UK Open Darts 2014: Dates, Draw, Fixtures, Prize Money and Participants

Seasoned professionals and inspired amateurs will take to the stage as the 2014 Coral UK Open gets underway on March 7.

At their new home at Butlins' Minehead Resort, the televised finals will get underway with eight stages set for simultaneous darts action as the early rounds get going. 

March 7	11.45 a.m - 5.pm GMT, 6.45 a.m. - 12 p.m. ET	Preliminary Round
March 7	11.45 a.m - 5.pm GMT, 6.45 a.m. - 12 p.m. ET	First Round
March 7	11.45 a.m - 5.pm GMT, 6.45 a.m. - 12 p.m. ET	Second Round
March 7	7 p.m. - 11 p.m. GMT, 2 p.m. - 6 p.m. ET	Third Round
March 8	11.45 a.m - 5.pm GMT, 6.45 a.m. - 12 p.m. ET	Fourth Round (Last 32)
March 8	7 p.m. - 11 p.m. GMT, 2 p.m. - 6 p.m. ET	Fifth Round (Last 16)
March 9	12.45 a.m - 5.pm GMT, 7.45 a.m. - 12 p.m. ET	Quarter-Finals
March 9	7 p.m. - 11 p.m. GMT, 2 p.m. - 6 p.m. ET	Semi-Finals and Final
	Format
Date	Time	Round	Fixture	Stage
			Carl Green v Lionel Sams	Main Stage
			Brian Woods v Dean Stewart	Stage Two
			Paul Whitworth v Rhys Griffin	Stage Three
			Alan Tabern v Tony Randall	Stage Four
			Martin Stead v Alan Casey	Stage Five
			Kevin McDine v Aaron Holdstock	Stage Six
			Ian Jones v Simon Stevenson	Stage Seven
			James Young v David O'Brien	Stage Seven
			Nathan Derry v Jason Mold	Stage Eight
			William Naylor v Sam Allen	Stage Eight
			Glenn Spearing v Antonio Alcinas	Main Stage
			Kevin Taylor v Arron Monk	Main Stage
			Raymond van Barneveld v Tony Broughton	Main Stage
			Kyle Anderson v McDine/Holdstock	Main Stage
			Dennis Smith v Mark Hylton	Stage Two
			Ewan Hyslop v Steve Brown	Stage Two
			Alan Derrett v Jyhan Artut	Stage Two
			Ben Burton v Michael Mansell	Stage Two
			Steve Douglas v Johnny Haines	Stage Three
			James Hubbard v Jeff Batham	Stage Three
			Joe Murnan v Shaun Lovett	Stage Three
			Dean Reynolds v Stead/Casey	Stage Three
			Conan Whitehead v Aden Kirk	Stage Four
			Mark Cox v Shaun Narain	Stage Four
			Green/Sams v Chris Aubrey	Stage Four
			Whitworth/Griffin v Karl Merchant	Stage Four
			Adam Cousins v Paul Hogan	Stage Five
			Pete Dyos v William O'Connor	Stage Five
			Adam Hunt v Michael Malone	Stage Five
			Woods/Stewart v Graham Dando	Stage Five
			Andy Boulton v Jonathan Worsley	Stage Six
			Matthew Edgar v Matt Clark	Stage Six
			Jason Lovett v I Jones/Stevenson	Stage Six
			Tabern/Randall v Rowby-John Rodriguez	Stage Six
			Benito van de Pas v Doug Thompson	Stage Seven
			Jim Hill v Alex Roy	Stage Seven
			Naylor/Allen v Chris Mackie	Stage Seven
			Derry/Mold v Gerwyn Price	Stage Seven
			Nigel Daniels v Scott Bennett	Stage Eight
			Mick Baker v Mick Todd	Stage Eight
			Kevin Dowling v Chris Dobey	Stage Eight
			David Dodds v Young/O'Brien	Stage Eight
			John Henderson v Jelle Klaasen	Main Stage
			Keegan Brown v Mensur Suljovic	Main Stage
			Ian White v Daryl Gurney	Main Stage
			Cousins/Hogan v John Part	Main Stage
			Steve Maish v Ben Ward	Stage Two
			Ronny Huybrechts v Adrian Gray	Stage Two
			Jason Hogg v Wayne Jones	Stage Two
			Reynolds/Stead/Casey v van Barneveld/Broughton	Stage Two
			Garry Spedding v David Pallett	Stage Three
			D Smith/Hylton v Peter Hudson	Stage Three
			Hyslop/S Brown v K Anderson/McDine/Holdstock	Stage Three
			Hill/Roy v Tony Newell	Stage Three
