WORLD NUMBER ONE SURVIVES GREAVES TEST ON OPENING DAY OF 2025 LADBROKES UK OPEN
Luke Humphries defied a superb display from Beau Greaves to book his place in the fifth round of the Ladbrokes UK Open, as Luke Littler edged out Peter Wright in a deciding-leg thriller on an action-packed opening day in Minehead.
Day One of the £600,000 event at Butlin’s Minehead Resort saw 126 matches played across eight stages on a marathon day at the annual festival of darts.
The opening four rounds were held across two sessions, as the 158-player field was whittled down to 32 by the conclusion of Friday’s play.
World number one Humphries was amongst the star attractions on Friday evening, although he was forced to recover from 7-5 down against two-time Women’s World Matchplay champion Greaves.
The 21-year-old became the first woman to win three successive matches at this event, overcoming Stefan Bellmont, Rhys Griffin and Mickey Mansell with a trio of fine displays during the afternoon session to reach round four.
Aided by 126 and 124 checkouts, Greaves seized the early initiative against Humphries, and at one stage looked poised to complete a historic victory against the sport’s premier player.
However, Humphries showed his class in the latter stages, responding with a brilliant five-leg burst to triumph 10-7 with a 102.45 average.
“Beau belongs in big time darts,” insisted Humphries, a two-time UK Open runner-up.
“She’s a massive asset to the sport. The women’s game is growing massively and Beau has played a big part in that.
“She really tested me there, and if that was a Premier League format, she would have beaten me!
“Over the next few years I’m sure I am going to be sharing the stage with Beau a lot more.”
World Champion Littler also won through a thrilling tie on the Main Stage, averaging 108.69 to defeat 2017 UK Open champion Wright in a gripping 19-leg tussle.
Wright landed a hat-trick of ton-plus checkouts to set up a grandstand finish, only for the teenage superstar to keep his cool and close out victory with a 13-dart break.
“You can never expect a bad game from Peter,” admitted Littler, a quarter-finalist at this event 12 months ago.
“Peter played really well to win those two legs on the bounce, and I had to find the gears I know I’ve got.
“I like it in Minehead. I’ve got a good record here, and hopefully I can go deep in this competition this weekend.”
Three-time champion Michael van Gerwen survived a scare in his all-Dutch tie against Dirk van Duijvenbode by eventually closing out a 10-8 success, having led 7-3 at one stage.
Elsewhere, reigning champion Dimitri Van den Bergh kicked off his title defence with a hard-fought 10-6 win over Raymond van Barneveld, who lifted the title in 2006 and 2007.
Van den Bergh will be joined in round five by former winners Nathan Aspinall, Danny Noppert and James Wade, who dumped out Martin Lukeman, Daryl Gurney and William Borland respectively.
However, Scottish icon Gary Anderson and 2023 winner Andrew Gilding both crashed out at the fourth round stage, succumbing to Jonny Clayton and Ryan Joyce.
Two-time runner-up Gerwyn Price was denied by Connor Scutt in an exhilarating last-leg decider, despite overturning a 7-2 deficit to level at nine apiece.
Chris Dobey reeled off seven straight legs from 6-3 down to account for Stephen Bunting in an all-Premier League affair, with Rob Cross running out a comfortable 10-4 winner against Thomas Lovely.
2022/23 World Champion Michael Smith enjoyed a welcome return to winning ways in Minehead, seeing off Kevin Doets to avenge his World Championship defeat to the Dutchman back in December.
Smith’s fellow St Helens native Dave Chisnall sealed his progress with a 10-9 win against Ricky Evans, as Madars Razma and Danny Lauby also won through dramatic last-leg tussles on the outer boards in round four.
2024 semi-finalist Damon Heta dispatched Kim Huybrechts 10-2 to confirm his place in Saturday’s fifth round, advancing alongside Dutch duo Gian van Veen and Jermaine Wattimena.
Alan Soutar and Cameron Menzies are left flying for the flag for Scottish darts, while Josh Rock preserved Northern Irish hopes with a convincing 10-5 win over Justin Hood.
Krzysztof Ratajski swept aside Joe Cullen to kick off his campaign in style on Friday evening, as German number one Martin Schindler, Somerset star Ryan Searle and former European Champion Ross Smith also progressed.
Former UK Open semi-finalists Mensur Suljovic and William O’Connor will both feature in round five, with the Austrian defeating Nathan Rafferty and Luke Woodhouse on Friday and the Irish star seeing off Tom Sykes and Scott Williams.
