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.

• 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.