UK Open 2026 - Mastercaller

From February 27 to March 1, the 24th edition of the UK Open was held in Butlins, Minehead. A total of 157 players played for the title. Once again, it was Luke Littler who inscribed his name on the winner's trophy for the second year in a row, following a victory over James Wade in the final for the second year in a row.

The 2026 edition will not go down in history as the most surprising of all years. Nevertheless, the draw consistently produces remarkable duels in the early rounds; for instance, Gian van Veen, the world number 3, lost to Rob Cross in the last 64, and in that same round, Damen Heta had to bow out to Luke Littler, while Nathan Aspinall lost to Michael van Gerwen. Dirk van Duijvenbode, Chris Dobey, Joe Cullen, and Jermaine Wattimena were also sent home after just one round.

Top favorite Luke Littler certainly didn’t get anything for free this edition; after beating Damon Heta, he then defeats Kevin Doets, Gary Anderson, Danny Noppert, and Josh Rock to reach the final. In the last 16, several big names bid farewell to the tournament. As mentioned earlier, Gary Anderson loses to Luke Littler; Stephen Bunting is defeated by Josh Rock, and world number two Luke Humphries loses to Dutchman Danny Noppert in this round.

In the quarterfinals, James Wade is narrowly too strong for Rob Cross, winning 10-9; Josh Rock beats Krzysztof Ratajski 10-7; and Gerwyn Price wins the match against his compatriot Jonny Clayton 10-8. Finally, Luke Littler defeats Danny Noppert 10-6.

In the semi-finals, Luke Littler is subsequently drawn against Josh Rock, resulting in a magnificent match that ultimately goes to Luke 11-9. The other semi-final is won by James Wade, who plays fantastically against Gerwyn Price and wins 11-8.

In the final, which is a rematch of last year's final, Luke Littler takes a 3-0 lead but then sees James Wade come back just as quickly to level at 3 a piece. After that, it remains close for a long time until 7-7, then James Wade misses one or two darts at the double to hurt Luke Littler in the following three legs; when that fails, Littler is quick to hit the doubles, and so he takes the last 4 legs in a row and wins his second consecutive UK Open title 11-7.

It is now the sixth consecutive major that Luke Littler has won. He has been undefeated since the World Grand Prix of 2025. It is the twelfth major title of Littler's career, and he is still only 19 years old.

Danny Noppert hits a nine-darter in his last 64 match against Dimitri Van den Bergh; he does so in the final leg of the match. It is already the 16th nine-darter at the UK Open and the first since 2022.

UK Open

About UK Open 2026

Competitors Of UK Open 2026

Gary Anderson

Nathan Aspinall

Jannis Barkhausen

Keane Barry

Owen Bates

James Beeton

Stefan Bellmont

Filip Bereza

Sebastian Białecki

Tom Bissell

Andy Boulton

Ryan Branley

Bradley Brooks

Stephen Bunting

Stephen Burton

Scott Campbell

Dave Chisnall

Jonny Clayton

Gabriel Clemens

Henry Coates

Cam Crabtree

Rob Cross

Joe Cullen

Niall Culleton

Maximilian Czerwinski

Mike De Decker

Cor Dekker

Chris Dobey

Kevin Doets

Brendan Dolan

Tavis Dudeney

Ritchie Edhouse

Jake Eichen

Ricky Evans

Ted Evetts

Callum Francis

Adam Gawlas

Andrew Gilding

Kyle Gilding

Callum Goffin

Kai Gotthardt

Beau Greaves

Rhys Griffin

Dominik Grüllich

Daryl Gurney

Graham Hall

Stefaan Henderyck

Damon Heta

Yorick Hofkens

Justin Hood

Max Hopp

Luke Humphries

James Hurrell

Kim Huybrechts

Ryan Joyce

Tytus Kanik

Nick Kenny

Mervyn King

Oliver King

Aden Kirk

Christian Kist

Marvin Kraft

Maik Kuivenhoven

Darius Labanauskas

Chris Landman

Clive Langford

Sietse Lap

Daniel Lee

Adam Leek

Adam Lipscombe

Luke Littler

Pero Ljubic

Jim Long

Thomas Lovely

Oskar Lukasiak

Martin Lukeman

Charlie Manby