2025 UK Open Friday Afternoon Preview – JP
2025 UK Open Friday Afternoon Preview
James Punt has a manic few days ahead of him. After the Premier League on Thursday, the UK Open kicks off on Friday and it is a packed schedule at Butlin’s. James has looked at a selected few of the opening first round matches, check out his 2025 UK Open Friday Afternoon betting preview below. His outright tips can be viewed here.
Christian Kist vs. Daniel Perry
In these best of eleven leg matches, in the first round of the ‘FA Cup of Darts’ the underdogs have a punchers chance. Catch the ‘better players’ cold and maybe get a seemingly unlikely win.
Daniel Perry definitely has a chance here. Christian Kist, the 2012 BDO World Champion, is in terrible form, losing eight of his last ten matches and his win rate in 2025 so far is just 31%. He has had nine sub 90 averages in a row and three sub 80s.
Daniel Perry is a Development Tour player and he has won seven of his last ten matches and hit three 90+ averages, but also four sub 80s. On recent form, there isn’t that much between them.
Perry was a 4.60 shot a few days ago, but he has been backed into 3.95, and I can see why.
2025 UK Open Friday Afternoon Tip: 1 point Daniel Perry to win @ 3.95 with Livescorebet
Cor Dekker vs. Niko Springer
Both Tour Card holders now, but both have been around on the fringes for a few years. We saw Cor Dekker hit a nine darter on the Euro Tour last year and Springer looks like he could be real prospect, but he hasn’t really lived up to his promise so far.
Springer has won six of his last ten matches and hit everything from four sub 90 averages to a 113 in a Euro Tour qualifier against Conor Scutt last week. Mr. Consistency he is not, but he has a great A-Game.
Dekker has lost six of his last ten matches and he doesn’t have the fire power of Springer. His last 50 matches produced no ton plus averages, but he averages 85 overall and is a steady player who could take advantage if Springer has an off day. On the other hand, if Springer hits his A-Game, it could be a rout.
This could be a good match to watch, but Springer’s inconsistency makes it a hard one to get involved in.
2025 UK Open Friday Afternoon Tip: No Bet
Simon Stevenson vs. Jules van Dongen
Van Dongen has a 2025 win rate of 0%. Yes, he has played eight and lost eight. He is averaging just 67.74 and won just four legs.
This is a good draw for Simon Stevenson who, according to the increasingly shit Darts Orakel database, doesn’t exist. The Mirror Man definitely does exist. He was a quarter finalist here in 2019 and reached the 5th round in his last appearance in 2020.
Stevenson was a Tour Card holder from 2016 to 2020 but quit pro darts. He qualified via the amateur ‘PDC in the Community’ event in his hometown of Plymouth.
He won the qualifying event, averaging 93.15 across his four matches, which included two 98 averages. Clearly, he can still play…and a lot better than Van Dongen.
Stevenson was the 1.36 favourite when the early odds came out, but he is now a best priced 1.12. He should pick up a grand for winning this match, and he should do it by a comfortable margin.
2025 UK Open Friday Afternoon Tip: 1 point Stevenson to win -3.5 legs @ 1.80 with Betfred
Wesley Plaisier vs. Cameron Crabtree
Big Wes reached the last 96 stage here last year, winning his first and second round matches. He won a Pro Tour title in 2024 and was runner up in another two. He is a talented player and a two time WDF World Masters winner.
Plaisier gained a Tour Card via the Challenge Tour OOM in 2024. He has not started the 2025 season well, losing ten of twenty one matches played. One of those defeats was vs Cam Crabtree, albeit in a best of three leg World Masters preliminary round match. It is fair to say that Plaisier is lacking in consistency. His seasonal average is 91.35 and he is not playing as well as he was last year.
Cam Crabtree also joined the Pro Tour this year via the tour school. He played some good stuff in the Netherlands last week but was unlucky to be on the receiving end of a couple of ton plus averages from Rob Cross and Wessel Nijman.
It was more of the same in PC2, when Jonny Clayton averaged a ton against him in the second round. In PC1 it was Dimitri van den Bergh who hit him with a 114 average in the second round. It is tough on tour.
