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DEFENDING champion James Wade was dumped out of the Blue Square UK Open with a 9-8 loss to Peter Manley on Friday night.

Wade had picked up the biggest pay-day of his career by winning £125,000 at the Whyte & Mackay Premier League Darts play-offs just ten days ago – but leaves Bolton with just £1,000 after relinquishing his title.

The world number two led 3-1 early on only for Manley to hit back and move 5-3 and 8-5 up.

Wade responded superbly to stay in the game, winning three successive legs to force a decider – only to miss double top for the win before Manley hit the same bed for victory.

Manley now meets former Lakeside Champion Mark Webster in Saturday afternoon’s fourth round, after the left-hander made winning debut in the UK Open with a 9-6 win over Peter Wright.

“I’ve dropped out of the world’s top 16 and it’s such a hard circuit now, so I need to do well here and I’ve beaten the defending champion,” said Manley. “It’s a win that means so much to me.”

Earlier in the night, two-time UK Open champion Phil Taylor powered past Manchester’s Lee Williams, who was making his televised debut but succumbed to a 9-1 loss.

Taylor will now meet unknown amateur Ken Mather in the last 32, after the Holsten Qualifier from Salford defeated Paul Nicholson 9-7 in a thriller.

“I only entered the qualifiers for fun and it’s been incredible so far,” said Mather, who had won three games on Thursday night just to reach the last 64.

“After beating Paul Nicholson I was just hoping to draw Phil or Raymond van Barneveld and it’s what dreams are made of. Phil’s the best in the world and I’ll just enjoy myself and try to play my game, and who knows what will happen?”

Raymond van Barneveld, the 2006 and 2007 UK Open champion, overcame Middlesbrough’s Ken Dobson 9-4 and has drawn Stoke’s Andy Hamilton – who the Dutchman defeated in the last 16 a year ago.

Hamilton impressed with a 9-4 win over Michael van Gerwen, while fellow Stoke stars Adrian Lewis and Mark Frost overcame Robert Thornton and Co Stompe respectively to progress.

Lewis will now face in-form Mark Walsh, who knocked out Wayne Mardle 9-2, while Frost drew two-time World Champion Dennis Priestley.

Colin Lloyd ended three-time World Champion John Part’s hopes with a 9-8 victory and meets Chris Thompson, a quarter-finalist last year, in the fourth round, and 2004 UK Open winner Roland Scholten progressed to a meeting with Wes Newton with a comeback win over Darren Johnson.

Premier League Darts runner-up Mervyn King joined Wade in falling at the third round stage in Bolton, losing 9-8 to Romford’s Michael Barnard, who was left in tears after arguably the biggest win of his career, which earned him a clash with Andy Smith on Saturday.

Telford’s Andy Roberts joined Mather as one of the last two remaining Holsten Qualifiers, knocking out Louis Blundell 9-7 to set up a meeting with Alex Roy.

Blue Square UK Open
Third Round Results
Andy Hamilton (ENG) 9-4 Michael van Gerwen (NED)
Adrian Lewis (ENG) 9-2 Robert Thornton (SCO)
Phil Taylor (ENG) 9-1 Lee Williams (ENG)
Peter Manley (ENG) 9-8 James Wade (ENG)
Terry Jenkins (ENG) 9-1 Glen Durrant (ENG)
Alan Tabern (ENG) 9-3 Denis Ovens (ENG)
Mark Walsh (ENG) 9-2 Wayne Mardle (ENG)
Colin Lloyd (ENG) 9-8 John Part (CAN)
Raymond van Barneveld (NED) 9-4 Ken Dobson (ENG)
Ronnie Baxter (ENG) 9-7 Tony Eccles (ENG)
Steve Grubb (ENG) 9-3 Barrie Bates (WAL)
Roland Scholten (NED) 9-6 Darren Johnson (ENG)
Andy Roberts (ENG) 9-7 Louis Blundell (ENG)
Gary Welding (ENG) 9-5 Steve Hine (ENG)
Ken Mather (ENG) 9-7 Paul Nicholson (AUS)
Kevin Painter (ENG) 9-4 Colin Monk (ENG)
Mark Dudbridge (ENG) 9-7 Johnny Haines (ENG)
Mark Frost (ENG) 9-6 Co Stompe (NED)
Wes Newton (ENG) 9-5 Dave Honey (ENG)
Mark Webster (WAL) 9-6 Peter Wright (ENG)
Colin Osborne (ENG) 9-2 Jason Clark (SCO)
Alex Roy (ENG) 9-5 Lionel Sams (ENG)
Jelle Klaasen (NED) 9-7 Jan van der Rassel (NED)
Andy Smith (ENG) 9-3 Chris Cooper (ENG)
Jamie Caven (ENG) 9-1 Steve Dolan (ENG)
Andy Jenkins (ENG) 9-5 Justin Pipe (ENG)
Kevin McDine (ENG) 9-7 Brendan Dolan (N IRE)
Michael Barnard (ENG) 9-7 Mervyn King (ENG)
Wayne Jones (ENG) 9-6 Vincent van der Voort (NED)
Mark Lawrence (ENG) 9-8 Steve Brown (ENG)
Chris Thompson (ENG) 9-1 Paul Rowley (ENG)

Fourth Round Draw & Order of Play
Board One
Peter Manley v Mark Webster
Andy Hamilton v Raymond van Barneveld
Phil Taylor v Ken Mather
Mark Walsh v Adrian Lewis

Board Two
Colin Osborne v Wayne Jones
Jamie Caven v Jelle Klaasen
Kevin McDine v Alan Tabern
Andy Jenkins v Terry Jenkins

Board Three
Michael Barnard v Andy Smith
Dennis Priestley v Mark Frost
Steve Grubb v Kevin Painter
Wes Newton v Roland Scholten

Board Four
Gary Welding v Ronnie Baxter
Alex Roy v Andy Roberts
Colin Lloyd v Chris Thompson
Mark Lawrence v Mark Dudbridge