STUART Kellett took a significant step towards a sixth successive appearance at the UK Open following an encouraging weekend in the first set of qualifiers.

The Northwich darter reached the last 16 in a preliminary at Wigan on Sunday, his best run in a Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) floor tournament in close to two years.

He followed victories against Jimmy Hendriks (6-2) and Josh McCarthy (6-3) with another against Aussie Kyle Anderson, a player ranked inside the world’s top 30.

The 35-year-old then held his nerve to win a deciding leg against former World Youth champion Keegan Brown before succumbing 6-4 to in-form Mick Todd.

It secured for the Cheshire regular £1,500 in prize money which, when added to £250 banked on Saturday as a reward for beating seed Jamie Caven and Rob Hewson (both 6-3), leaves him sharing 28th place in the initial UK Open Order of Merit.

The top 96 in the table will secure a spot at the televised finals in Minehead next month.

A second run of three qualifiers starts at the same venue tomorrow, Friday.

On Friday afternoon, Kellett dispatched three-time world champion John Part (6-3) in his opener before exiting at the second-round stage after losing by the same score to world number 13 Ian White.

He has fond recent memories of the UK Open after reaching the last 16 of the 2016 edition, a run that included a 9-5 defeat of then Premier League star Michael Smith.

He then lost to qualifier Barry Lynn (5-9), missing out on a main stage duel with eventual winner Michael van Gerwen.