UK Open 2023 - Mastercaller

The 21st edition of the UK Open was held from 3 to 5 March in Butlins, Minehead. A total of 158 players competed for the title. Andrew Gilding became the surprise winner and took down a major title for the first time in his career. In the final he beats Michael van Gerwen.

The tournament starts for Gilding in the third round. The number 41 in the world comes out against Darren Webster. 'Goldfinger' wins 6-2, making it through to the last 64. With almost a ton average, he beats Ricky Evans 10-5. Luke Woodhouse awaits in the fifth round, who scored a great victory over Josh Rock (6-2) in the third round and managed to beat Jelle Klaasen 10-2 a round later. The Englishman has no chance against Gilding and goes down 10-5.

The 52-year-old Englishman is preparing for a duel with Brendan Dolan in the last 16. The Northern Irishman takes an 8-5 lead and moments later misses the double eleven to reach one leg of the quarterfinals. Gilding continues to throw calmly and still manages to win the game 10-8. He will meet Martin Schindler in the quarterfinals. The German won 10-8 against Jonny Clayton a round earlier, but doesn’t play a good game against Gilding. 'Goldfinger' takes a 10-4 win and is therefore in the semi-finals of the UK Open for the second time in his career. That may be called a surprise, but so is his opponent in the last four: Adam Gawlas. The young Czech beat Rob Cross 10-8 in the quarterfinals and is close to his first major final. In the end, that will not happen, because Gilding wins 11-6 and is in the final of a major television tournament for the first time himself.

Opponent in the final is Michael van Gerwen. His route to the final is a lot more difficult. Van Gerwen settles successively with Dave Chisnall (10-8), Martijn Kleermaker (10-6), Luke Humphries (10-4), Nathan Aspinall (10-6) and Dimitri van den Bergh (11-6). In the final, Van Gerwen is therefore the big favorite to win the UK Open for the fourth time. After an early 2-0 lead, he suddenly sees Gilding leading 4-2. Still, at the second break there is a lead for 'Mighty Mike' on the board, because Gilding misses many opportunities on the doubles (6-4). The continuation of the final is very exciting and after eighteen legs it is 9-9. With a 170 finish, Van Gerwen is one leg from the title, but a leg later Gilding hits the double twelve to make it an all-deciding leg. Van Gerwen may start this leg, but partly thanks to a 180, Gilding seems to have the best credentials. Van Gerwen misses a match dart on double sixteen from a 102 finish, after which Gilding's first match dart on tops does hit. As a result, Andrew Gilding can call himself the very surprising winner of the UK Open.

UK Open

About UK Open 2023

Competitors Of UK Open 2023

Vladimir Andersen

Gary Anderson

Nathan Aspinall

Thomas Banks

Keane Barry

Steve Beaton

Sebastian Białecki

Bradley Brooks

Keegan Brown

Stephen Bunting

Kevin Burness

Richie Burnett

Stephen Burton

Matt Campbell

Dave Chisnall

Jamie Clark

Brett Claydon

Jonny Clayton

Gabriel Clemens

Jarred Cole

Rob Cross

Joe Cullen

Gary Davey

Mike De Decker

Chris Dobey

Kevin Doets

Brendan Dolan

Ritchie Edhouse

Ricky Evans

Lee Evans

Ted Evetts

Michael Flynn

Nick Fullwell

Adam Gawlas

Andrew Gilding

Nathan Girvan

Callum Goffin

Noel Grant

Daryl Gurney

Lewis Gurney

Graham Hall

Florian Hempel

Jimmy Hendriks

Conor Heneghan

Damon Heta

Christopher Holt

Jamie Hughes

Luke Humphries

Kim Huybrechts

Ronny Huybrechts

Danny Jansen

Andy Jenkins

Ryan Joyce

José Justicia

Krzysztof Kciuk

Nick Kenny

George Killington

Mervyn King

Christian Kist

Jelle Klaasen

Martijn Kleermaker

Daniel Klose

Robbie Knops

Boris Krcmar

Maik Kuivenhoven

Darius Labanauskas

Jacques Labre

Harry Lane

Danny Lauby II

Daniel Lee

Steve Lennon

Adrian Lewis

Luke Littler

Callum Loose

Martin Lukeman

Mickey Mansell

Tony Martinez