UK Open Darts 2016: Dates, Draw, Live Stream, TV Info and Preview

Michael van Gerwen will be looking to defend his UK Open title this weekend following his 2015 final victory over Scotland's Peter Wright.

The world No. 1 has a tough task ahead of him. Given the unseeded and single-elimination nature of the UK Open, he could face a tricky challenger from the off.

The tournament kicks off its 14th edition on Friday, March 4, at Butlins Resort in Minehead, England, and the winner of Sunday's final will take home £60,000 from the £300,000 prize pot.

Read on for full details of the 128-player tournament, including television and live-streaming details, as well as a full preview.

Dates: Friday, March 4 to Sunday, March 6

TV Info: Live on ITV4 (UK)

Live Stream: ITV Player (UK only)

Draw: Find full draw details at PDC.tv

Preview

With the top 32 players in the Order of Merit not set to enter the tournament until third-round action, the first two rounds on Friday afternoon will see some intriguing battles take place.

The likes of Wes Newton and Ronny Huybrechts will be eager get off to good starts, as they face Mark Cox and Mark Rice respectively, in the first round.

Round	Legs
First and Second	Best of 11
Third, Fourth and Fifth	Best of 17
Quarter-finals and Semi-finals	Best of 19
Final	Best of 21

Robert Thornton, the 2012 UK Open champion, has a bye to the second round and will play either Arron Monk or Stewart Rattray, as he bids for a third-round berth, where he could face one of the favourites.

Alongside Van Gerwen, the legendary Phil Taylor and current world champion Gary Anderson will be many people's choices to go all the way this year.

But, as with football's FA Cup, the beauty of the UK Open is that the big boys could meet each other as early as the third round, perhaps allowing for a few underdogs to make some waves.

As noted by darts writer Chris Murphy, the last five stagings of the tournament have returned five different winners—Van Gerwen, Adrian Lewis, Taylor, Thornton and James Wade—and it is a competition that often produces some upsets:

"

13 stagings of the UK Open #Darts have provided 13 different runners-up. 5 different winners in the last 5 years too! Expect the unexpected.

— Chris Murphy (@ChrisMurphy180) February 29, 2016"

Most notably, the unknown Aden Kirk knocked out defending champion Taylor in 2014's third round.

The Power knows how to get the job done, though, having won the tournament five times, while both Wade and Dutchman Raymond van Barneveld have claimed victory twice in the UK Open.

Van Gerwen remains the man to beat, not least because he won three of the six UK Open qualifiers ahead of this year's competition.

The 26-year-old Dutchman has been consistently the top player in the world for some time now, and he is eager for even more success, per his official website: "I want to win another major title at the weekend. I want to win everything, and I am playing well enough. I just need to keep it going."

But there will be plenty of barriers in his way, as Van Gerwen attempts to successfully defend the UK Open title this weekend.