THE first three Rileys Amateur Qualifiers for the Coral UK Open have secured their spots at the Butlins Minehead Resort following the opening weekend of knockouts.
Rileys Sports Bars across the UK are staging a series of qualifiers to find 32 amateur aces who will join 96 professionals in the ITV4-televised UK Open from March 2-4.
Scottish player Andrew Davidson, a 22-year-old from Edinburgh with experience on the PDC Unicorn Development Tour, won the Rileys Greenock knockout as he qualified for a third successive UK Open as an amateur.
Davidson defeated Jan Dekker and Cristo Reyes to reach the third round in 2016, where he lost to Darren Webster, before being knocked out 6-5 in the first round by Lee Evans last year.
Michael Burgoine and Joe Davis (pictured) joined Davidson in securing UK Open spots when they came through the field at Rileys London Victoria, from which two players qualified.
Burgoine, a 32-year-old from Shortstown in Bedfordshire, previously competed in the 2012 and 2013 UK Opens as an amateur qualifier and has since picked up experience on the PDC circuit at both ProTour and Challenge Tour level.
Davis, a 20-year-old from Brighton, competed in the 2017 UK Open whilst on the PDC ProTour, and has competed since 2011 on the Development Tour.
The Rileys Amateur Qualifiers continue on January 27 on the second of five weekends where amateur players can bid to win a UK Open spot.
The knockouts will be held in Rileys Sports Bars across the country, with Chester, Chorlton, Coventry, Greenock, Liverpool, London Victoria, Norwich, Nottingham, South Benfleet, Twickenham and Wolverhampton all staging two events.
Entry costs £7 per player per event, with the entry fee including a free drink. Entry can be made via www.rileys.co.uk/tournaments, or in person at the Rileys Sports Bars, with entries for each event closing at 5pm on the day before that specific knockout.
Players are permitted to enter more than one tournament. Players must be aged 16 or above to enter, and entry is not open to players who compete in the 2018 PDC Qualifying Schools. Full tourmament rules can be seen at www.rileys.co.uk/tournaments.
2018 Coral UK Open
Rileys Amateur Qualifiers
Saturday January 20
Greenock Q1 - Andrew Davidson
Sunday January 21
London Victoria Q1 (Two players qualify) - Michael Burgoine & Joe Davis
Saturday January 27
Chorlton Q1
Norwich Q1
Nottingham Q1
Twickenham Q1
Wolverhampton Q1 (Two players qualify)
Sunday January 28
Leicester
Liverpool Q1
South Benfleet Q1
Saturday February 3
Chester Q1
Harlow
Sheffield
Worcester
Sunday February 4
Chester Q2
Coventry Q1
Greenock Q2
Solihull
Saturday February 10
Chorlton Q2
Sunday February 11
Twickenham Q2 (moved from Feb 10)
Saturday February 17
Aberdeen
Coventry Q2
Liverpool Q2
Norwich Q2
Nottingham Q2
Sunday February 18
London Victoria Q2 (Two players qualify)
South Benfleet Q2
Wolverhampton Q2 (Two players qualify)