Development Tour
Crabtree played in the Development Tour events at the weekend, a tour where the average score in the tournaments is around 71.50. Crabtree hit eight ton plus averages across his twenty five matches, including a couple of 109s (Messerschmitts?).
He reached one semi-final and two quarter finals. He was the second heaviest scorer of the weekend with an average of 90.67, just behind Beau Greaves on 91.19. Clearly, he is capable of hitting big scores but with so little experience, consistency is not there yet.
Plaisier is the 1.67 favourite, with Crabtree 2.38. Their H2H record is 3-1 to Crabtree and he has to have a reasonable chance here, so long as he doesn’t attract another big ton plus average against him. Crabtree has been backed into 2.15 now.
2025 UK Open Friday Afternoon Tip: 1 point Cameron Crabtree to win @ 2.15 with Livescorebet, Ladbrokes
Dennis Olde Kalte vs Andy Boulton
Kalte won his Tour Card at Q School in January, Boulton regained his. It is fair to say that they have enjoyed different fortunes since then.
The Dutchman has played twelve matches and won just three, hitting just one 90+ average. Boulton has hardly set the world on fire either but he has won nine matches from seventeen since getting his card back and has won seven of his last ten.
The experienced Boulton is the 1.44 favourite, I’ll take him to cover the handicap.
2025 UK Open Friday Afternoon Tip: 1 point Andy Boulton to win -1.5 legs @ 1.70 with Ladbrokes
Beau Greaves vs. Stefan Bellmont
This is an interesting match. Nobody has played more darts in 2025 than Beau Greaves. She is playing in the Women’s Series, winning two titles, the Development Tour, winning two titles, and the Challenge Tour, winning two titles.
In the second of her Challenge Tour finals she beat…Steffan Bellmont, 5-4. She has played 89 matches in total, with a win rate of 85%. Greaves even played in two Players Championship events and beat Josh Rock 6-5 in one of them, averaging 102.77 in PC2.
Stefan Bellmont’s game is coming along nicely. We have seen him on the Euro Tour since 2019, but it took until 2023 before he won a match on the Euro Tour. He was the first Swiss player to play in the World Championship, losing 0-3 to Jermaine Wattimena last December.
CT Winner
Bellmont is a three time winner on the Challenge Tour, including CT5 last month. Perhaps his best ever result came just last week when he reached the semi-final of PC4, narrowly losing 6-7 to the eventual winner, Ryan Searle. He had wins over Gerwen Price, Ryan Joyce and Josh Rock, amongst others.
Two players who have been playing a lot of darts and who are both enjoying good results. They have met just once and that one went to a deciding leg.
I assume that this match will be played on one of the televised boards, and that might favour Bellmont. Beau Greaves has said that she doesn’t really enjoy playing on the big stages. Playing on TV against the men, Greaves has played seven and won two. Both wins came in the Grand Slam group stages, and she also took Damon Heta and Nathan Aspinall to deciding legs.
Beau Greaves is the 1.80 favourite with Bellmont 2.10. The money has been going on Greaves. I will go with this being a close match, either player could win.
2025 UK Open Friday Afternoon Tip: 1 point over 9.5 legs @ 1.91 with Ladbrokes, Boylesports
Charlie Manby vs. Aden Kirk
I had to mention this match, as it will get talked about. Charlie Manby made the papers last weekend after hitting a 130.70 average in a Development Tour match. Needless to say the ‘new Luke Littler’ headlines were rolled out.
Some perspective is needed. It was best of seven leg match, which makes hitting silly averages that bit easier, and it was a bit of an outlier. Manby is playing on the Development Tour and after five events, he is averaging 87.84. He played twenty nine matches, won twenty four, made one final (lost to Owen Bates) and another semi-final. He hit three ton plus averages across the twenty nine matches.
Manby is currently fifth in the Tour averages, behind the likes of Beau Greaves and Cam Crabtree. He is playing a lot better than most of his peers, but that doesn’t mean he is the next Luke Littler.
Experienced Kirk
Aden Kirk is playing on the Challenge Tour and Pro Tour, where he is averaging 84.83 and has won 71% of his matches. He is a much more experienced player, having played Euro Tour matches, in a World Championship and also in a UK Open.
