A TOTAL of 96 professional players have qualified for the UK Open Finals, which will be held at the Reebok Stadium in Bolton from June 3-6.
Eight Qualifiers, each worth £31,600 in prize money, have been held over the past three months for professionals to earn their places in the tournament.
The top 96 players from the UK Open Order of Merit who have played in a minimum of three Qualifiers now win places in the Sky Sports-televised UK Open Finals.
Mark Walsh was the leading player from the eight qualifiers, earning £15,200 prize money which included two £6,000 event wins, while reigning UK Open champion Phil Taylor won £15,000 from three events played, having won two Qualifiers and lost in the final of the other.
The top 32 players enter the UK Open, nicknamed 'The FA Cup of Darts' at the Third Round stage on Friday June 4 at the Reebok Stadium.
However, the tournament - unique for the free draw format which means top players can be drawn together at any stage - begins on Thursday June 3 with the Preliminary Round, First Round and Second Round.
The Preliminary and First Rounds feature the players ranked from 65-96 in the UK Open Order of Merit, who are joined by the 32 Rileys Amateur Qualifiers and ten BDO County representatives.
The Second Round will feature the First Round's 32 winners alongside the players ranked from 33-64 in the UK Open Order of Merit, who include 2004 UK Open champion Roland Scholten, Wayne Mardle, Peter Manley and the totesport.com Players Championship winner Paul Nicholson.
The players tied on £2,300 placed 31-34 in the UK Open Order of Merit were separated by a count-back of prize money won in the previous four tournaments, while Raymond van Barneveld did not qualify having not competed in the requisite three Qualifiers.
The 96 professionals are joined in the UK Open by 32 Rileys Amateur Qualifiers, who have won through knockout qualifiers held in Rileys Darts Zones around the UK, and the BDO County representatives.
The draw for the Preliminary Round, First Round & Second Round will be made on Thursday May 13 and published at www.pdc.tv. The Third Round draw will be made at the close of play in the Second Round on Thursday June 3 in Bolton.
Tickets for the UK Open cost from £20 and are available by calling 0844 871 2932 or by visiting the Reebok Stadium Box Office.
FINAL UK OPEN ORDER OF MERIT
The 32 Rileys Amateur Qualifiers are:
The BDO County representatives are:
Eight Qualifiers, each worth £31,600 in prize money, have been held over the past three months for professionals to earn their places in the tournament.
The top 96 players from the UK Open Order of Merit who have played in a minimum of three Qualifiers now win places in the Sky Sports-televised UK Open Finals.
Mark Walsh was the leading player from the eight qualifiers, earning £15,200 prize money which included two £6,000 event wins, while reigning UK Open champion Phil Taylor won £15,000 from three events played, having won two Qualifiers and lost in the final of the other.
The top 32 players enter the UK Open, nicknamed 'The FA Cup of Darts' at the Third Round stage on Friday June 4 at the Reebok Stadium.
However, the tournament - unique for the free draw format which means top players can be drawn together at any stage - begins on Thursday June 3 with the Preliminary Round, First Round and Second Round.
The Preliminary and First Rounds feature the players ranked from 65-96 in the UK Open Order of Merit, who are joined by the 32 Rileys Amateur Qualifiers and ten BDO County representatives.
The Second Round will feature the First Round's 32 winners alongside the players ranked from 33-64 in the UK Open Order of Merit, who include 2004 UK Open champion Roland Scholten, Wayne Mardle, Peter Manley and the totesport.com Players Championship winner Paul Nicholson.
The players tied on £2,300 placed 31-34 in the UK Open Order of Merit were separated by a count-back of prize money won in the previous four tournaments, while Raymond van Barneveld did not qualify having not competed in the requisite three Qualifiers.
The 96 professionals are joined in the UK Open by 32 Rileys Amateur Qualifiers, who have won through knockout qualifiers held in Rileys Darts Zones around the UK, and the BDO County representatives.
The draw for the Preliminary Round, First Round & Second Round will be made on Thursday May 13 and published at www.pdc.tv. The Third Round draw will be made at the close of play in the Second Round on Thursday June 3 in Bolton.
Tickets for the UK Open cost from £20 and are available by calling 0844 871 2932 or by visiting the Reebok Stadium Box Office.
