 The Newcastle United v Manchester United game which immediately preceded the darts on Sky Sports 1 achieved viewing figures of 1,761,000 – (also known as the "lead-in" audience for the darts).Dutch television audience

Phil Taylor opened the defence of his title with a comfortable 3–0 victory over Austrian qualifier Anton Pein, without dropping a single leg during the match and only allowing Pein three darts on a double in the final leg of the final set.Number seven seed Peter Manley also had little trouble in despatching Dave Jowett with the loss of only one leg.