After being forced to be staged behind closed doors in Milton Keynes last year, the World Matchplay returns to its rightful home of the Winter Gardens in Blackpool this week where a crowd will be in attendance as the darting world begins to get back to some kind of normality.
Dimitri Van den Bergh took full advantage of the fact there were no crowds to distract him last year to win the title and he is back in Blackpool looking to make a successful defence of his title, but you suspect he’ll have to work hard to retain his crown.
Recent Winners
2020 – Dimitri Van den Bergh
2019 – Rob Cross
2018 – Gary Anderson
2017 – Phil Taylor
2016 – Michael van Gerwen
2015 – Michael van Gerwen
2014 – Phil Taylor
2013 – Phil Taylor
2012 – Phil Taylor
2011 – Phil Taylor
The Format
Much has changed in the world in recent times but the format of the World Matchplay hasn’t. The event begins with the first round over the best of 19 legs with the second round moving up to the best of 21 legs. The quarter finals take place over the best of 31 legs with the semi-finals the best of 33. The winner will then be determined on the second Sunday of the tournament in a best of 35 leg final. Each match in the tournament has to be won by two clear legs unless each player reach two beyond the scheduled winning number (12-12 in the first round, 13-13 in the second round etc). If that happens the next leg will be a deciding leg.
Top Quarter
It is easy to forget that Gerwyn Price is the world champion and the world number one after he was forced to miss the Premier League after testing positive for Covid-19 but he is and he’ll be doubly motivated to remind people of that fact here. He starts out in the top quarter where usually the top seed gets a comfortable draw. Price has the short straw this week because the other three seeds in his section are the Premier League champion Jonny Clayton, the defending champion Dimitri Van den Bergh and the home ace Dave Chisnall.
That is a pretty good quarter in its own right but the four qualifiers make it exceedingly good. They include the World Grand Prix finalist Dirk van Duijvenbode who is very much a title contender in his own right. Devon Petersen is another of the unseeded players in this quarter while the last man into the field in Jermaine Wattimena is another. The other player in this section is Vincent van der Voort who knows his way around this stage so this quarter is loaded.
Second Quarter
It is actually the second quarter that is usually the most open in a draw and that is very much the case here. James Wade is the top seed in this quarter but he hasn’t really shown much since he won the UK Open back in March. He is the only seed to have offered much in recent times though. Krzysztof Ratajski is in the middle of a very quiet spell by his standards while Rob Cross and Glen Durrant begin with the week with plenty to prove, even if the former did win this tournament the last time it was held here.
If you are one of the unseeded players in this quarter you probably think you have landed on your feet given how vulnerable the seeds look. The man Wade beat in the UK Open final, Luke Humphries, is in this quarter while the other three players have all won Players Championship events this season. Callan Rydz and Brendan Dolan won theirs earlier in the year while Ross Smith won his as recently as last week so he should be arriving in Blackpool full of confidence.
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Third Quarter
The former world champion Peter Wright is the leading light in the third quarter. This bottom half of the draw is absolutely loaded this week so Wright is going to have his work cut out to progress very deep in the competition. The other three seeded players in this section are Joe Cullen, who showed his worth in that World Championship epic against Michael van Gerwen, Michael Smith who was runner up here a couple of years ago and the Grand Slam of Darts champion Jose de Sousa, who holds genuine claims as being the form player in the world at the minute.
One of the reasons why this quarter is so good is the unseeded players bring plenty of quality to the party as well. Chris Dobey is probably the one who catches the eye of those quartet as he won his first PDC title at the Super Series events last week. The German Giant, Gabriel Clemens, is also in this quarter and he is perfectly capable of going deep in any event he lines up in. The quarter is completed by Danny Noppert, who is no mug himself.
Bottom Quarter
Michael van Gerwen hasn’t won this title for five years, which for him is a major drought, so he’ll be eager to make up for that from the bottom quarter of the draw. He is another who is in a loaded quarter though, one where the former champion Gary Anderson is the next highest seed. A quarter final between the two would be wonderful for us neutrals but two other top class dartists will be out to deny that match. They are Daryl Gurney and Nathan Aspinall, the latter who will really fancy his chances here.
The four qualifiers in this part of the draw aren’t exactly shabby either though. Stephen Bunting opened up the Super Series block last week by winning the first tournament which goes him into the field this week and he’ll be confident on arrival in Blackpool. Mervyn King has shown plenty of times over the last 18 months or so that you can’t sleep on him on the big stages while Damon Heta is considered a star in the making. Ian White completes the quarter and in most years he would have been a seed.
Outright Betting
I’m keen to avoid that bottom half as that is a minefield of a tournament on its own. In fairness, the top quarter is similar. If I was going to take a punt I would have a look at someone in that quarter I would probably side with Jonny Clayton, the man who came good for us in the Premier League earlier in the season. He didn’t have the best run in the Super Series last week though so I’m heading to the second quarter where my bet is James Wade.
Wade has a repeat of the UK Open final with Luke Humphries to come through in the first round but if he repeats his success of earlier in the year he could soon find that his quarter has opened right up. Given the form of Krzysztof Ratajski, Rob Cross and Glen Durrant it isn’t stretching it to say that Wade could be the only seed left in this quarter come the second round. Wade has a love affair for this tournament having won it twice and the format at Blackpool suits him perfectly, as we saw at the UK Open earlier in the year and the Grand Slam last year. The 22/1 Wade looks a standout bet.
Quarter Betting
I’m tempted to take Clayton as a third favourite in the top quarter but 5/1 when he is going to have to go through three major finalists in the last 12 months in Dirk van Duijvenbode, Gerwyn Price and Dimitri Van den Bergh probably isn’t what you could consider value. Nothing really stands out to me in the third quarter so my quarter betting will be made up purely from the bottom quarter where I like the confident Stephen Bunting.
Bunting had an excellent week in the Super Series last week. He won the first event and made the quarter final the following day. He also made a semi-final of the Super Series prior to last week as well. This all comes in the year where he made the semi-final of the World Championship so after a couple of years of below par stuff, the Bullet looks like he’s found his mojo. This is pretty much a home game for him and he has made the quarter final here in his last attempt two years ago before the eventual champion Rob Cross edged him out. Bunting will need to play well to win this quarter but 12/1 could be a shade too big for him to do it.
Tips
Back J.Wade to win World Matchplay (e/w) for a 1/10 stake at 23.00 with Boylesports (1/2 1-2)
Back him here:
Back S.Bunting to win 4th Quarter for a 1/10 stake at 13.00 with Coral
Back him here:
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