FINAL UK OPEN ORDER OF MERIT
Pos | Name | Events | Prize Money |
1 | WALSH,Mark | 8 | £15,200 |
2 | TAYLOR,Phil | 3 | £15,000 |
3 | ANDERSON,Gary | 8 | £13,500 |
4 | WADE,James | 7 | £10,900 |
5 | LLOYD,Colin | 8 | £7,700 |
6 | KING,Mervyn | 6 | £7,200 |
7 | CAVEN,Jamie | 8 | £6,900 |
8 | NEWTON,Wesley | 8 | £6,500 |
9 | PART,John | 8 | £6,300 |
10 | OSBORNE,Colin | 7 | £5,900 |
11 | HAMILTON, Andy | 8 | £5,100 |
12 | WHITLOCK,Simon | 8 | £4,900 |
13 | VOORT,Vincent van der | 8 | £4,700 |
14 | JONES,Wayne | 8 | £4,600 |
15 | WEBSTER,Mark | 8 | £4,500 |
16 | WRIGHT,Peter | 8 | £4,400 |
17 | KLAASEN,Jelle | 8 | £4,400 |
18 | PAINTER, Kevin | 8 | £3,900 |
19 | STOMPE Co | 7 | £3,600 |
20 | LEWIS,Adrian | 8 | £3,400 |
21 | GERWEN,Michael van | 8 | £3,200 |
22 | DUDBRIDGE,Mark | 8 | £3,200 |
23 | TABERN,Alan | 8 | £3,000 |
24 | MAISH,Steve | 8 | £2,900 |
25 | DOLAN,Brendan | 8 | £2,900 |
26 | JENKINS,Terry | 7 | £2,900 |
27 | PRIESTLEY,Dennis | 6 | £2,800 |
28 | CLARK,Matt | 8 | £2,800 |
29 | BAXTER,Ronnie | 8 | £2,700 |
30 | OVENS,Denis | 8 | £2,500 |
31 | ECCLES,Tony * (count-back £1,600) | 8 | £2,300 |
32 | HEYDON,Nigel * (£1,200) | 8 | £2,300 |
33 | SMITH,Andy * (£1,000) | 8 | £2,300 |
34 | NICHOLSON,Paul * (£800) | 8 | £2,300 |
35 | THOMPSON, Chris | 8 | £2,200 |
36 | FROST.Mark | 8 | £2,200 |
37 | PIPE,Justin | 8 | £2,200 |
38 | LAWRENCE,Mark | 8 | £2,200 |
39 | FULLWELL,Nick | 8 | £2,000 |
40 | MONK,Colin | 8 | £2,000 |
41 | BEATON,Steve | 8 | £1,900 |
42 | BATES,Barrie | 8 | £1,900 |
43 | JOHNSON,Darren | 8 | £1,900 |
44 | SMITH,Dennis | 8 | £1,800 |
45 | GRAY,Adrian | 8 | £1,700 |
46 | THORNTON,Robert | 8 | £1,600 |
47 | MASON,Chris | 8 | £1,600 |
48 | SCHOLTEN,Roland | 6 | £1,600 |
49 | EVANS,Steve | 8 | £1,500 |
50 | BROWN,Steve | 8 | £1,400 |
51 | COX,Mark | 8 | £1,400 |
52 | BARNARD,Michael | 8 | £1,400 |
53 | MARDLE,Wayne | 7 | £1,400 |
54 | McGOWAN,Mick | 8 | £1,300 |
55 | SHEPHERD,Kirk | 8 | £1,300 |
56 | MONK,Arron | 8 | £1,300 |
57 | SMITH,Michael | 5 | £1,200 |
58 | McDINE,Kevin | 7 | £1,200 |
59 | HARDY,Stephen | 8 | £1,100 |
60 | MANLEY,Peter | 5 | £1,100 |
61 | ATWOOD,Wayne | 6 | £1,000 |
62 | AYRES,Tony | 7 | £1,000 |
63 | ROY,Alex | 8 | £1,000 |
64 | DUTTON,Stuart | 6 | £1,000 |
65 | FARMER,Steve | 7 | £900 |
66 | MAWSON,Gary | 6 | £900 |
67 | DOWLING,Kevin | 8 | £800 |
68 | HINE,Steve | 8 | £800 |
69 | HUDSON,Peter | 8 | £800 |
70 | SMITH,Dave | 7 | £700 |
71 | CUNNINGHAM,Simon | 4 | £700 |
72 | QUANTOCK,John | 6 | £700 |
73 | ARTUT,Jyhan | 3 | £700 |
74 | CULLEN,Joe | 7 | £700 |
75 | STEPHENSON,Mark | 8 | £600 |
76 | PADGETT,Matt | 8 | £600 |
77 | HONEY,Dave | 8 | £600 |
78 | EASTWOOD,Gary | 6 | £600 |
79 | WEBSTER,Darren | 8 | £600 |
