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

Under 16.5 Legs: 4/5 at Coral

Jose de Sousa has been struggling for a few years now after bursting onto the scene with his Grand Slam win in 2020. 'The Special One' is a former Premier League player but he's playing nowhere near to that level now. He's dropped to 45th in the PDC World Rankings but he did win his first match here 6-4 against the talented Dutchman Jimmy van Schie. He averaged 92.84 and will definitely take some positives from that performance after another disappointing start to the season. Before this afternoon, he had lost his last three matches on tour and has only averaged over 90 twice in his previous 8 matches.

Ross Smith had a run to the Semi Finals of Players Championship 02 in Wigan earlier in the season but also has two first round defeats in his first four tournaments in 2025. He's not playing badly at all though and has averaged over 95 in six of his 10 matches played on Tour this season.

For me, Ross Smith is the clear favorite in this match and the player who is in better form. De Sousa has regularly been out of sorts over the past two years and I fancy 'Smudger' to come through this match with relative ease.

• Under 15.5 Legs: 11/10 at Ladbrokes

Ryan Searle lives very close to Mineahead so will have plenty of support as usual at the UK Open. Another tremendous start to this season with a semi-final run at Players Championship 02 and then winning Players Championship 04 in Rosmalen. 'Heavy Metal' has a running average of 98.01 so far this season, which is the 4th best in the World. This feels like it could be a huge season for Searle and I fully expect him to have a deep run at the UK Open this year.

Adam Hunt has continually struggled on the PDC Tour and that hasn't changed so far this season but he did win his first match here 6-4 against Maik Kuivenhoven with an 88.90 before getting a walk over in the third round as Jeffrey de Graaf was forced to withdraw. His seasonal average in 2025 is just 88.21 which puts him 114th on Tour.

The biggest issue is that Hunt continues to average around 88 and he will need a lot more than that if he's to test Searle. If Searle plays at the level he has so far this season, then I think he beats Hunt comfortably, and with the crowd support he will receive, it will benefit him and Hunt may struggle to settle in that atmosphere.