
| José Justicia 98.14 | 6 – 2 | Kevin Thoburn (Q) 83.62 | Dirk van Duijvenbode 87.38 | 6 – 3 | Matt Clark 81.81 |

#### Third round (best of eleven legs)

| Player | Score | Player | Player | Score | Player |
| Luke Humphries 99.34 | 6 – 1 | Vincent van der Voort 87.95 | Toni Alcinas 86.39 | 3 – 6 | Nathan Aspinall 97.40 |
| Ricky Evans 81.49 | 6 – 4 | José Justicia 77.42 | Dimitri Van den Bergh 101.33 | 6 – 0 | Kirk Shepherd 86.66 |
| Mickey Mansell 91.41 | 6 – 1 | Danny Noppert 84.30 | James Richardson 77.72 | 0 – 6 | Steve Lennon 92.02 |
| Scott Baker 85.44 | 4 – 6 | Krzysztof Ratajski 88.64 | Devon Petersen 81.09 | 2 – 6 | Jamie Hughes 90.83 |
| Gabriel Clemens 93.50 | 6 – 2 | Zoran Lerchbacher 85.54 | Luke Woodhouse 95.17 | 6 – 4 | Chris Dobey 87.66 |
| Simon Stevenson 97.65 | 6 – 3 | Mark Webster 91.72 | Gavin Carlin 89.17 | 6 – 2 | Glen Durrant 85.11 |
| Richard North 89.83 | 6 – 5 | Ronny Huybrechts 85.17 | Ryan Joyce 90.97 | 6 – 3 | Robert Owen 87.46 |
| Jamie Bain 81.82 | 3 – 6 | Josh Payne 87.40 | Reece Robinson 76.44 | 6 – 4 | Dirk van Duijvenbode 83.63 |
| Mark Dudbridge 79.60 | 5 – 6 | William O'Connor 86.27 | Mario Robbe 84.34 | 2 – 6 | Jeffrey de Zwaan 93.94 |
| Andy Boulton 84.33 | 4 – 6 | Christian Kist 85.04 | Vincent Kamphuis 91.82 | 3 – 6 | Scott Taylor (Q) 99.20 |
| Matthew Edgar 87.02 | 3 – 6 | Ryan Searle 91.86 | Harry Ward 96.52 | 4 – 6 | Jan Dekker 97.99 |
| Arron Monk 94.35 | 6 – 5 | Robert Thornton 88.09 | George Killington 81.81 | 4 – 6 | Madars Razma 80.57 |
| Davy Van Baelen 94.21 | 4 – 6 | Martin Schindler 94.97 | Adam Huckvale (CT) 78.74 | 2 – 6 | Brendan Dolan 88.09 |
| Nathan Derry 91.40 | 5 – 6 | Keegan Brown 94.25 | Yordi Meeuwisse 87.80 | 3 – 6 | Ross Smith 90.46 |
| Ron Meulenkamp 91.08 | 5 – 6 | Adam Hunt 88.48 | Geert Nentjes 94.93 | 6 – 0 | Justin Pipe 86.14 |
| Joe Murnan 83.86 | 6 – 4 | Alan Tabern 85.70 | Michael Rasztovits (CT) 90.08 | 2 – 6 | Peter Hudson 91.41 |

#### Fourth round (best of nineteen legs)

| Player | Score | Player | Player | Score | Player |
| Jelle Klaasen 83.76 | 4 – 10 | Madars Razma 86.77 | James Wilson 84.33 | 1 – 10 | James Wade 100.45 |
| Stephen Bunting 90.76 | 6 – 10 | Steve Lennon 92.31 | Geert Nentjes 89.74 | 3 – 10 | Max Hopp 102.58 |
| Peter Hudson 90.48 | 3 – 10 | Kim Huybrechts 94.11 | Martin Schindler 84.55 | 10 – 7 | Adam Hunt 87.54 |
| Raymond van Barneveld 94.00 | 7 – 10 | Simon Stevenson 96.53 | Jeffrey de Zwaan 80.74 | 2 – 10 | Jermaine Wattimena 88.66 |
| Benito van de Pas 86.60 | 3 – 10 | Gabriel Clemens 94.82 | Luke Woodhouse 96.13 | 10 – 7 | Gavin Carlin 96.49 |
| Joe Murnan 93.22 | 4 – 10 | Krzysztof Ratajski 99.44 | Ricky Evans 84.95 | 5 – 10 | Dimitri Van den Bergh 90.64 |
| Jan Dekker 88.32 | 3 – 10 | Simon Whitlock 94.27 | William O'Connor 89.03 | 4 – 10 | Keegan Brown 95.14 |
| Nathan Aspinall 93.70 | 10 – 9 | Christian Kist 94.57 | Jamie Hughes 101.28 | 10 – 5 | Ian White 100.38 |
| Mensur Suljović 101.28 | 10 – 8 | Peter Wright 106.04 | Daryl Gurney 80.50 | 10 – 1 | Reece Robinson 71.78 |
| John Henderson 88.35 | 5 – 10 | Michael Smith 95.93 | Josh Payne 96.96 | 10 – 2 | Kyle Anderson 91.34 |
| Jonny Clayton 88.69 | 10 – 3 | Arron Monk 90.03 | Michael van Gerwen 96.73 | 6 – 10 | Mervyn King 95.96 |
| Mickey Mansell 89.55 | 10 – 9 | Scott Taylor (Q) 80.59 | Steve Beaton 98.63 | 10 – 8 | Gary Anderson 99.92 |
| Joe Cullen 94.76 | 6 – 10 | Gerwyn Price 96.16 | Cristo Reyes 86.28 | 10 – 2 | Ryan Joyce 86.27 |
| Alan Norris 79.68 | 5 – 10 | Ross Smith 86.20 | Brendan Dolan 88.67 | 4 – 10 | Richard North 92.82 |
| Dave Chisnall 98.42 | 10 – 8 | Luke Humphries 96.53 | Ryan Searle 97.39 | 4 – 10 | Steve West 97.25 |
| Adrian Lewis 95.36 | 9 – 10 | Jamie Lewis 96.18 | Rob Cross 99.12 | 10 – 4 | Darren Webster 96.12 |