			John Bowles v Dirk van Duijvenbode	Stage Four
			Rocco Maes v Daniels/Bennett	Stage Four
			Derrett/Artut v Hunt/Malone	Stage Four
			Naylor/Allen/Mackie v Ross Smith	Stage Four
			Boulton/Worsley v Josh Payne	Stage Five
			Hubbard/Batham v Steve Hine	Stage Five
			K Taylor/Monk v Whitworth/Griffin/Merchant	Stage Five
			van de Pas/Thompson v Dodds/Young/O'Brien	Stage Five
			Nigel Heydon v Douglas/Haines	Stage Six
			Dave Weston v Baker/Todd	Stage Six
			Spearing/Alcinas v Edgar/M Clark	Stage Six
			Green/Sams/Aubrey v Murnan/S Lovett	Stage Six
			Michael Barnard v Stuart Kellett	Stage Seven
			Tabern/Randall/Rodriguez v Steve West	Stage Seven
			Jamie Caven v Dowling/Dobey	Stage Seven
			Burton/Mansell v Woods/Stewart/Dando	Stage Seven
			Cox/Narain v Darren Webster	Stage Eight
			Ian Lever v Dyos/O'Connor	Stage Eight
			Whitehead/Kirk v Derry/Mold/Price	Stage Eight
			J Lovett/I Jones/Stevenson v Mark Barilli	Stage Eight
			Peter Wright v Michael Smith	Main Stage
			Ronnie Baxter v Adrian Lewis	Main Stage
			Whitehead/Kirk/Derry/Mold/Price v Phil Taylor	Main Stage
			Michael van Gerwen v Hubbard/Batham/Hine	Main Stage
			Justin Pipe v Dave Chisnall	Stage Two
			Kevin Painter v Richie Burnett	Stage Two
			Reynolds/Stead/Casey/van Barneveld/Broughton v Weston/Baker/Todd	Stage Two
			James Wade v Burton/Mansell/Woods/Stewart/Dando	Stage Two
			Steve Beaton v Brendan Dolan	Stage Three
			Derrett/Artut/Hunt/Malone v Paul Nicholson	Stage Three
			Terry Jenkins v Barnard/Kellett	Stage Three
			Caven/Dowling/Dobey v Stephen Buntin	Stage Three
			Mark Webster v Mark Walsh	Stage Four
			Hyslop/S Brown/K Anderson/McDine/Holdstock v Spedding/Pallett	Stage Four
			Andy Smith v Gary Anderson	Stage Four
			Maish/Ward v Heydon/Douglas/Haines	Stage Four
			R Huybrechts/Gray v Simon Whitlock	Stage Five
			Jamie Lewis v Lever/Dyos/O'Connor	Stage Five
			Robert Thornton v Hogg/W Jones	Stage Five
			K Brown/Suljovic v Tabern/Randall/Rodriguez/West	Stage Five
			Cousins/Hogan/Part v van de Pas/Thompson/Dodds/Young/O'Brien	Stage Six
			Christian Kist v Spearing/Alcinas/Edgar/M Clark	Stage Six
			Wes Newton v Andrew Gilding	Stage Six
			Bowles/van Duijvenbode v Green/Sams/Aubrey/Murnan/S Lovett	Stage Six
			Kim Huybrechts v Naylor/Allen/Mackie/R Smith	Stage Seven
			D Smith/Hylton/Hudson v White/Gurney	Stage Seven
			Boulton/Worsley/Payne v Dean Winstanley	Stage Seven
			Nick Fullwell v Hill/Roy/Newell	Stage Seven
			Cox/Narain/D Webster v Vincent van der Voort	Stage Eight
			Maes/Daniels/Bennett v J Lovett/I Jones/Stevenson/Barilli	Stage Eight
			K Taylor/Monk/Whitworth/Griffin/Merchant v Mervyn King	Stage Eight
			Andy Hamilton v Henderson/Klaasen	Stage Eight
			16 Games on Four Stages
			Eight Games on Two Stages
			Main Stage on Skyline Pavilion
			Main Stage on Skyline Pavilion
	Preliminary/First/Second Rounds – best of nine legs
	Third Round – best of 17 legs
	Fourth Round – best of 17 legs
	Fifth Round – best of 17 legs
	Quarter-Finals – best of 19 legs
	Semi-Finals – best of 19 legs
	Final – best of 21 legs

Top names such as Michael van Gerwen, Phil "The Power" Taylor, Adrian Lewis and Raymond van Barneveld will all be in contention to go the distance, but as always in darts, there's no sure thing.

