The 2010 Rileys Darts Zones UK Open was the eighth year of the PDC darts tournament where, following numerous regional qualifying heats throughout Britain, players competed in a single elimination tournament to be crowned champion. The tournament was held at the Reebok Stadium in Bolton, England, from 3–6 June 2010, and had the nickname, "the FA Cup of darts" as a random draw was staged after each round until the final.
It was eventually won by Phil Taylor who defeated Scotland's Gary Anderson 11–5 to make it his fourth UK Open and second consecutive championship. Earlier in the tournament, Anderson was on the wrong side of a nine-dart finish from Mervyn King.
In the fourth round of this tournament, Phil Taylor beat Kevin Painter 9–0 with a 3–dart average of 118.66, which at the time was the all-time highest 3–dart average for a televised darts match. It was eventually beaten on 25 February 2016 in the 2016 Premier League Darts meeting in Aberdeen, when Michael van Gerwen averaged 123.40 in beating Michael Smith 7–1.
2010 UK Open qualifiers There were eight qualifying events staged between February and May 2010 to determine the UK Open Order of Merit Table. The tournament winners were: No. Winner Score Runner-up TotalPrize Money Winner Runner-up 1 Mervyn King 6–1 Simon Whitlock £31,200 £6,000 £3,000 2 Mark Walsh 6–2 Phil Taylor £31,200 £6,000 £3,000 3 Phil Taylor 6–0 Jamie Caven £31,200 £6,000 £3,000 4 Gary Anderson 6–5 Wes Newton £31,200 £6,000 £3,000 5 Mark Walsh 6–3 John Part £31,200 £6,000 £3,000 6 Phil Taylor 6–2 Peter Wright £31,200 £6,000 £3,000 7 Colin Lloyd 6–3 Colin Osborne £31,200 £6,000 £3,000 8 James Wade 6–2 Gary Anderson £31,200 £6,000 £3,000
Format and qualifiers The tournament featured 138 players. As in previous years, eight regional UK Open events were staged across the UK where players winning were collated into the UK Open Order Of Merit. The top 96 players and ties in the list, who played a minimum of three events received a place at the final stages.
Top 32 in Order of Merit (receiving byes into third round)
The Rileys qualifiers and the players outside the top 32 of the UK Open Order of Merit began the tournament on the Thursday night. They played down to 32 players, and they were joined by the top 32 of the UK Open Order of Merit the following night, to provide the competition's last 64. A random draw was made after each subsequent round.
Number 33-64 of the Order of Merit (receiving byes into second round)
Remaining Order of Merit qualifiers (starting in first and preliminary round)
32 players qualified from Rileys qualifiers held in Rileys Dart Zones across Britain.
10 players qualified as BDO representatives from Avon, Bedfordshire, East Stirlingshire, Gloucestershire, Hampshire, Lothian, Northumberland, Nottinghamshire, Surrey, Warwickshire. These counties were rewarded one spot each in the UK Open for voting in favour of listening to Barry Hearn's proposed takeover of the BDO.
Prize money For the second consecutive UK Open, the prize fund was £200,000.
Stage (no. of players) Prize money(Total: £200,000) Winner (1) £40,000 Runner-Up (1) £20,000 Semi-finalists (2) £10,000 Quarter-finalists (4) £6,000 Last 16 (fifth round) (8) £4,000 Last 32 (fourth round) (16) £2,000 Last 64 (third round) (32) £1,000 Last 96 (second round) (32) n/a Last 128 (first round) (32) n/a Last 138 (preliminary round) (10) n/a
Draw The draw for the preliminary, first and second rounds was made on 13 May.
Thursday 3 June; Best of 11 legs
Preliminary round
Player #1 ScorePlayer #2 Andy Hutchings 3–6 Darren Webster Kevin Lowe 2–6 Jason Clark Kevin Dowling 1–6 Jyhan Artut Dean Stewart 2–6 Dylan Duo Prakash Jiwa 6–4 John Lakeman
Player #1 ScorePlayer #2 Andy Murray 1–6 Scott Rand Par Riihonen 5–6 Steve Farmer Reece Robinson 6–0 Hugh Ringland Ashley Whisker 2–6 Gary Mawson Peter Hudson 6–1 Paul Neate
Round 1
Player #1 ScorePlayer #2 Darren Sullivan † Tony Hutchinson Ryan Murray 4–6 Jason Clark Alex Harrison 1–6 Jamie Green Simon Cunningham 6–4 Prakash Jiwa Matt Draper 2–6 Mark Harris Tony Broughton 6–3 Mark Stephenson Jyhan Artut 3–6 Scott Rand Robbie Newland 6–5 John Robertson Sam Allen 3–6 Melvyn Johnston Stuart Monaghan 0–6 William O'Connor Mark Wilson 3–6 Paul Gibbs Gary Eastwood 6–5 James Erricker Noel Grant 4–6 Ricky Evans John Quantock 3–6 Matt Padgett Louis Blundell 6–5 Richie Burnett Michael Hammond 2–6 Henry O'Neill