World Youth Championship runner-up Jurjen van der Velde is the solitary representative from round one still standing in Minehead, as he recorded four straight victories to break new ground on the big stage – defeating Titus Kanik, Bradley Brooks, Keane Barry and Adam Lipscombe on Friday.
Rob Owen, Stephen Burton and Dylan Slevin complete the fifth round line-up, after claiming a brace of victories across a gruelling day of action.
Niko Springer produced the performance of Friday’s opening day, averaging 115.92 in his first round demolition of Cor Dekker, before losing out to Slevin in a topsy-turvy third round encounter.
The draw for the fifth round was made live on the Main Stage at the conclusion of Friday night’s action, with reigning champion Van den Bergh pitted against former Masters champion Dobey.
Humphries will play Searle, Littler has been pitted against Wattimena, with Van Gerwen set to take on Owen for a place in the last 16.
At the conclusion of the fifth round, the draw will be made for the sixth round, which will take place across two stages on Saturday evening.
Main Stage matches across the event will be broadcast live on ITV3 or ITV4 for UK viewers, through the PDC’s international broadcast partners, including DAZN and Viaplay, and on PDCTV for Rest of the World Subscribers.
Stage Two action on Saturday will be streamed exclusively for all PDCTV Subscribers worldwide, with commentary from Paul Nicholson and Dan McCarthy, while matches from Stages Three and Four will also be broadcast live on PDCTV on Saturday.
2025 Ladbrokes UK Open
First Round
Rusty-Jake Rodriguez 6-2 Mike Gillet
Beau Greaves 6-1 Stefan Bellmont
Niko Springer 6-2 Cor Dekker
Cam Crabtree 6-1 Wesley Plaisier
Sebastian Bialecki 6-2 Viktor Tingstrom
Shaun Fox 6-0 Max Hopp
Darryl Pilgrim 6-3 Chris Hartrey
Paul Rowley 6-1 Karel Sedlacek
Adam Lipscombe 6-0 Marc Dewsbury
Greg Ritchie 6-3 Jamie Kelling
Danny van Trijp 6-5 Henry Coates
Simon Stevenson 6-0 Jules van Dongen
Andy Boulton 6-2 Dennie Olde Kalter
Nathan Girvan 6-3 Christopher Wickenden
Thomas Lovely 6-1 Oskar Lukasiak
Marvin van Velzen 6-3 Tom Bissell
Tommy Lishman 6-4 Kai Gotthardt
Christian Kist 6-4 Daniel Perry
Maik Kuivenhoven 6-4 Maximilian Czerwinski
Jimmy van Schie 6-4 Adam Paxton
Graham Hall 6-0 Tavis Dudeney
Graham Usher 6-3 John Henderson
Dominik Gruellich 6-3 Danny Jansen
Darius Labanauskas 6-4 Derek Coulson
Alexander Merkx 6-1 Leon Weber
Tommy Morris 6-1 Adam Warner
Jurjen van der Velde 6-2 Tytus Kanik
Stefaan Henderyck 6-1 Lee Cocks
Andreas Harrysson 6-3 Scott Baker
Tom Sykes 6-5 Owen Roelofs
Aden Kirk 6-4 Charlie Manby
Jim Long 6-4 Pero Ljubic
Second Round
William Borland 6-2 Brett Claydon
Darren Beveridge 6-4 James Hurrell
Tom Sykes 6-1 Thibault Tricole
Adam Lipscombe 6-4 Jelle Klaasen
Radek Szaganski 6-5 Benjamin Reus
Haupai Puha 6-2 Aden Kirk
Christian Kist 6-1 Chris Landman
George Killington 6-5 Owen Bates
Nathan Girvan 6-3 Alexander Merkx
Mario Vandenbogaerde 6-5 Darius Labanauskas
Marvin van Velzen 6-5 Joshua Richardson
Dom Taylor 6-5 Steve Lennon
Martijn Dragt 6-4 Graham Hall
Justin Hood 6-3 Shaun Fox
Berry van Peer 6-3 Danny van Trijp
Lukas Wenig 6-5 Paul Rowley
Dominik Gruellich 6-2 Andreas Harrysson
Graham Usher 6-2 Rusty-Jake Rodriguez
