Preview/Schedule Saturday night World Matchplay: Wade-Clayton and Littler-Rock headline superb semi-final line-up
PDC
Saturday night are the two semifinals at the 2025 World Matchplay in Blackpool. Who will qualify for the final? Will it be the experienced James Wade, or will Jonny Clayton walk away with the spoils, and can Josh Rock provide another shock against Luke Littler?
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The tournament at the Winter Gardens is the second largest ranking tournament of the year. With a prize pool of 800,000 pounds, players can take a big hit in the world rankings. The field of participants at the World Matchplay consists of 32 players. The top 16 of the PDC Order of Merit are seeded in the first round, and the 16 best Pro Tour players complete the lineup.
Follow the 2025 World Matchplay via our live scores!
Follow the 2025 World Matchplay via our live scores!
Luke Humphries began the tournament as the defending champion, having been too strong for Dutchman Michael van Gerwen in last year's 18-15 final. However, 'Cool Hand Luke' was eliminated after a 10-8 defeat in the first round against Gian van Veen. Below we give a preview on the two semifinals that will be played on Saturday night.
James Wade v Jonny Clayton
The first semifinal is between James Wade and Jonny Clayton. Wade already defeated Joe Cullen and Dutchman Wessel Nijman on his way to the quarterfinals. And in that quarterfinal it was again a Dutchman who had to acknowledge the superiority of 'The Machine', this time Gian van Veen. Van Veen led 4-1 in the first session, partly due to many missed doubles by the Englishman. But after the first break, Wade played grandiose. He turned on the turbo in the middle of the match, taking eight legs in a row to take a 9-4 lead. From that point on, the current world number five made the match his own in typical Wade style. He focused entirely on his throw, basically giving away the Dutchman's legs. At the end it seemed to get exciting for a moment when Van Veen got two darts on the double to come back to 13-12, but when they were missed and Wade made it 14-11, there was no escape for the Dutchman. Wade won 16-13 to reach the semifinals for the tenth time in his career.
Player Details: James Wade
| Total Earnings: | £4,869,035 |
| Darts: | |
| Order of Merit: | 8 |
| 9 Darters: | 11 |
| Tour Card Years: | 14 |
| Highest Average: | 115.92 |
| Highest TV Average: | 114.73 |
Jonny Clayton in turn took care of Martin Schindler and Mike De Decker to force a duel with Stephen Bunting in the semifinals. In that semifinal, "The Ferret" did not really have any problems at all. After the first session the Welshman was already leading 5-0, and in fact the match was already played by then. The Bullet disappointed and did not play the entire match. Although he tried everything to get back in the match, the difference was always around 4/5 legs in Clayton's favor. From 12-7 the Englishman couldn't take a single leg, allowing the former Matchplay finalist to take a relatively easy 16-7 victory. As far as we are concerned, Wade is the favorite to reach the final at the Winter Gardens for the seventh time. With the way he is currently playing, he is hard for anyone to beat, and seems to have an edge over Clayton.
Wade and the World Matchplay seem to like each other.
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Luke Littler v Josh Rock
Early this year, Josh Rock expressed hope that he and Luke Littler would soon call the shots in the darts world. It's not that far yet, but we do expect a delicious clash between the two darts giants in the second semifinal.
The favorite role will probably lie with Littler then. The reigning world champion was severely tested in the past two matches, but survived and is still on course to complete his Triple Crown set. 'The Nuke' began his tournament with a resounding 10-2 victory over Ryan Searle with an average of a whopping 108.92. Littler then won 13-11 over Jermaine Wattimena thanks to a terrific comeback, before also dealing with a strong playing Andrew Gilding (16-14).
Player Details: Luke Littler
| Total Earnings: | £1,941,833 |
| Order of Merit: | 2 |
| 9 Darters: | 8 |
| Tour Card Years: | 1 |
| Highest Average: | 122.96 |
| Highest TV Average: | 115.96 |
Rock has continued his strong form of recent weeks in Blackpool and is in the semifinals of a ranking major for the second time this season, having done the same at the UK Open earlier this year. Nothing was stolen from his semifinal place at the World Matchplay.
The Northern Irishman impressed in the first round with a 10-5 victory over Ross Smith thanks to a moyenne of 104.32 per turn. After that, 'Rocky' was responsible for eliminating Michael van Gerwen (13-11) in a thriller, before Gerwyn Price (16-11) also had to bow to an unleashed Rock. In the last eight, Rock threw an average of 104.02 over 27 legs.
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With his performance at the World Matchplay, Rock has already moved up six places in the world rankings and is virtually in 11th place. A win over Littler will put him firmly in the top-10, while Littler can try to further narrow his gap to number one Luke Humphries.
Remarkably, it will be only the first showdown between Littler and Rock on the PDC circuit. Both on the Development Tour circuit and on the floor, they have not yet met in match play either.
Schedule World Matchplay 2025
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Saturday 26 July Semi-Final Evening Session (20:00) James Wade v Jonny Clayton Luke Littler v Josh Rock |
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Based in Leicester, Samuel has extensive experience in darts media and has been closely involved in coverage of the professional darts circuit for several years. Within the UK darts community, he is a recognised figure known for his consistent editorial output and ongoing reporting on major tournaments and developments across the PDC calendar.
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- 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
- Fair play to Fallon. But...shows the mockery when a professional players wins what was meant to be an amateur v Pro event, Littlers performance was poor, and what about the players who didn't get a game? Would have been better if the pot was split amoungst all the winners and they all got a leg.BandB31-10-2026