### Saturday 2 March
#### Fifth round (best of nineteen legs)

| Player | Score | Player | Player | Score | Player |
| Steve Beaton 96.62 | 10 – 8 | Keegan Brown 92.90 | Jonny Clayton 93.66 | 7 – 10 | Krzysztof Ratajski 99.33 |
| Daryl Gurney 97.52 | 9 – 10 | Michael Smith 98.30 | James Wade 91.98 | 10 – 7 | Max Hopp 95.72 |
| Nathan Aspinall 97.83 | 10 – 2 | Madars Razma 92.06 | Gerwyn Price 101.84 | 10 – 7 | Jamie Hughes 97.70 |
| Simon Whitlock 88.30 | 10 – 8 | Gabriel Clemens 87.82 | Kim Huybrechts 84.24 | 6 – 10 | Simon Stevenson 90.43 |
| Jermaine Wattimena 93.66 | 10 – 8 | Luke Woodhouse 91.85 | Steve Lennon 98.69 | 10 – 8 | Mickey Mansell 91.73 |
| Jamie Lewis 88.33 | 7 – 10 | Josh Payne 98.55 | Mensur Suljović 97.55 | 9 – 10 | Dimitri Van den Bergh 97.37 |
| Dave Chisnall 96.07 | 10 – 5 | Martin Schindler 90.78 | Rob Cross 97.09 | 10 – 5 | Mervyn King 93.84 |
| Steve West 91.48 | 5 – 10 | Ross Smith 95.87 | Cristo Reyes 84.02 | 10 – 7 | Richard North 83.04 |

#### Sixth round (best of nineteen legs)

| Player | Score | Player |
| Rob Cross 93.52 | 10 – 6 | Cristo Reyes 83.80 |
| Krzysztof Ratajski 95.02 | 3 – 10 | Gerwyn Price 104.57 |
| Steve Beaton 85.96 | 10 – 8 | Dimitri Van den Bergh 85.11 |
| Michael Smith 101.56 | 10 – 3 | Jermaine Wattimena 85.60 |
| Dave Chisnall 90.13 | 9 – 10 | Simon Stevenson 90.73 |
| James Wade 91.51 | 7 – 10 | Ross Smith 96.68 |
| Simon Whitlock 92.52 | 7 – 10 | Josh Payne 91.57 |
| Nathan Aspinall 90.54 | 10 – 8 | Steve Lennon 92.24 |

### Sunday 3 March
#### Quarter-finals (best of nineteen legs)

| Player | Score | Player |
| Rob Cross 95.03 | 10 – 7 | Josh Payne 97.34 |
| Michael Smith 100.97 | 10 – 1 | Steve Beaton 93.15 |
| Simon Stevenson 93.69 | 5 – 10 | Gerwyn Price 100.21 |
| Nathan Aspinall 96.33 | 10 – 6 | Ross Smith 91.98 |

#### Semi-finals and final

| Semi-finals (best of 21 legs) | Semi-finals (best of 21 legs) | Semi-finals (best of 21 legs) | Final (best of 21 legs) | Final (best of 21 legs) | Final (best of 21 legs) |
| Gerwyn Price 95.37 | Gerwyn Price 95.37 | 9 | | | |
| Nathan Aspinall 94.31 | Nathan Aspinall 94.31 | 11 | | | |
| Nathan Aspinall 94.31 | Nathan Aspinall 94.31 | 11 | Nathan Aspinall 88.72 | Nathan Aspinall 88.72 | 11 |
| | | | Rob Cross 84.79 | Rob Cross 84.79 | 5 |
| Rob Cross 94.23 | Rob Cross 94.23 | 11 | Rob Cross 84.79 | Rob Cross 84.79 | 5 |
| Michael Smith 95.51 | Michael Smith 95.51 | 7 | | | |