James Hubbard’s Betting Tips for the UK Open (Day 1)

• Ricky Evans to Win: 13/10 at SpreadEx

Ricky Evans loves the UK Open and was a semi-finalist here last year losing out to Luke Humphries 11-2. 'Rapid' has struggled early in the season but he did qualify for the European Darts Trophy so the form is still there. He had a tough end to the season on the ProTour last year and was unlucky with some tough draws but he was playing well without getting the results. It doesn't get any easier as he has another tough draw here against Gabriel Clemens.

'The German Giant' has made the last 16 twice at the UK Open, in 2020 and 2021. His recent form in this tournament hasn't been great though with fourth-round exits in the last 2 years. Clemens looked like he was going to be the next German star after his semi-final run in the World Championship in 2023 but he hasn't progressed like most thought he would. A decent run to the quarter-final in Players Championship 4 looked like he was finding his form, but he then failed to qualify for both European Tour events after that run.

The German is the odds-on favourite here and I'm not sure that should be the case. Evans seems to always get his season going with a run at the UK Open and I expect that to happen again here and his price is very generous. The leveller here will be because it's played on Stage 1 and Evans can be very patchy on TV but again, the price is too hard to ignore.

• Tommy Lishman to Win: 11/8 at Ladbrokes

This is another match where I can see value in the outsider and that's simply because Tommy Lishman is extremely underrated. He's been a regular on the Modus Super Series stage over the past few years and has done very well, including hitting a magical 9-darter.

He was unlucky at Q school but made up for it with good runs in the Challenge Tour which enabled him to sneak into a few Players Championship events. He played well in those and registered a 100.66 average in a first-round win against Dominik Grullich in PC02. He's currently ranked 5th on the Challenge Tour Order Of Merit and comes into this UK Open a little under the radar.

Kai Gotthardt played beautifully at the World Championship and went to Q school and gained his Tour Card for the next two seasons. He's found it tough so far mixing it with the big boys, winning only one match in the Players Championship events against Rhys Griffin in PC01.

You certainly can't discount Gotthardt, especially after the way he played at Ally Pally but he's struggled since and Lishman just looks much better at the moment, and playing at the UK Open won't faze him at all. At this price, it looks very enticing and I can see him coming through this match and having a run at Minehead.

• Under 8.5 Legs: 3/4 at BetGoodwin
• Simon Stevenson to Win 6-0: 13/2 at StarSports

Jules van Dongen is really struggling at the moment and had a shocker of a 2024 season on the PDC Tour. He hasn't improved at all so far this season and may well be playing worse as he's won only four legs in seven matches with six of those games under a 70 average. It's really worrying times for the Dutch-American and playing the way he is will no doubt relegate him off the PDC Tour at the end of 2025. Unfortunately, he's showing no signs of his form returning and it looks like another early exit in Minehead.

Simon Stevenson is a veteran of the PDC Tour and even without a Tour Card currently, he's still a dangerous player. He's been pretty solid in the Challenge Tour events this season and has registered five averages over 90. This is the 'Mirror Man's' 6th appearance in the UK Open and he made a deep run in 2019, reaching the quarter-final.

I'm worried for van Dongen's career and failing to win a game and play so poorly so far this season will do nothing for his confidence and it looks to me like it's going to happen again here. There's more pressure at a major tournament, even if you are away from the main stage and if he's struggling to win legs on the floor then it's going to feel even worse here. Simon Stevenson is an experienced player and has previous form at the UK Open so I think he'll win with ease and succumb van Dongen to another early exit this year.

• Charlie Manby to Win: 49/50 at Unibet

Charlie Manby is the name on everyone's lips at the moment after his incredible record-breaking 130.70 average on the Development Tour last week. He won 4-0 with winning legs of 13,10,11,12 registering the highest average in the 15-year history of the tour. Although that was only one match, he's still being compared to Luke Littler and although he has a long way to go until that point, he's still making fantastic progress and sits 5th on the Development Tour Order of Merit.

Aden Kirk famously knocked out Phil Taylor in the third round of the 2014 UK Open, which is still regarded as one of the biggest shocks in darting history. Things haven't quite panned out for him though and his career came to a standstill, even walking away from the sport for a few years. Now though, Kirk has reinvented himself and comes into Minehead in form after some solid results on the Challenge Tour. He's ranked 9th after 5 events which gained him entry into Players Championship 3 and 4 in Rosmalen. He won his first-round match each day but only averaged over 90 once in four matches played.

For me, Manby is the player in better form and even though he's inexperienced I think he will relish the chance to play here even if all the eyes are on him after his 130average. Winning breeds confidence, something Manby is doing regularly. This is Kirk's first appearance at the UK Open since that famous 2014 tournament and he may well be the more nervous of the two so I can see him struggling to compete with Manby's power scoring.

• Tommy Morris to Win: 11/10 at Ladbrokes

For me, this match looks like the value of the opening round matches as Tommy Morris is a far better player than Adam Warner. Morris doesn't have a Tour Card whilst Warner does, which is probably the reason why Morris is the underdog.

Adam Warner gained his PDC Tour Card back earlier this season and is playing in his 4th UK Open at Minehead. The 27-year-old has struggled to compete at the top level again though and has failed to win a match so far in this year's Player Championship events. He's only averaged over 90 on one occasion which simply isn't good enough at this level. There's no doubt he has ability though after hitting a 9-darter in Players Championship 23 last September.

Tommy Morris was a fantastic player at youth level but took a break away from the sport before coming back in the last few years. He's been a regular on the Modus Super Series stage and qualified for this event through the Amateur PDC Qualifiers in Wigan. He competes on the ADC Circuit as well and regularly averages over 90. A former England International in the WDF, he comes here in terrific form.

Since Tommy Morris returned to the sport in 2022, he's played 130 matches in PDC events with a win percentage of 60.77% and a running average of 87.18. Adam Warner has a win percentage of 37.31% and a running average of 85.27 albeit mainly on the Pro Tour. Usually by playing on the main tour your average increases because of the standard of your opponents but Warner has struggled and I can see him struggling to handle the pace and boisterousness of Morris in this contest.