Ladbrokes UK Open – Day 1

The 2025 Ladbrokes UK Open kicked off today at the fabulous Butlin’s resort in Minehead, Somerset. The 158-player field included two Americans, Jules van Dongen, and Danny Lauby.

The first round brought disappointment for Missouri’s van Dongen, as the ‘Dutch Dragon’ slipped to a 6-0 defeat at the hands of Simon Stevenson.

Lauby entered the competition, and started out with a tidy 6-3 victory over Darryl Pilgrim. Next match for the man from Terre Haute, Indiana, was a tough one in prospect, as he took on the experienced Brendan Dolan. It was indeed a toughie, as it went to a nineteenth and deciding leg. It was all good, though, as Lauby produced a timely 12-darter (180, 100, 140, 81) to advance to the Top 32 tomorrow.

Elsewhere, Beau Greaves opened with a couple of impressive wins against Stefan Bellmont, Rhys Griffin, and Mickey Mansell, before going down to 2024 World Champ Luke Humphries. It looked good for Beau as she took a 7-5 lead, but Humphries grabbed the last 5 legs to win. Peter Wright went down to Luke Littler in a last leg decider, Chris Dobey got the better of Stephen Bunting, and reigning UK Open Champ Dimitri Van den Bergh ended Raymond van Barneveld’s hopes.

Tomorrow, Lauby takes on Ryan Joyce, and live scoring is available from the PDC website here

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