The world’s top five players advanced to the fifth round, while four former champions crashed out on the Day One of the Cazoo UK Open.
The tournament’s return to Butlin’s Minehead Resort saw 126 matches played across eight stages on a typically frantic opening day at the annual festival of darts.
The opening four rounds took place across two sessions, with 158 players whittled down to 32.#
Reigning champion James Wade was made to work hard in the opening game of his title defence, as he defied a 105.58 average from Steve Lennon to run out a 10-6 victor.
Joining Wade in Saturday afternoon’s fifth round are world number one Gerwyn Price, who eased past Krzysztof Ratajski 10-5, and 2017 champion Peter Wright, who got the better of Joe Cullen 10-6.
Three-time winner Michael van Gerwen claimed a 10-7 win over Gary Anderson, who joined Nathan Aspinall, Adrian Lewis and Raymond van Barneveld in the list of former champions to fall on Day One.
Aspinall missed four match darts in a deciding leg against Callan Rydz and Lewis squandered a 6-2 lead over Ryan Searle, both in round four, while Van Barneveld fluffed eight match darts against William Borland in round three.
Rob Cross also joined the list of high-profile casualties as he went down 10-7 to German number one Gabriel Clemens.
Former semi-finalist Jelle Klaasen and surprise package Graham Hall were the last two Rileys Qualifiers left standing, but were both eliminated in round four.
Polish youngster Sebastian Bialecki, who qualified via the Development Tour, is the last non-PDC Tour Card Holder remaining in the field and the only player remaining whose campaign began in round one.
Jose Justicia hit the 13th nine-darter in UK Open history, but the Spaniard lost his third round tie against Adam Gawlas.
One of the day’s other eye-catching moments came courtesy of Ian White, who pinned a 170 checkout in the deciding leg of his clash with last year’s runner-up Luke Humphries.
The draw for the fifth round was made live on the Main Stage at the conclusion of Friday night’s action, with Van Gerwen pitted against in-form Australian Damon Heta.
That game is pencilled in to take place on the Main Stage, along with Wright v Simon Whitlock, Price v Jamie Hughes and Searle v Dimitri van den Bergh.
Meanwhile on Stage Two, Wade continues his title defence against Ron Meulenkamp and Jonny Clayton takes on Jose de Sousa in another of the stand-out fifth round ties.
At the conclusion of the fifth round, the draw will be made for the sixth round – which will take place on Saturday evening across two stages.
Sunday’s final day of play will see the remaining eight players return to compete for the £100,000 title.
2022 Cazoo UK Open
Schedule of Play
Friday March 4
Afternoon Session
First Round
Rowby-John Rodriguez 6-1 Bradley Brooks
Jelle Klaasen 6-5 Mark Rice
Fabian Schmutzler 6-5 Kai Fan Leung
Sebastian Bialecki 6-1 Matt Campbell
Jules van Dongen 6-5 Mario Vandenbogaerde
Danny Lauby 6-5 Niko Springer
Ted Evetts 6-4 Nick Fullwell
Ryan Harrington 6-2 Rusty-Jake Rodriguez
Richie Burnett 6-3 Tony Martinez
Jose Justicia 6-4 Darren Webster
Kenny Neyens 6-4 Martin Thomas
George Killington 6-4 Reece Robinson
Dan Read 6-3 Diogo Portela
Damian Mol 6-5 Josh Rock
James Wilson 6-4 Shaun Wilkinson
Keelan Kay 6-5 Matt Good
Jim Williams 6-3 Ryan Murray
John O’Shea 6-0 Nathan Rafferty
Jurjen van der Velde 6-4 Mickey Mansell
Ricardo Pietreczko 6-2 Scott Taylor
Steve Clayson 6-2 Vladimir Andersen
Paul Hogan 6-4 Dom Taylor
Prakash Jiwa 6-2 Toni Alcinas
Jimmy Hendriks 6-3 Darren Beveridge
Radek Szaganski 6-5 Wesley Plaisier
Ross Montgomery 6-3 Reece Colley
Danny Jansen 6-2 Liam Meek
Lukas Wenig 6-3 Adam Warner
Jamie Clark 6-0 Shaun McDonald
Graham Hall 6-3 Kevin Burness
Luc Peters 6-0 Paul Marsh
Second Round
Keane Barry 6-2 David Evans
Martin Schindler 6-1 Lewy Williams
Connor Scutt 6-3 Jules van Dongen
John Henderson 6-2 James Wilson
Niels Zonneveld 6-5 Jon Worsley