The blend of youth is also on show with Dublin's Glenn Spearing, who will step out to make his UK Open debut in his match with Spaniard Antonio Alcinas, just two months after turning professional at his qualifying school, per Professional Darts Championships.

But it's thought that the big boys will dominate the tournament once again, despite a number of high-quality youngsters breaking onto the big stage.

Another debutant, Jeff Batham, only completed qualifying school himself earlier this year, and he will be looking to make an instant impact in his first UK Open, per Darts Database.

Taylor, as seen below, will be looking to retain the UK Open title after beating Andy Hamilton in last year's final:

The afternoon session on launch day will see the preliminary, first and second rounds of the tournament get underway, with the first two rounds featuring the professional players ranked from 65 to 96 in the UK Open Order of Merit.

They'll be joined by the 32 Rileys Amateur qualifiers, who will be up to cause an upset against more experienced throwers like Alan Tabern and Kevin McDine.

Kevin Painter will also be in action in Minehead, tweeting of his preparations ahead of the tournament:

Former World Youth Champion Arron Monk also gets his tournament underway against an amateur qualifier, Kevin Taylor, before twice-champion van Barneveld takes to the stage against Tony Broughton in their first-round match.

Phil Taylor, Brendan Dolan, Gary Anderson, Andy Hamilton, Stephen Bunting and Michael van Gerwen will also come into the fold in the evening session, with the six UK Open Qualifier winners entering the tournament in the third round.

Darts Performance Centre's Aiden Farrelly, who has previously fought van Barneveld, has backed Taylor to impress once again as he continues to build back his form:

"

Taylor's turmoils. I think it's crazy. The man hit two nine-darters this year already. Yet he's past it. Whilst he may no longer be elusive, he still holds it. It. Whatever it is. Taylor has always done ordinary things extraordinarily well. Because he's not conscious of his actions.

I imagine Taylor, and indeed all professionals, transcend into a place of peaceful meditation and tranquillity whilst playing. Blissfully unaware of what they are doing. It's just natural. But having changed his darts, his brand, his everything...he's had to begin thinking about what he's doing again. Becoming all too aware of the mechanics of his throw. Which is not good.

He's stepped outside his zone of optimal performance. But when it becomes natural once again, and we seen a glimpse of that with a 100+ average in last week’s Premier League, we will no longer be talking about a has been.

"

The first three rounds will be completed by the evening session on opening day, with 32 matches giving athletes the chance to progress to the fourth round on the afternoon of March 8.

The fifth round will begin on the same evening with eight games across two stages, before the quarter-finals, semi-finals and final take place across afternoon and evening sessions on March 9—all games set to take place on the Main Stage in the Skyline Pavilion.

Taylor has won the competition five times previously, with his nearest challengers being Netherlands' van Barneveld and fellow Englishman James Wade, who have both scooped the tournament twice.

Ben Hoskins/Getty Images

It will be imperative for Taylor to pick up another victory this time around, as he looks to continue his supremacy in the UK Open.

He'll also be out for revenge on van Gerwen, should the pair face up in the latter stages, after the Dutchman overtook Taylor to reach the world No. 1 spot after the 2014 World Champions.

Ben Hoskins/Getty Images

Then, just six weeks later, van Gerwen made it double agony for Taylor after recording a 13-minute Premier League whitewash with a 7-0 win.

Taylor, though, will brush himself down ahead of the tournament, and if there's one thing to be certain of with "The Power," it's that he knows how to play to his strengths.

One of those, of course, is the UK Open.

Prize Money:

According to the Professional Darts Championship, the winner of this year's tournament will scoop a £50,000 prize with potential for a rolling £5,000 nine-dart bonus, with the runner-up receiving £25,000, per Professional Darts Championship.

Each semi-finalist will bag £12,500 in prizes, while also able to pick up the bonus, with quarter-finalists being awarded £7,500.

It doesn't stop there, though, with last-16 players gaining £5,000, last-32 participants getting £3,000 and final-64 athletes handed £1,000 each.

In total, the UK Open is worth £250,000 in prize money and, with titles also at stake, it's clear to see why darts is becoming a popular sport worldwide.

With Taylor already sitting on UK Open earnings of £267,000, per Darts Database, could he break the £300,000 mark this time around?