Dark horses for the 2020 World Matchplay: Which players could benefit from a major event behind closed doors
PDC
The World Matchplay will be played from July 18-26 behind closed doors in Milton Keynes. That situation lends itself perfectly to a tournament of surprises.
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There will be more expectations on players who normally perform at the floor tournaments. Such tournaments - with the exception of managers or players guests - are played without an audience. That situation is comparable to the upcoming edition of the World Matchplay, but with multiple television cameras around the stage.
Which players can make it difficult for the recognised top players? Below are outsiders who have the potential to be a dark horse in Milton Keynes.
Krzysztof Ratajski
The Polish Eagle has quickly emerged as one of the best floor players on the PDC Tour. Krzysztof Ratajski has won seven PDC ranking titles in just three years, including one Euro Tour tournament.
Thanks to these performances, the Pole has now worked his way up to 13th position on the PDC Order of Merit. However, Ratajski has not performed well on television yet, although he did win the BDO World Masters in 2017. Perhaps the subdued conditions work to his advantage.
In any case, the Warsaw citizen has nothing to complain about in regards to his draw. He meets Jermaine Wattimena in the first round and he’ll a big favourite, having won his last six meetings against the Dutchman.
Looking further into the tournament schedule, it does not look bad for Ratajski. Possible opponents in the second round are Rob Cross and Gabriel Clemens. Michael Smith, Jonny Clayton, Mensur Suljovic and Jamie Hughes are the other players in that quarter of the draw.
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Jonny Clayton
Given the possibilities in the above quarter, the second dark horse also comes from this part of the draw: Jonny Clayton. The Ferret often plays very well on the floor tournaments, but also has enjoyed his highlights in televised tournaments.
Clayton has beaten Michael van Gerwen four times already, including twice on television. Earlier this year at the Masters, the Welshman was too strong for world number one.
During that tournament, The Ferret managed to reach the last eight of a major for the fifth time in his career. Once Clayton reached the semi-finals and in 2017 he became runner up at the Players Championship Finals. The Welshman opens his tournament against Michael Smith and meets Mensur Suljovic or Jamie Hughes if he wins.
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Jose de Sousa
One of the debutants in this year’s World Matchplay is Jose de Sousa. The Portuguese is the big unknown to the general public. The avid followers know him as one of the sensations of 2019. The Special One won two ranking tournaments and reached several finals.
He performed so well that he qualified as number three in the Pro Tour rankings for this major tournament. In the past twelve months, he has earned £40,000 on the Pro Tour tournaments, an unprecedented result for someone who has only owned a PDC Tour Card since 2019.
However, the draw was a bit disappointing for The Special One, who currently resides in Spain, as he was drawn against reigning world champion Peter Wright.
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De Sousa has shown more than once to have the qualities to beat someone like Wright. This year alone, he threw 13 ton plus averages and beat players like Adrian Lewis, Gerwyn Price and Daryl Gurney.
Danny Noppert
For Danny Noppert it will be his second appearance at the World Matchplay. Last year he lost to Gary Anderson in the first round. This time, another world-class player awaits in the shape of Gerwyn Price.
It will be their third meeting on television. In their previous meetings the victory went to The Iceman on both occasions. At the 2018 World Grand Prix they met for the first time at a major event. Noppie was outplayed by Price as the Dutchman felt intimidated by the presence of the Welshman.
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The chance that something like this will occur again is small. Noppert has taken some steps in his development in recent years and has shown especially in non-televised tournaments that he is a force to be reckoned with.
Ian White
He had to wait almost 22 years to reach another TV semi-final and he ended that hoodoo at the Players Championship Finals in 2019 after his breakthrough at the News of the World Championship in 1997, where Ian White lost in the final.
Now that he’s broken that duck, White may be able to focus on a first major final in the PDC. A World Matchplay without an audience is perhaps the chance for The Diamond to shine.
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The Englishman has been one of the best players on the Pro Tour for years. He has already won twelve PDC ranking titles in his career, including three European Tour events.
White has proved he can win tournaments with a crowd involved, but with TV cameras it has yet to happen. Perhaps the combination of no audience and only TV cameras will be successful for White.
