All eyes are on Bolton this weekend as the UK Open gets underway.
Favourite
Michael van Gerwen is the favourite to win a maiden UK Open and deservedly so. He won his 10th title of 2013 - and fifth in a row - in Austria last weekend and is unbeaten in 24 games. But it's not just the fact van Gerwen is winning tournaments - it's the way he's winning them.
I commentated on his final with Raymond van Barneveld at the Dubai Duty Free Darts Masters. Barney left himself on a double, but van Gerwen took out 170. Then he broke Van Barneveld again with a 164 checkout. He has the ability to produce moments of exceptional quality at crucial moments in games.
The youth tour taught Van Gerwen how to hit doubles under pressure. That put him on the road to winning and he hasn't stopped. He loves the game; you could get him up at 3am and he'd still want to play darts.
One player who needs a big tournament is Adrian Lewis. I'm a huge fan of his and keep saying that he'll turn the corner at any moment, but it hasn't happened. He really has to look at himself because if he keeps slipping he could drop out of the top 16.
The problem with Adrian is that he's still throwing some great darts, but he's too inconsistent. I think he's moving too much on the oche. When he won his first world championship he was so solid and only his arm moved and he's got to stay static.
Turn
Whether he chooses to listen to people about these issues is up to him but he needs to get a coach in. I'm hoping this can be the tournament where he turns it around. Like Van Gerwen and Van Barneveld, it just takes one tournament to get back on form.
Van Gerwen is the favourite but Taylor and Barney should do well, and one player that seems to like this type of format is Ronnie Baxter. Colin Lloyd also had a good run last weekend; if he gets a good draw it wouldn't surprise me if he went on and did well.
But also keep an eye out for some of the young guns, such as Michael Smith. He is an exceptional player and I think he'll break into the top eight inside the next five years.
Adam Hunt, who hails from Hull, is playing really well at the moment and only lost 6-5 to Barney at a recent European event in Dusseldorf, while Ross Smith is also back playing well after winning a couple of challenge tour events.
There are some fantastic Youth and Challenge Tour players around at the moment; they're fearless and will attack the dart board so expect plenty of shocks.
