2009 UK Open

2009 UK Open Regional Finals

There were eight regional final events staged between January and May 2009 to determine the UK Open Order of Merit Table. The tournament winners were:

11 January (North-East; Doncaster): Colin Lloyd 6-1 Colin Osborne8 March (Scotland; Irvine): Robert Thornton 6-2 Dennis Priestley15 March (North-West; Wigan): James Wade 6-3 Kevin McDine22 March (South-East; Brentwood): Phil Taylor 6-4 Terry Jenkins29 March (West Midlands; Coventry): Phil Taylor 6-5 Wayne Jones12 April (South-West; Taunton): Phil Taylor 6-0 Andy Hamilton19 April (East Midlands; Derby): Mark Walsh 6-5 Raymond van Barneveld10 May (Wales; Newport): Jamie Caven 6-5 Alan Tabern

Format and qualifiers

The tournament features 129 players. As in previous years, eight regional UK Open events were staged across the UK where players winning are 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.

The Holsten 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.

32 players were due to have qualified from four Holsten Pils qualifiers held in Aylesbury, Batley, Birmingham and Salford. However, Peter Green had to withdraw for unknown reasons, thus meaning there were only 31 qualifiers present in Bolton.

Prize money

The 2009 UK Open features a prize fund of £200,000.

Champion £40,000Runner-up £20,000Semi-finalists £10,000Quarter-finalists £6,000Last 16 £4,000Last 32 £2,000Last 64 £1,000

In addition, Holsten offered a £3,000 bonus to the Pub Qualifier to get the furthest into the tournament (shared by Ken Mather and Andy Roberts)

Draw

The draw for the preliminary, first and second rounds was made on 25 May, ahead of the 2009 Premier League Darts Play-Offs by Sid Waddell and Keith Deller.

Preliminary round

This match was the best of eleven legs, and was played on 4 June.

First round

All matches were the best of eleven legs, and were played on 4 June.

Second round

All matches were the best of eleven legs, and were played on 4 June.

* Mark Lawrence was given a bye into round three, as Paul Cook was disqualified.

Third round

All matches were the best of seventeen legs, and were played on 5 June.

Fourth round

All matches were the best of seventeen legs, and were played on 6 June.

Last 16 to Final

There was a draw after each round; this bracket has been compiled retrospectively.