Team Target at the UK Open

 Team Target sends almost 20 players to this year’s UK Open for one of the most unpredictable tournaments of the year.  The three day event at Butlin’s, Minehead sees an open draw for every round, leading to it being known as “the FA Cup of Darts”.  There have been 11 different winners over its 20 year history, and a different champion in each of the last six years.

The first three rounds have already been drawn, with the 160 players involved entering at various stages of the tournament based on their world ranking.  The world’s top 32 (including two of Target’s former champions Nathan Aspinall and Raymond van Barneveld) will enter in the fourth round, with those ranked 33-64 starting in round three, the 65-96 bracket coming in at the second round stage, with the first round consisting of the remaining Tour Card holders, qualifiers from the Development and Challenge Tours, as well 16 “amateurs” who have come through qualifiers at Riley’s clubs around the UK.

Below we have broken down Target’s representatives into their various seeding brackets and outline their prospects for the tournament.

The top ranked six members of Team Target will all enter at this stage of the tournament, but will be stepping into the unknown as the draw is yet to be made, and they could end up facing one another.  That means that we could see Target’s top two go head to head in last 64 in a repeat of the final four years ago, when Nathan Aspinall beat Rob Cross to lift his first major title.  Both should be considered realistic prospects for the trophy this year, with “The Asp” having started his Premier League campaign strongly, and “Voltage” looking to reach a second consecutive Minehead final, following his excellent showing at the Players Championship Finals in November.

The top ranked six members of Team Target will all enter at this stage of the tournament, but will be stepping into the unknown as the draw is yet to be made, and they could end up facing one another.  That means that we could see Target’s top two go head to head in last 64 in a repeat of the final four years ago, when Nathan Aspinall beat Rob Cross to lift his first major title.  Both should be considered realistic prospects for the trophy this year, with “The Asp” having started his Premier League campaign strongly, and “Voltage” looking to reach a second consecutive Minehead final, following his excellent showing at the Players Championship Finals in November.

Belgium’s number one Dimitri Van den Bergh has recently changed his approach to big stage action, deliberately speeding up his play and looking to enjoy his time in front of the cameras a little more, but his stuttering start to the year shows he may still need a little time to hone this new style.  There are however very strong reasons to be optimistic about the other three members of Team Target in the top 32:  Germany’s Gabriel Clemens has already reached another ranking final, following his historic World Championship run; two-time UK Open winner Raymond van Barneveld has already shown he has the necessary determination to fight his way back up the rankings; and Stephen Bunting has started the year encouragingly, including his first ever on stage win against Michael van Gerwen in the season’s opening European Tour event in Germany.

Target’s young Irish star Keane Barry is the name that immediately jumps out in this section of the draw, after his brilliant run to the semi-finals of this event last year whilst still a teenager. “Dynamite” saw off the defending champion James Wade en route to his first major semi, in a weekend that saw him rocket up the rankings, and an opening game against either Damian Mol, Lee Evans or amateur qualifier Gary Davey offers an opportunity for Keane to get another potential deep run underway.

Two-time World Champion Adrian Lewis also enters the fray at this stage, facing former ranking title winner Joe Murnan, and has shown enough in the early stages of this year’s Pro Tour to suggest he could be competing on the final day on Sunday, nine years after winning this title.

There is the possibility of an all-Target clash between young Welsh star Lewy Williams and former World Youth Champion Bradley Brooks, but the tastiest looking tie of the round could be feature debutant Scott Williams, who will take on either ex-Lakeside champion Jelle Klaasen, returning Tour Card holder Josh Payne, or the improving German Ricardo Pietreczko.

The second round sees three of Target’s young guns begin their campaigns, knowing not only their opening opponents, but who should await them in the third round if they can make a winning start.  Northern Ireland’s Nathan Rafferty first made his name in this event five years ago when he knocked out defending champion Peter Wright, and he will take on the veteran Kevin Burness in round two, hoping to then face the dangerous left hander Ryan Meikle.

“Hawkeye” Kevin Doets knows that if he can overcome American Jules van Dongen, then a Polish player will await - either Radek Szagasnki or Krzysztof Kciuk.  There is also a very unpredictable game between Target’s Elite1 graduate Bradley Brooks and “The Mullet” Danny Jansen, a player who won a Pro Tour title in his debut year last year, but has enjoyed little success since.  Should Bradley come through that, we will see the all-Target clash with Lewy Williams for a spot in the next round.

While there are no Target players in the final bracket of players ranked 97-128, there are a number of competitors who have qualified either via the Development Tour rankings or via the amateur events held around the UK.  Sebastian Bialecki made headlines on his debut two years ago by hitting a nine darter in his very first match, but then impressed even more last year narrowly missing out on a semi-final spot.  “Bolt” will face Joshua Richardson in his opener, with a game to come against either Owen Roelofs or amateur qualifier Stuart White, knowing that a third round tie with Danny Lauby could await.

Target’s fast-throwing Lauby has shown an extraordinary appetite to travel and compete in recent years, regularly coming over from the USA to play in various events in Europe, but he has not been rewarded with a forgiving first round match.  The American will take on the dangerous Scotsman Jim Mcewan, with former World Youth champion Ted Evetts standing between the winner and the potential third round meeting with Bialecki.

Jarred Cole and Nathan Girvan are both products of our Elite1 training and mentoring system, who have already enjoyed notable success - with Cole reaching a Pro Tour quarter-final, and Girvan reaching the World Youth final.  Jarred begins his campaign against the Netherlands’ Jitse van der Wal, while Girvan has a tough route to negotiate past Niels Zonneveld, Keegan Brown and then Lithuanian number one Darius Labanauskas.

But one of the highlights of the entire event could be the debut in a PDC televised event for Luke Littler, Target’s astonishing teenage talent from St Helens.  While “The Nuke” has already won a number of senior events in the WDF, and competed at The Lakeside, he was only eligible to play in the PDC once he turned 16… which he did in January, and won the UK Open qualifying event in Greater Manchester on the very same day.  A fast throwing, big scoring player of breathtaking potential, Luke is one of the hottest young prospects in the game.  The youngest player in the tournament will take on the experienced Nick Fulwell in his opener, with Austria’s Rusty-Jake Rodriguez to face the winner, and a potential third round encounter with Ritchie Edhouse (who beat Michael Smith in Minehead in November) to follow.

The UK Open will take place from 3-5 March, with live coverage on ITV4 in the UK and worldwide via the PDC’s broadcast partners.  PDC TV will also be streaming not only every game from the second stage, but for the frist time it will also show live footage of every match from the outer boards.