Mais Notícias

What is the UK Open?

6 de março de 2026

The 2026 UK Open, also known as the ‘FA Cup of Darts’, takes place this weekend in Minehead, Somerset.

Lasting three days from Friday, 6 to Sunday, 8 March, the tournament consists of 160 players competing for the trophy and for winner’s prize of £120,000.

World number one Luke Littler is the defending champion, following a comprehensive 11-2 victory over James Wade in the 2025 final at Butlin’s.

But with the tournament priding itself on being an open draw, there have been nine different winners in the past nine editions.

What is the UK Open schedule?

Luke Littler holding the UK Open trophy — Luke Littler won his first UK Open title 12 months ago, beating James Wade in the final [Getty Images]

All times in GMT

Round one, two and three – Friday, 6 March (11:00)
Round four – Friday, 6 March (19:00)
Round five – Saturday, 7 March (13:00)
Round six – Saturday, 7 March (19:00)
Quarter-finals – Sunday, 8 March (13:00)
Semi-finals and final – Sunday, 8 March (19:00)

Follow live text coverage on Sunday on the BBC Sport website and app.

Why is the UK Open similar to the FA Cup?

The FA Cup is English football’s open club competition where amateur and semi-professional teams also have the chance to qualify and compete against the nation’s top flight.

Teams in higher divisions get the luxury of entering the competition in later rounds, where it remains an open draw, meaning that they can theoretically be drawn against any other team.

Most darts tournaments are strictly based on seeding, meaning the top-ranked players are virtually guaranteed to not face each other until the very late stages of the competition.

However, in the UK Open players enter the competition based on their PDC Order of Merit ranking, with preferential treatment given to the world’s top 96 players.

Once they do enter, it is a completely open draw, meaning anyone can face anyone -and higher-ranked match-ups happen much earlier than they do in other competitions.

When do players enter the draw?

Beau Greaves looks on — Beau Greaves, women’s world number one and PDC world number 96, will enter in the second round of this year’s UK Open [Getty Images]

The UK Open consists of 160 players, with coming from the top-ranked on the PDC Order of Merit.

The remaining 32 spots consist of eight players from the PDC Development Tour, eight players from the PDC Challenge Tour and 16 amateur qualifiers.

Among this year’s amateur qualifiers is 16-year-old Kyle Gilding, the youngest player at this year’s tournament. Luke Littler also featured as a 16-year-old in 2023.

The 32 qualifiers plus the players seeded 97 and 128 in the Order of Merit enter in round one.

Seeds 65 to 96 enter in round two and players ranked between 33rd and 64th will enter in the third round.

The players in the world’s top 32 enter in round four, but the open-draw format could lead to some big names suffering early exits.

What is the match format?

Matches are played in leg format at the UK Open.

Round one, two and three – best of 11 legs
Round four, five, six and quarter-finals – best of 19 legs
Semi-finals and final – best of 21 legs

What is the prize money?

There is a total prize pot of £750,000 on offer at the 2026 UK Open.

Winner – £120,000
Runner-up – £60,000
Semi-final losers – £35,000
Quarter-final losers – £20,000
Round six losers – £12,500
Round five losers – £7,500
Round four losers – £3,000
Round three losers – £2,000
Round two losers – £1,250

Who has previously won the UK Open?

James Wade holding the UK Open runner-up trophy — James Wade is a four-time UK Open finalist, with only Phil Taylor making more appearances [Getty Images]

Phil Taylor is the most decorated player in UK Open history with five titles.

Michael van Gerwen, Wade and Raymond van Barneveld are the only other players to have more than one UK Open title to their name.

2025 – Luke Littler
2024 – Dimitri Van den Bergh
2023 – Andrew Gilding
2022 – Danny Noppert
2021 – James Wade
2020 – Michael van Gerwen
2019 – Nathan Aspinall
2018 – Gary Anderson
2017 – Peter Wright
2016 – Michael van Gerwen
2015 – Michael van Gerwen
2014 – Adrian Lewis
2013 – Phil Taylor
2012 – Robert Thornton
2011 – James Wade
2010 – Phil Taylor
2009 – Phil Taylor
2008 – James Wade
2007 – Raymond van Barneveld
2006 – Raymond van Barneveld
2005 – Phil Taylor
2004 – Roland Scholten
2003 – Phil Taylor

This article is the latest from BBC Sport’s Ask Me Anything team.