Cam Crabtree 6-1 Andy Baetens`
Tommy Lishman 6-5 Michele Turetta
Adam Hunt 6-4 Maik Kuivenhoven
Jurjen van der Velde 6-2 Bradley Brooks
Nathan Rafferty 6-4 Jim Long
Niko Springer 6-5 Patrick Geeraets
Matthew Dennant 6-3 Andy Boulton
Thomas Lovely 6-4 Stefaan Henderyck
Beau Greaves 6-1 Rhys Griffin
Darryl Pilgrim 6-2 Jitse van der Wal
Sebastian Bialecki 6-4 Robert Grundy
Jimmy van Schie 6-5 Simon Stevenson
Greg Ritchie 6-1 Tommy Morris
Third Round
Scott Williams 6-4 Wessel Nijman
Ricky Evans 6-5 Gabriel Clemens
Raymond van Barneveld 6-4 Graham Usher
Beau Greaves 6-2 Mickey Mansell
Jermaine Wattimena 6-3 Florian Hempel
Madars Razma 6-1 Ryan Meikle
Kim Huybrechts 6-4 Lukas Wenig
Justin Hood 6-3 Darren Beveridge
Alan Soutar 6-0 Callan Rydz
William O’Connor 6-4 Tom Sykes
Jose de Sousa 6-4 Jimmy van Schie
Adam Lipscombe 6-4 Ian White
Rob Owen 6-5 Niels Zonneveld
Jurjen van der Velde 6-3 Keane Barry
Kevin Doets 6-2 Greg Ritchie
Haupai Puha 6-4 Christian Kist
Martin Lukeman 6-5 Jim Williams
Cameron Menzies 6-5 Dom Taylo
Thomas Lovely 6-3 Matthew Dennant
Danny Lauby 6-3 Darryl Pilgrim
Luke Woodhouse 6-3 Sebastian Bialecki
Matt Campbell 6-5 Nathan Girvan
Radek Szaganski 6-4 Cam Crabtree
Nick Kenny 6-3 Dominik Gruellich
William Borland 6-5 Martijn Dragt
Connor Scutt 6-3 Berry van Peer
Mensur Suljovic 6-1 Nathan Rafferty
Dylan Slevin 6-5 Niko Springer
Stephen Burton 6-3 Tommy Lishman
Mario Vandenbogaerde 6-4 Richard Veenstra
George Killington 6-4 Marvin van Velzen
Fourth Round
Jonny Clayton 10-3 Gary Anderson
Luke Littler 10-9 Peter Wright
Luke Humphries 10-7 Beau Greaves
Michael van Gerwen 10-8 Dirk van Duijvenbode
Dave Chisnall 10-9 Ricky Evans
Dimitri Van den Bergh 10-6 Raymond van Barneveld
Chris Dobey 10-6 Stephen Bunting
Connor Scutt 10-9 Gerwyn Price
Stephen Burton 10-6 Radek Szaganski
Ryan Searle 10-7 Adam Hunt
Martin Schindler 10-7 Mario Vandenbogaerde
Michael Smith 10-6 Kevin Doets
Danny Noppert 10-2 Daryl Gurney
William O’Connor 10-7 Scott Williams
Alan Soutar 10-7 Matt Campbell
Cameron Menzies 10-4 Mike De Decker
Krzysztof Ratajski 10-4 Joe Cullen
Nathan Aspinall 10-5 Martin Lukeman
Dylan Slevin 10-7 Haupai Puha
James Wade 10-3 William Borland
Mensur Suljovic 10-6 Luke Woodhouse
Ross Smith 10-7 Jose de Sousa
Jurjen van der Velde 10-6 Adam Lipscombe
Josh Rock 10-5 Justin Hood
Danny Lauby 10-9 Brendan Dolan
Madars Razma 10-9 Ricardo Pietreczko
Damon Heta 10-2 Kim Huybrechts
Rob Cross 10-4 Thomas Lovely
Jermaine Wattimena 10-6 Ritchie Edhouse
Gian van Veen 10-4 Nick Kenny
Ryan Joyce 10-8 Andrew Gilding
Rob Owen 10-7 George Killington
Saturday March 1
Afternoon Session (1245 GMT)
Fifth Round
Main Stage
Dimitri Van den Bergh v Chris Dobey
Luke Littler v Jermaine Wattimena
Ryan Searle v Luke Humphries
Rob Owen v Michael van Gerwen
Stage Two
Josh Rock v Ross Smith
Alan Soutar v Jonny Clayton
Jurjen van der Velde v Nathan Aspinall
Rob Cross v Danny Noppert
Stage Three
Dave Chisnall v Krzysztof Ratajski
Mensur Suljovic v William O’Connor
Madars Razma v Michael Smith
Gian van Veen v Stephen Burton
Stage Four
Martin Schindler v Dylan Slevin
Danny Lauby v Ryan Joyce
Cameron Menzies v James Wade
Connor Scutt v Damon Heta
Best of 19 legs
Evening Session (1900 GMT)
Sixth Round
2x Stages, 4 Matches per board
——ENDS—–
