UK Open 2026: Luke Littler demolishes Damon Heta to get defence up and running as Michael van Gerwen battles past Nathan Aspinall

Luke Littler put in a 10-3 demolition of Damon Heta as he got his UK Open defence up and running in Minehead as Michael van Gerwen beat Nathan Aspinall in the fourth round.

Littler headed to the coast on the back of his Premier League win in Cardiff and seemed to continue his form as he was quickly in command.

Heta struggled to find his rhythm and was overthinking his throw. A 136 checkout (bull, bull, D16) plus seven perfect darts in the fifth leg helped Littler 4-1 in front.

The world No 1 and defending UK Open champion took things up a notch as he made it six legs on the spin then reeled in an audacious Big Fish finish to get to 7-2, a delightful 108 checkout on tops making it 8-2.

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Heta did manage to get another leg on the board, but it was too little, too late as Littler just waited for his moment and rounded off the contest in some fashion by taking out 120 (T20, D20, D10) to seal his spot in the next round against Kevin Doets.

Van Gerwen came through a 10-8 battle with Nathan Aspinall to start his chase of a fourth UK Open title.

Both players got off to an incredible start, two 11-dart legs and a 10-dart leg between them putting Aspinall slightly ahead at 3-2 with the pair averaging over 107.

A spell from the 'Green Machine' saw him rattle off four legs on the bounce on the way to moving 6-4 up, Aspinall opting to practice in the break as he could see the form his opponent had found.

While it looked set for the 'Green Machine' to canter to the win from 9-6 up, Aspinall fought back to bring the game to 9-8.

However, the Dutchman held his nerve and took out D8 for the crucial victory.

Luke Humphries progressed with a 10-3 victory over Luke Woodhouse in a ruthless display from the two-time UK Open finalist.

Humphries got off to an incredibly strong start as he rattled off four legs in a row for an early 4-1 advantage, three more legs on the spin with 144 and 118 checkouts, plus a break of throw, putting him in a commanding 7-3 lead.

Three more in a row followed with two more ton-plus checkouts to boot, a sensational 116 sealing the deal.

Rob Cross put in a vintage 'Voltage' performance to pull off a 10-7 win over one of the favourites in Dutch No 1 Gian van Veen.

Averaging over 101, with eight maximums, Cross finished brilliantly, three ton plus checkouts helping nullify any momentum from Van Veen.

In the middle of the contest, Cross thought he had pulled away as he found a break of throw and a 121 checkout while picking up four out of five legs to move 5-3 ahead. However, Van Veen then found a spurt of his own with some big maximum hitting to level things at 5-5.

Cross then came out firing once again and with a 112 checkout for a break and three legs on the spin he moved 8-6 ahead, wrapping up the match on his favourite D16.

Noppert finds nine-dart perfection as big names battle through

Across the other boards, the standout moment came from Danny Noppert as he rounded off a 10-4 win over Dimitri Van den Bergh with a nine-darter.

He will face Peter Wright who came away with a 10-6 win in an all-Scottish battle with Cameron Menzies.

Gerwyn Price is also through after a 10-3 win over Greg Ritchie and has a mouth-watering clash against Wessel Nijman to look forward to.

Meanwhile, the 'Flying Scotsman' Gary Anderson impressed in a 10-6 win over Dirk van Duijvenbode and now takes on Martin Schindler. Stephen Bunting, Jonny Clayton, Josh Rock and James Wade also progressed as well.

2026 Ladbrokes UK Open: Schedule

Round five:

• Ross Smith vs Daryl Gurney
• Mensur Suljovic vs Stephen Bunting
• Kevin Doets vs Luke Littler
• Gary Anderson vs Martin Schindler
• Josh Rock vs Dominik Gruellich
• Darryl Pilgrim vs Jonny Clayton
• Peter Wright vs Danny Noppert
• Kai Gotthardt vs Michael van Gerwen
• Ryan Joyce vs Keane Barry
• Martin Lukeman vs Madars Razma
• Gabriel Clemens vs James Wade
• Ryan Searle vs Michael Smith
• Oskar Lukasiak vs Krzysztof Ratajski
• Luke Humphries vs Dave Chisnall
• Wessel Nijman vs Gerwyn Price
• Mike De Decker vs Rob Cross

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(c) Sky Sports 2026: UK Open 2026: Luke Littler demolishes Damon Heta to get defence up and running as Michael van Gerwen battles past Nathan Aspinall