Taylor's Fairytale Farewell! 🏆 In his final World Matchplay appearance in 2017, Phil Taylor signed off in style with a record-extending 16th title at the Winter Gardens! 🤯 What a moment!
POLL: Who will win the 2024 World Matchplay: Humphries, Littler, van Gerwen, Aspinall again, or a dark horse to emerge?
PDCFriday, 12 July 2024 at 10:14
The 2024 World Matchplay is just around the corner. Starting this Saturday, the 32 best players in the world will compete against each other for one of the most prestigious titles in darts. The venue is of course, the iconic home of the Matchplay, the Winter Gardens in Blackpool.
The standout tie of the opening round is the duel between Michael van Gerwen and Luke Littler. The bookies are already making Littler the favourite and placing the teenage sensation at 4-to-1, Van Gerwen meanwhile, is a bit further back at 9-to-1. The 17-year-old Englishman will be hunting for his second consecutive PDC major next week at the Winter Gardens, after winning the Premier League Darts in his debut campaign earlier this year. Van Gerwen is still looking for a first PDC ranking title this year, having only won the Dutch Darts Masters (World Series of Darts tournament ed.), however the Dutchman is a three-time former World Matchplay champion.
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Another absolutely cracking showdown in the first round is the duel between Gary Anderson and Michael Smith. The bookmakers are already finding it difficult to choose between the two players and place them both at 16 to 1. Anderson won the tournament in 2018, Smith reached the final there a year later, but is still waiting for a first World Matchplay triumph. Whichever can manage to get through this tricky opening salvo will be very well placed to go deep in this year's edition.
Welsh duo Gerwyn Price and Jonny Clayton are also among the contenders, as they are every year. Price, World Matchplay finalist in 2022, faces a tough task against two-time semifinalist Daryl Gurney in the opening round, but 'The Iceman' has been knocking on the door of a big win without success for a while. Could he finally get back to tournament winning way in Blackpool? Last year's losing finalist, Jonny Clayton, meets five-time world champion Raymond van Barneveld in another heavyweight duel. Clayton himself has picked up form of late too, winning his first title of the year at the most recent block of Players Championship events.
Aspinall beat Clayton in the final to take his biggest career win at the 2023 World Matchplay
Reigning champion Nathan Aspinall must be considered a threat once again. Recent UK Open champion Dimitri van den Bergh also can't be ruled out, neither can Peter Wright despite his poor form of late. As shown at the European Championship in 2023, Wright can always turn up at a tournament out of the blue and take the title. Rob Cross has been rejuvenated in 2024 and as a former Matchplay champion, 'Voltage' knows how to get the job done.
Who do you think will take glory in Blackpool this year? Use the poll down below to cast your vote!
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