Player #1 ScorePlayer #2 Steve Farmer ‡ Dean Edlin Paul Rowley 3–6 Anton Liscsey Pete Fisher 6–2 Barrie Webb Simon Jones 4–6 John Bowles Nicky Bache 4–6 Martyn Turner Gary Mawson 4–6 Dylan Duo Bradley Williams 1–6 Joe Palmer Danny Pinhorne 4–6 Reece Robinson Dave Honey 2–6 Mike Nott Henry Murphy 3–6 Paul Warwick Darren Latham 1–6 Joe Cullen Dean Harris 1–6 Darren Webster Peter Hudson 3–6 Dave Smith Chris Loudon 5–6 Paul Whitworth Steve Hine 6–5 Ian Gleeson Jay Foreman 6–1 Barrie Knight
‡ Steve Farmer received a bye as Dean Edlin was disqualified because he did not register † Tony Hutchinson received a bye as Darren Sullivan was disqualified because he did not register
Round 2
Player #1 ScorePlayer #2 William O'Connor 6–3 Mark Frost Justin Pipe 4–6 Chris Thompson Colin Monk 6–4 Darren Johnson Wayne Atwood 6–4 Steve Brown Stuart Dutton 5–6 Simon Cunningham Tony Hutchinson 1–6 Steve Evans Anton Liscsey 5–6 Barrie Bates Tony Broughton 6–4 Scott Rand Mike Nott 3–6 Joe Cullen Paul Warwick 6–3 Steve Farmer Jason Clark 5–6 Matt Padgett Mark Harris 6–4 Martyn Turner Kirk Shepherd 6–4 Adrian Gray Darren Webster 5–6 Andy Smith Ricky Evans 2–6 Steve Beaton Robert Thornton 6–2 Paul Gibbs
Player #1 ScorePlayer #2 John Bowles 3–6 Michael Barnard Mark Cox 6–5 Henry O'Neill Dave Smith 4–6 Paul Nicholson Joe Palmer 3–6 Roland Scholten Gary Eastwood 4–6 Dylan Duo Stephen Hardy 6–4 Jay Foreman Alex Roy 6–3 Mark Lawrence Wayne Mardle 6–3 Mick McGowan Kevin McDine 6–2 Jamie Green Michael Smith 6–3 Peter Manley Nick Fullwell 3–6 Arron Monk Tony Ayres 6–4 Paul Whitworth Steve Hine 6–1 Melvyn Johnston Louis Blundell 1–6 Reece Robinson Pete Fisher *6 – 0 Chris Mason Robbie Newland 1–6 Dennis Smith
* Chris Mason withdrew for personal reasons.
Friday 4 June; best of 17 legs
Round 3
Player #1 ScorePlayer #2 Steve Maish9–8 Dennis Priestley Dylan Duo3–9 Colin Osborne Mark Webster6–9 Tony Eccles Stephen Hardy8–9 Alan Tabern John Part6–9 Mark Walsh Mark Dudbridge7–9 Nigel Heydon Denis Ovens9–5 Arron Monk Reece Robinson5–9 Simon Whitlock Robert Thornton9–8 Mark Cox Mervyn King9–5 Joe Cullen Peter Wright7–9 William O'Connor Paul Warwick9–3 Co Stompé Tony Ayres9–3 Pete Fisher Dennis Smith9–5 Colin Monk Andy Smith9–5 Colin Lloyd Barrie Bates 8–9 Alex Roy
Player #1 ScorePlayer #2 Kevin Painter9–5 Mark Harris Roland Scholten9–3 Simon Cunningham Steve Hine7–9 James Wade Andy Hamilton9–1 Brendan Dolan Matt Clark3–9 Michael Smith Tony Broughton0–9 Kevin McDine Steve Beaton3–9 Jamie Caven Wayne Mardle2–9 Phil Taylor Adrian Lewis9–3 Michael Barnard Wes Newton9–1 Terry Jenkins Kirk Shepherd6–9 Paul Nicholson Michael van Gerwen4–9 Gary Anderson Steve Evans6–9 Jelle Klaasen Ronnie Baxter9–4 Chris Thompson Vincent van der Voort7–9 Wayne Atwood Wayne Jones9–2 Matt Padgett
Saturday 5 June; best of 17 legs
Round 4
Player #1 ScorePlayer #2 Denis Ovens9–7 Dennis Smith Roland Scholten5–9 Alan Tabern Alex Roy6–9 Andy Hamilton Wayne Jones9–6 Jelle Klaasen Andy Smith9–5 Jamie Caven William O'Connor3–9 James Wade Mark Walsh7–9 Tony Ayres Adrian Lewis9–5 Colin Osborne
Player #1 ScorePlayer #2 Kevin Painter0–9 Phil Taylor 118.66 Ronnie Baxter 9–4 Tony Eccles Simon Whitlock9–4 Robert Thornton Michael Smith6–9 Mervyn King Gary Anderson9–7 Paul Nicholson Steve Maish1–9 Wes Newton Kevin McDine9–8 Paul Warwick Wayne Atwood6–9 Nigel Heydon
Round 5
Player #1ScorePlayer #2 Phil Taylor9–6 Simon Whitlock Ronnie Baxter7–9 Andy Hamilton Kevin McDine2–9 James Wade Gary Anderson9–8 Mervyn King Andy Smith1–9 Denis Ovens Alan Tabern5–9 Tony Ayres Nigel Heydon5–9 Wes Newton Adrian Lewis9–4 Wayne Jones
Sunday 6 June
Last 8 to final
Nine dart finish Mervyn King hit a nine dart finish in his fourth round match against Gary Anderson, however he lost the match 9-8.
World record Phil Taylor hit the highest televised average in history in his 9-0 victory over Kevin Painter, finishing the match with a three-dart average of 118.66.
See also UK Open history of event and previous winners 2010 in darts includes extended results of Pro Tour events PDC Pro Tour history of PDC "floor events"
References
External links The official PDC page for the UK Open