I stumbled into the world of darts quite by accident back in 2013. For a Journalism School assignment, I had to produce a live sports report and as it happened, the European Tour event in Veldhoven was the only available option. That weekend, I caught the darts bug. The post-match interviews especially appealed to me, as darts players tend to be much more open and approachable than what you usually see with footballers on television.
After a few detours, I joined Dartsnieuws.com in 2017 as editor-in-chief. I don’t have much competitive experience myself, although I once entered a PDC Development Tour weekend just to experience what it’s like from a player’s perspective. I even managed to win a leg against a Tour Card holder and, quite by accident, earned £50 in prize money.
In 2022, I was also involved in the founding of the TOTO Dart Kings, a commercial darts team, where I worked as media manager for three years. Unfortunately, due to new legislation in the Netherlands, that project came to an end in 2025.
Through my work in darts, I’ve been fortunate to travel to some incredible events, from Premier League nights at Ahoy Rotterdam, to several World Championships, and even the US Darts Masters at Madison Square Garden in New York.
Beyond darts, I’m a passionate sports fan in general. You can always wake me up for a game of tennis or padel, and I love following football, tennis, padel, cycling, Formula 1, and ice skating.
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- And why should he listen to you?Deduce635807-11-2026
- Ultimately it is a bye for whoever draws Barney. It will be another stroppy and sulky performance once he goes behind. Barney was excellent but really must completely call it a day now.richieburnettrocks07-11-2026
- I'm disappointed he was not able to secure a spot at the Grand Slam. With Carl Sneyd taking care of Daryl Gurney, he would have had to beat Andy Boulton before facing the winner of Sneyd vs Mensur Suljović for a Grand Slam spot. Unfortunately, after beating Filip Bereza comfortably, he succumbed to Boulton, and the board would ultimately be won by the highly inconsistent Carl Sneyd. Since he could instead have been drawn against the likes of Cristo Reyes, Dirk van Duijvenbode and Stephen Bunting, I think once Gurney was out of the picture he would have been favourite to win his board, and it seems like a massive missed opportunity to put 5 grand on his ranking and seal another major TV appearance ahead of the Worlds. The highs and lows of following Raymond van Barneveld!Deduce635806-11-2026
- Probably i will receive a lot of backlash and hate for this reaction, but well, so be it. I am more than sick and tired of those lies of you Barry Hearn. How dare you defend yourself over the back of Fallon’s son! He has a disability and not an illness, so let me correct that for you! I know because I have the exact same disability. I have tried to reach out to Fallon in the past, and offered her to help her and her son, because I was struggling with the same problems, and I understood the boy. I wanted him to have finally someone who understood him. However she told me that she did not want my help, and I have respected Fallon’s choice. I have never asked Fallon for money. They don’t need money in that case. I only ever wanted the best for Fallon and Rory, but I have to be honest about the situation. Fallon should tell the true story and not be forced to tell lies. I don’t hate Fallon, and I don’t begrudge or envy a single penny that she gets, but this situation/case is just not fair. I hate the lies and the dishonesty and injustice. I don’t want Fallon to be hated because there is an unfair disadvantage created. Don’t proclaim your false lies over the back of Rory! I only stand for integrity and justice. I am precisely the one who always sticks up for Fallon. And you don't, you don't give a damn about them. You were never there for them, and now you only want to save your own position! You are just trying to talk your way out of your own bad behavior at the expense of someone with a disability. And to Fallon, I don’t know if this may ever reach you, and you read it, but I want you to know I love you and I love your son Rory very much, I am sorry how things developed and went. I hope you and Harriet are still friends. I am sorry if I were too persistent to you, or you experienced it that way, but it was never my intention. Please understand I have autism as well. As Barry Hearn would say, I am only just a human being too, and I also make mistakes and misjudge things sometimes. I promise you I did everything out of the deepest love and care for you and Rory. If I were you, I should just keep all the money, only please never be dishonest or tell lies anymore for Barry Hearn, or anyone else. I hope you have the best life, and I wish nothing more than the best for you. I have always loved the two of you. Farewell.Hiddo05-11-2026
- She is a professional. If darts is her income, she is a professional. Same as Adrian Lewis, Martin Adams. A tour card just means someone can play on the PDC tour. You could even make a case that Clayton wasn't a professional (until recently I believe) because he had employment elsewhere.BandB04-11-2026