80 | BLUNDELL,Louis | 8 | £600 |
81 | DUO,Dylan | 5 | £600 |
82 | CLARK,Jason | 6 | £500 |
83 | O'CONNOR,William | 4 | £500 |
84 | RAND,Scott | 3 | £500 |
85 | RIIHONEN,Par | 8 | £500 |
86 | ALLEN,Sam | 8 | £500 |
87 | LISCSEY,Anton | 6 | £500 |
88 | PINHORNE,Danny | 8 | £400 |
89 | ROWLEY,Paul | 8 | £400 |
90 | TURNER,Martyn | 7 | £400 |
91 | LATHAM,Darren | 7 | £400 |
92 | NEWLAND,Robbie | 8 | £400 |
93 | BURNETT,Richie | 8 | £400 |
94 | DRAPER,Matt | 7 | £400 |
95 | LOUDON,Chris | 8 | £400 |
96 | HUTCHINGS,Andy | 8 | £400 |
Did Not Qualify | |||
BARNEVELD, Raymond van | 1 | £1,000 | |
BARTON,James | 7 | £300 | |
BOUSFIELD,Stuart | 8 | £300 | |
JOPLING,Ian | 7 | £300 | |
O'NEILL,Aodhagan | 3 | £300 | |
RANDELL,Tony | 8 | £300 | |
WEAVER,Darren | 7 | £300 | |
ALLSOP,Dean | 8 | £200 | |
ASKEW,Dave | 7 | £200 | |
ATKINS,Jamie | 5 | £200 | |
ATWILL,Ron | 8 | £200 | |
BIRCH,Nigel | 7 | £200 | |
CALLABY,Andy | 6 | £200 | |
EDMONDS,Peter | 5 | £200 | |
GREEBE,Toon | 2 | £200 | |
GRUBB,Steve | 8 | £200 | |
HAYES,Lee | 6 | £200 | |
JENKINS,Andy | 1 | £200 | |
JODRILL,Mark | 7 | £200 | |
LADLEY,Dave | 8 | £200 | |
LEVER,Ian | 8 | £200 | |
MANN,Jimmy | 8 | £200 | |
McFARLANE,Ian | 8 | £200 | |
MICHELS,Mareno | 7 | £200 | |
MUSSON,Steve | 8 | £200 | |
PARKER,Robbie | 4 | £200 | |
PEARSON,Steve | 4 | £200 | |
SAMS,Lionel | 2 | £200 | |
STARTIN,Brian | 4 | £200 | |
SULJOVIC, Mensur | 2 | £200 | |
VUYST, Didier de | 3 | £200 | |
WHITE,Ian | 3 | £200 | |
WILLIAMS,Lee | 8 | £200 |
The 32 Rileys Amateur Qualifiers are:
Melvyn Johnston | Aberdeen |
Paul Gibbs | Bournemouth |
Tony Broughton | Bournemouth |
Dean Edlin | Brighton |
Michael Hammond | Brighton |
Darren Sullivan | Burton |
Ricky Evans | Burton |
Alex Harrison | Cardiff |
David Martin | Cardiff |
John Bowles | Chester |
Noel Grant | Coventry |
Henry Murphy | Croydon |
Paul Neate | Croydon |
John Robertson | Edinburgh |
Ryan Murray | Edinburgh |
John Lakeman | Exeter |
Barrie Knight | Gillingham |
Mark Wilson | Hull |
Reece Robinson | Hull |
Bradley Williams | Liverpool |
Jamie Green | Liverpool |
Ashley Whisker | London |
Paul Warwick | London |
Paul Whitworth | Manchester |
Stuart Monaghan | Manchester |
Barrie Webb | Norwich |
Joe Palmer | Oxford |
Pete Fisher | Oxford |
Simon Jones | Solihull |
Dean Stewart | Wolverhampton |
Nicky Bache | Wolverhampton |
Dean Harris | Worcester |
The BDO County representatives are:
Mike Nott | Avon |
Andy Murray | East Stirlingshire |
Tony Hutchinson | Hampshire |
Hugh Ringland | Lothian |
Ian Gleeson | Northumberland |
Jay Foreman | Nottinghamshire |
Mark Harris | Surrey |
Prakash Jiwa | Warwickshire |
Kevin Lowe | Bedfordshire |
Henry O'Neill | Gloucestershire |