The second biggest ranking event of the year gets underway when the supposed summer spectacular on the oche starts on Saturday as 32 of the best players in the world descend on the Winter Gardens in Blackpool for the World Matchplay.
Nathan Aspinall secured the biggest title of his career on this stage a year ago and he will be looking to make a successful defence of the Phil Taylor Trophy but there are 31 form horses who will be out to stop that from happening.
Recent Winners
2023 – Nathan Aspinall
2022 – Michael van Gerwen
2021 – Peter Wright
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
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
This isn’t a tournament where the defending champion is the number one seed so that means that it is the world champion Luke Humphries who is right at the top of the draw bracket. He will go in search of a first World Matchplay title in a quarter where the other three seeds are the former Premier League winner Jonny Clayton, the 2020 champion of this tournament in Dimitri Van den Bergh and The Masters winner from earlier in the year in Stephen Bunting.
The unseeded players are the leading lights from the pro tour over the last 12 months so there is no such thing as an out of form player in this draw. The pick of the four is the former world champion Raymond van Barneveld who will be looking for a first Blackpool title. Martin Schindler is having the best year of his career and he arrives as a European Tour event winner while Ricardo Pietreczko and Ryan Joyce have shown that they can be competitive at the top level.
Second Quarter
Gerwyn Price has never got his hands on the World Matchplay title and he will be looking to put that right when he is the top seed in the second quarter of the draw this week. If the tournament goes by the world rankings then the Welshman will meet the defending champion Nathan Aspinall in the quarter final but two perfectly competent seeds will be out to stop that match from taking place. The are TV tournament winners in Ross Smith and Danny Noppert.
There are some big names among the four unseeded players in this quarter and they include the man who won the title 17 years ago in James Wade, who was the last man into the draw. Josh Rock recently won a European Tour title and he is in this quarter while Daryl Gurney will look to prove that he can still be a force to be reckoned with at the top level. Luke Woodhouse is another who is having a decent year and he completes the section.
Third Quarter
Michael van Gerwen has won this tournament three times in the past and he begins his quest for a fourth crown in Blackpool as the main seed in the third quarter. He is on a collision course with Dave Chisnall in the quarter final if all goes to plan in this section but the former world champion Peter Wright is one of the two seeds who will be out to stop that from happening. The former winner of The Masters, Joe Cullen, is the other seeded player in this quarter.
This quarter is going to get plenty of attention because it is where the Premier League champion Luke Littler will make his World Matchplay debut. The fact that he is in this section is high profile enough but he has a first round date with Michael van Gerwen which could be epic. The other three players in the quarter are much lower in quality but could be competitive despite that. They are Brendan Dolan, Krzysztof Ratajski and Andrew Gilding.
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Bottom Quarter
The former world champion Michael Smith is the highest seed in the bottom quarter of the draw as he looks to get his hands on his local major for the first time in his career. He could come up against the 2019 winner Rob Cross in the quarter final if both make it that far but two men who have been in good form over the last 12 months will be looking to stop that clash from taking place. They are Damon Heta and the former winner of The Masters in the shape of Chris Dobey.
The four unseeded players in this quarter are probably the strongest of the lot, led by the back to form Gary Anderson who has a really tasty clash with Michael Smith in the opening round. Gian van Veen has been talked up for a while and he gets a first chance at Blackpool to show what he has got. Ryan Searle is a big player who can take care of anyone on his day while Ritchie Edhouse has been performing brilliantly on the pro tour and the European Tour over the last 12 months to secure his shot.
Outright Betting
The outright market for this tournament is certainly one to follow in the early stages of it because on Monday night it is going to get severely impacted when those two marquee first round matches get played and the result of them will have dramatic impacts on the market. I’m not going to get too involved in it until we know the results of those two matches but there is one in the other half of the draw that gets my interest to begin with.
Josh Rock should be coming into this tournament full of confidence. He won a European Tour event six or so weeks ago and made the quarter final of the second Players Championship competition last week so he is throwing some good darts at the minute and he is in a quarter of the draw where you can pick a hole in all four seeds. All isn’t well with Gerwyn Price who has been pulling out of events recently and not exactly bubbly in the ones he has played while Nathan Aspinall is only here for the dough and the title defence as he is downing tools to get an injury sorted after the event. Ross Smith has done nothing here and Danny Noppert won’t put the fear into Rock either. The sponsors bet the outright market down to the semi-final for the place money and the 33/1 on the Northern Irishman looks good value on those terms.
Quarter Betting
I don’t really want to get too stuck into the quarter betting in the tournament because two of them are going to be heavily impacted by first round matches while in the top quarter Luke Humphries looks a dominant figure but the pressure is all on him. I would have been tempted to take him on but there isn’t anyone in the section that I am massively keen to go against him with. Jonny Clayton could be value as he rounds into a bit of form but it is hard to go against the world champion.
I will pick one out in the bottom quarter though. I say that because regardless of whether Michael Smith or Gary Anderson comes through the standout game in this section, both could miss doubles in the next round. Smith doesn’t have a great record here while Anderson still misses a lot of doubles on the stage. There is no form in this quarter outside of Rob Cross and even though ‘Voltage’ is the favourite for the section, I still think he is worth a bet. Cross made the final of all three World Series events recently and has won a European Tour event and made the final of another this year. Cross is in good touch and I think he makes the semi-final from the bottom section.
Tips
Back J.Rock to win World Matchplay (e/w) for a 1/10 stake at 34.00 with Betfred (1/4 1-4)
Back R.Cross to win 4th Quarter for a 2/10 stake at 4.00 with Betfred