That UK Open was back in 2014 and he beat Gerwyn Price in round 2. In his first ever TV match (he was only 21) he had to play Phil Taylor. He beat Taylor 9-7. That was followed by a 9-5 win over Peter Wright. He lost the deciding leg of the last 16 round to Brendan Dolan. That was the peak of his career.
Manby is the marginal 1.98 favourite, Kirk 2.00. I thought the market may have overreacted to Manby’s 130 average, but that is not the case. It is an interesting matchup. The story of Aden Kirk is more interesting that Manby hitting a 130.7 average, and it may be that Manby has peaked, just as Kirk did here in in 2014.
2025 UK Open Friday Afternoon Tip: No Bet
Round Two
Darren Beveridge vs. James Hurrell
Two Tour Card holders, but two that have never met before. Neither are in great form, but Hurrell is in better shape at the moment.
Darren Beveridge did beat Gary Anderson in PC1, but his win rate in 2025 is just 31% and he has lost seven of his last ten matches.
James Hurrell has won 47% of his matches this season and has won six of his last ten. His seasonal average is 92.12 compared to 87.92 for Beveridge.
Hurrell has caught my eye on occasions and he has achieved a bit more than Beveridge in their last year on the Pro Tour. He won a match at the World Championship and has taken a few decent scalps on the Pro Tour, including Luke Littler, Danny Noppert, Wessell Nijman and Daryl Gurney. He has been playing better than Beveridge so far in 2025.
Hurrell is the 1.57 favourite, I will take him to cover the handicap.
2025 UK Open Friday Afternoon Tip: 1 point James Hurrell to win -1.5 legs @ 1.91 generally available
George Killington vs. Owen Bates
Killington has not got off to a great start in 2025, losing 56% of his matches and averaging 89. Most recently he has won five of his last ten matches. This will be his sixth UK Open and he has played twelve matches and won seven.
Owen ‘The Master’ Bates made his debut last year, beating Andy Boulton 6-5 in round 1, before losing 5-6 to Graham Usher in round 2. Bates plays on both the Pro Tour and the Development tour and he won DT3 last weekend, having being runner up in DT1.
He beat Cam Crabtree in the semi-final of DT3 and Charlie Manby in the final, two of the star players of the weekend. That will have given him a nice confidence boost.
On the Pro Tour he has played sixteen and won nine. His seasonal average is 88.64, but in the Players Championship events it is a more impressive 93.08. That compares favourably to Killington’s 87.88.
2025 UK Open Friday Afternoon Tip: 1 point Owen Bates to win @ 1.80 with SpreadEx, Boylesports
Steve Lennon vs. Dom Taylor
Lennon’s job for 2025, is to hang on to his Tour Card, so he must capitalise in these ranking Majors. He failed to qualify for the World Championships and went out at the preliminary stage of the World Masters, so it has gone well so far.
His win rate in 2025 is just 25%, playing thirteen and winning three. Those wins were against George Killington, Jano Bottenburg and Patrick Geeraets. Hardly titans of the oche. His last Players Championship match was against Owen Bates, and he lost that 2-6, which is a nice little form line for the bet above. Lennon’s seasonal average is 89.6.
Drugs Ban
Dom Taylor only recently made his return from his one month ban for failing a drugs test. He was testing some drugs of his own, but as they were not performance enhancing, he only got a short ban, but it cost him his place at the Players Championship finals and the World Championship.
That amounted to a minimum loss of £10.5k in ranking prizemoney, which is a lot of dosh for a Tour Card rookie. He could have bought a load of gear with that.
Since he returned to action at PC1, Taylor has played twenty matches and won twelve and he was able to reach the semi-final of PC4 last week. Taylor averaged 102.61 across his six matches. That should have warranted another drugs test! It was the highest combined average of the day. Joking aside, The Tower is a good player and if he keeps his nose clean (stop it!) he can go places.
These two have never met before, so no H2H form to go on, but Taylor is a rising star, Lennon struggling to keep his playing rights. Taylor is the 1.53 favourite but I will back him on the handicap.
2025 UK Open Friday Afternoon Tip: 1 point Dom Taylor to win -1.5 legs @ 1.91 Livescorebet
Round Three
Madars Razma vs. Ryan Miekle
Razzmatazz reached the third round of the World Championship, which swelled the coffers, but 2025 has not started well. Razma has lost six of his last ten matches and is not playing with any sort of consistency. He has lost at this stage here for the last three years.