- She's technically not a professional though as she doesn't hold a pro tour card.mr-pablo04-11-2026
- Such a shame that lakeside has been reduced to this. Fantastic venue,and previously a great tournament. Not any morerick6703-11-2026
- Seems to me that the top 16 players pick and choose whatever they want to play. Good,all the money will get spread out more. They get more money from exhibitions than tournaments so let them all withdrawrick6703-11-2026
- Play all legs and the winners split the pot. Luke gets the lot of he wins them all. If your occupation is darts player you can't enter, regardless of ability.BandB01-11-2026
- I'm quite a jaded person all things considered, but to be honest I found Beat Luke Littler to be pretty entertaining. It certainly wasn't seamless, which is to be expected given the lack of precedence, but I actually think the pacing was pretty good, the production was impressive, and there was a good sense of humour and levity to it. I think it was a very ambitious undertaking but one that, for the most part, paid off. I liked the system with the four pots and I think it added to the drama and intrigue. I enjoyed seeing the diverse range of entrants and learning about their backstories. I think the interactivity was pretty clever and well-integrated. The panel was a little incoherent at times; Lee Mack shone however, and his improvisational skills were appreciated during some more awkward interstitial moments. As far as the darts is concerned, it was a shame that the format didn't allow Littler to get into full flow. You obviously don't want him to steamroll everyone but you want to feel like you're getting the full Littler package rather than seeing him struggling to get out of first gear. I will say that his leg against Jayden Walker was very impressive, but it was mostly downhill from there. The attraction revolves around Littler being this untouchable, indomitable force, yet the format doesn't really allow him to fulfil that characterisation. As for Fallon Sherrock, she was mightily impressive and deserved the victory. It is a testament to her unshakeable character that she was able to bang in a 14-darter under such mind-bending pressure. Everything that has been said about the misleading marketing is valid, though they were clear about their eligibility criteria and were able to offload the responsibility somewhat by bringing the viewers into the decision-making process in real time. What is clear though, is that Fallon played the game according to the rules, and she should not be criticised for that, much less abused. I will admit though that it is a kick in the teeth for those true amateurs who committed time and money to the course, and I would also question those who think pub players would have no chance, given that some of Littler's winning legs were dispatched in 7 visits to the board! The great thing about darts is that it isn't so much that amateurs cannot replicate the feats of brilliance pulled off by professionals of the sport, than it is that they simply cannot replicate the consistency of their output, something that this format almost entirely removes from the equation. It should also be noted that, financially, Fallon certainly stands to benefit much less in relative terms from the paycheque than would your average pub thrower, as I'm sure she nets a fair income from the lucrative exhibition circuit alone. What I do hope is that she might use this as an opportunity to really build up a head of steam heading into the new season, as it seems long overdue that she come through Q-School and really take it to the pros on a week-in week-out basis, but whatever she chooses to do, she has certainly achieved enough already for one if not several lifetimes, so who am I to dictate terms? To conclude though, I will state once again that I found Beat Luke Littler to be a pretty enjoyable evening of entertainment. I do feel for the contestants who never actually had the chance to try their luck against the world #1, although I suppose it comes with the format, but all which inevitably raises the question: will Netflix be tempted to do it all again next year? It's hard to say. Whether it would be financially viable, I can't weigh in there. One point I have been making though, and which I touched on earlier, is that the entire concept relies on a public perception that Littler is more or less unbeatable, and that certainly hasn't been the case of late. If the execs had been trying to pitch the show in recent months while Littler has seemed vulnerable, rather than when he was mopping up almost every major title on the calendar, it would certainly be a tougher sell. We will have to see in about 6 months' time whether Littler can still reliably command perception as a near-unstoppable force in darts, and then we'll have a clearer idea about whether we should expect a second helping. Even as a one-off experiment though, and with all the controversy taken into account, I still don't think they disgraced themselves by any means, and that will probably be my lingering assessment of the event when all is said and done.Deduce635801-11-2026