Gerwyn Price, the only man to reach two UK Open finals and lose them both, is hoping to make it third time lucky when the FA Cup of Darts returns to Butlin’s Minehead this weekend.
A field of almost 160 players, headed by 4/1 favourite Price, will gather at Butlin’s Minehead on Friday for the start of the UK Open, and brace yourself for thrills, spills and any number of shocks.
The UK Open is often referred to as the FA Cup of Darts because seedings go out of the window in an event famous for its open draws in which the very best players can be drawn against each other from as early as round four, the last 64.
James Wade is the defending champion – he won it last year in Milton Keynes at 40/1, his third win and the latest in a string of big-priced finalists.
And that will have punters scouring the field for an each-way bet and hoping they can nail the next Shayne Burgess, Barrie Bates, Gary Mawson or even Price himself, who was around a 150/1 chance when he made the final in 2017.
Price Looks Right for a Big Run
There have been 24 different finalists in the 19 previous runnings of the UK Open which shows what a wide-open event it is – but for all that, Gerwyn Price still represents a hard man to ignore given the form he is in.
Gezzy, the world No.1, warmed up for Minehead with a record-breaking Premier League performance in Belfast – two nine-darters and a nightly average in excess of 107 – and then went to Germany to win the opening European Tour event, the International Open, beating arch-rival Peter Wright in the final.
The Iceman is in great form, so too 6/1 shot Wright, while Price’s compatriot Jonny Clayton at 13/2 will be on a few shortlists. And would you rule out Michael van Gerwen, a three-time winner of the UK Open, at 7/1.
Wade, incidentally, is one of only two players to have appeared in every UK Open since the first one back in 2003 – Steve Beaton is the other player – and is 40/1 to win the title for a fourth time.
Cool Hand Looks Good for a Run
Punters will have their own ideas of outsiders to latch on to, but bear in mind that the top 32 are exempt until round four which gives them a slight edge over the lower-ranked players.
Raymond van Barneveld, for example, comes in at round three while rising stars of the calibre of Bradley Brooks and Jim Williams make their entrance in round one.
Coming in at round four, and well worth considering, is Luke Humphries who is 25/1 to go one better than last year when he lost in the final.
Nathan Aspinall has recovered from wrist surgery and threw well at last weekend’s International Darts Open. The Asp is a 30/1 shot, while Damon Heta has reached a semi-final and a final in the four floor events played on tour in 2022 and looks like he must have a sniff at 50/1.
*All odds correct at time of writing.