Ryan Meikle has also lost six of his last ten matches and his form is much in line with that of the Latvian. This will be Ryan’s ninth UK Open and his best result was a place in the 5th round last year.
Their H2H record is 2-1 to Razma and both players are pretty slow and deliberate types, so no real clash of styles, which is not always the case with these two.
They played once last year, with Razma winning 6-2 and their previous match to that was in 2022, which Razma won 5-1. Miekle’s only win was a 6-5 back in 2018. Razma is the 1.80 favourite and he is the better player, but there is not a lot between them, and the value on Razma is marginal. No bet.
2025 UK Open Friday Afternoon Tip: No Bet
Callan Rydz vs. Alan Soutar
We are on Soots outright, so we need a win here. Rydz has shown some good, and some not so good form in 2025. He reached the semi-final of PC3 last week and beat Gerwyn Price and Ross Smith in deciding legs, before losing to Chris Dobey 6-7.
In PC4 the next day he beat Rob Cross in a deciding leg before losing to James Wade. In the Euro Tour qualifiers on Wednesday he hit three consecutive sub 90s and failed to qualify for either event. Mixed form.
Alan Soutar has been scoring well, very consistently and only some dodgy doubling has held him back from having more success.
Their H2H record is 4-0 to Rydz but, it is about time that changed! Rydz is the 1.44 favourite, Soutar 2.95…and the money is going down on the Scotsman. We are already invested in Soutar, so that is enough for me.
2025 UK Open Friday Afternoon Tip: No Bet
Robert Owen vs. Niels Zonneveld
Robert Owen had a fantastic World Championship, winning four matches to reach the fourth round and gain many riches. He beat Niels Zonneveld three sets to one in the first round. He must be suffering from a bit of mental let down, as he has only played six matches since then and won just one.
Zonneveld has won six of his last ten matches and put in some good performances last week, not with a lot of consistency, but he is playing better than Owen.
Their H2H record is 1-1, neither of them close. Zonneveld is the 1.73 favourite and maybe he can make it another uncompetitive affair and win with something in hand.
2025 UK Open Friday Afternoon Tip: 1 point Zonneveld to win -1.5 legs @ 2.20 with Betfred, Skybet
Scott Williams vs. Wessel Nijman
Williams has won six of his last ten matches and he does like to play on the big stage. This is scheduled to be live on ITV4, and that should mean stage 1. Will that provide motivation enough to boost his game to beat Nijman?
The Dutch youngster has hit five ton plus averages in his last ten matches, winning seven of them. He is still not the finished article, but he is better, more often than Williams. Nijman won their only previous match 6-1 on the Euro Tour last year. It was a demolition job. Williams averaged 98 but only got one dart at a double.
If Nijman fires, Williams will need his A-Game, and then some. Nijman really needs to get more experience of playing on TV, and it must be said that he hasn’t really done himself much justice on the big stages. Last year, he played nine ranking TV matches and won just three.
The fact that this is on TV could be a leveller. Nijman is the 1.50 favourite, Williams 2.95. I am tempted by Williams, but Nijman will crack it on TV sooner or later. No bet.
2025 UK Open Friday Afternoon Tip: No bet
Ricky Evans vs. Gabriel Clemens
Ricky Evans reached the semi-final here last year, his best ever performance in a Major championship. That, and the fact that he faces another heavyweight player in the shape of Gabriel Clemens, means this is another match set to be televised.
Both players have lost five of their last ten matches and both have had five sub 90 averages. Very dodgy form for the two players.
Their H2H record is 4-2 to Evans, but they have not played for a couple of years. Three of their five previous best of eleven leg matches went to a deciding leg, and this could be another. Evans has won all of his opening matches here since 2018, and won fifteen of twenty two matches played. Clemens has fallen at the first fence here for the last two years.
Gabriel Clemens is the 1.71 favourite, Evans the 2.30 outsider. Right now, I can see little between them. Evans will have the crowd on his side and with those positive mental associations of playing here before, that might get his head to where it needs to be.