Danny Baggish 6-5 John Michael
Ted Evetts 6-3 Jack Main
Rowby-John Rodriguez 6-4 Gordon Mathers
Berry van Peer 6-3 Kevin Doets
Graham Hall 6-5 Andrew Gilding
John O’Shea 6-3 Peter Hudson
Jim Williams 6-3 Jurjen van der Velde
Lukas Wenig 6-1 Keelan Kay
Jelle Klaasen 6-1 Cameron Menzies
Ryan Harrington 6-3 Richie Burnett
Geert Nentjes 6-3 Jake Jones
Scott Waites 6-4 Radek Szaganski
Jose Justicia 6-2 Eddie Lovely
Danny Lauby 6-3 Paul Hogan
Krzysztof Kciuk 6-1 Brett Claydon
Martin Lukeman 6-3 Jamie Clark
Danny Jansen 6-4 Scott Mitchell
Luc Peters 6-2 Geert De Vos
Zoran Lerchbacher 6-2 Ricardo Pietreczko
Sebastian Bialecki 6-5 Joe Murnan
Damian Mol 6-3 John Brown
Fabian Schmutzler 6-2 Steve Clayson
Adam Gawlas 6-3 George Killington
Ross Montgomery 6-2 Dan Read
Jason Heaver 6-3 Prakash Jiwa
Kenny Neyens 6-4 Jimmy Hendriks
Third Round
Florian Hempel 6-3 Lukas Wenig
William Borland 6-5 Raymond van Barneveld
Adrian Lewis 6-0 Fabian Schmutzler
Jamie Hughes 6-1 Madars Razma
Krzysztof Kciuk 6-4 Ross Smith
Martin Schindler 6-2 Jeff Smith
Kim Huybrechts 6-2 Luc Peters
Ritchie Edhouse 6-2 Max Hopp
Martin Lukeman 6-3 Adam Hunt
Jelle Klaasen 6-4 Jason Lowe
Andy Boulton 6-5 Danny Lauby
Keane Barry 6-2 Jeffrey de Zwaan
Graham Hall 6-3 Steve Beaton
Maik Kuivenhoven 6-1 John O’Shea
Adam Gawlas 6-5 Jose Justicia – Justicia hits nine-dart finish in leg four
Jermaine Wattimena 6-5 Ross Montgomery
Sebastian Bialecki 6-2 Keegan Brown
Steve West 6-3 Damian Mol
Steve Lennon 6-5 Ryan Harrington
Niels Zonneveld 6-2 Berry van Peer
Ron Meulenkamp 6-2 Danny Baggish
Ricky Evans 6-2 Danny Jansen
Darius Labanauskas 6-4 John Henderson
Jim Williams 6-5 Alan Soutar
Ryan Joyce 6-0 Mike De Decker
Luke Woodhouse 6-2 Ted Evetts
Jason Heaver 6-5 Martijn Kleermaker
Geert Nentjes 6-5 Kenny Neyens
Boris Krcmar 6-2 Zoran Lerchbacher
William O’Connor 6-5 Connor Scutt
Ryan Meikle 6-0 Rowby-John Rodriguez
Scott Waites 6-2 Brian Raman
Evening Session (1900-2300 GMT)
Fourth Round
Main Stage
Michael Smith 10-7 Chris Dobey
Gerwyn Price 10-5 Krzysztof Ratajski
Michael van Gerwen 10-7 Gary Anderson
Peter Wright 10-6 Joe Cullen
Stage Two
Vincent van der Voort 10-5 Jermaine Wattimena
Dimitri Van den Bergh 10-2 Daryl Gurney
James Wade 10-6 Steve Lennon
Callan Rydz 10-9 Nathan Aspinall
Stage Three
Damon Heta 10-5 Andy Boulton
Simon Whitlock 10-9 Maik Kuivenhoven
Boris Krcmar 10-5 Luke Woodhouse
Ron Meulenkamp 10-9 Krzysztof Kciuk
Stage Four
Sebastian Bialecki 10-6 Ritchie Edhouse
William O’Connor 10-7 Jason Heaver
Devon Petersen 10-6 Jelle Klaasen
Jose de Sousa 10-7 Steve West
Stage Five
Martin Schindler 10-8 Ryan Joyce
Scott Waites 10-5 Glen Durrant
Dave Chisnall 10-3 Brendan Dolan
Danny Noppert 10-3 Ryan Meikle
Stage Six
Stephen Bunting 10-4 Mervyn King
Geert Nentjes 10-5 Florian Hempel
Jamie Hughes 10-5 Adam Gawlas
Ian White 10-9 Luke Humphries
Stage Seven
Ryan Searle 10-7 Adrian Lewis
Ricky Evans 10-9 Darius Labanauskas
Dirk van Duijvenbode 10-6 William Borland
Gabriel Clemens 10-7 Rob Cross
Stage Eight
Niels Zonneveld 10-5 Jim Williams
Mensur Suljovic 10-9 Kim Huybrechts
Keane Barry 10-7 Graham Hall
Jonny Clayton 10-9 Martin Lukeman
Saturday March 5
Afternoon Session (1245-1700 GMT)
Fifth Round
Main Stage
Ryan Searle v Dimitri van den Bergh
Damon Heta v Michael van Gerwen
Peter Wright v Simon Whitlock
Jamie Hughes v Gerwyn Price
Stage Two
Danny Noppert v Devon Petersen
Gabriel Clemens v Michael Smith
Jonny Clayton v Jose de Sousa
Ron Meulenkamp v James Wade
Stage Three
Dave Chisnall v Boris Krcmar
Dirk van Duijvenbode v Martin Schindler
Niels Zonneveld v Keane Barry
Callan Rydz v Vincent van der Voort
Stage Four
Scott Waites v Ricky Evans
Mensur Suljovic v Geert Nentjes
Ian White v Sebastian Bialecki
William O’Connor v Stephen Bunting
Evening Session (1900-2300 GMT)
Sixth Round
Play across two stages
Sunday March 6
Afternoon Session (1245-1700 GMT)
Quarter-Finals
Evening Session (1900-2300 GMT)
Semi-Finals
Final
