Schedule Sunday night at World Matchplay 2025: Will Luke Littler make it past the opening round?

Sunday night, July 20, four matches from the first round of the 2025 World Matchplay will be completed. These will include reigning world champion Luke Littler in action.

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.
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Luke Humphries started the tournament as the defending champion, after being too strong 18-15 to Dutchman Michael van Gerwen in last year's final. However, Humphries is already back home after a 10-8 first-round defeat to Gian van Veen. Below we preview the four matches from Sunday night's session.

The evening session at the Winter Gardens will kick off with the duel between Gary Anderson and Luke Woodhouse. Anderson has been there at the World Matchplay every year since 2009 and already won this tournament once in 2018, when he won 21-19 over Austrian Mensur Suljovic in a legendary final. Anderson reached the final at the Baltic Sea Darts Open just last weekend, so he is in form. For the past four years, however, the 54-year-old Scot never made it past the second round at the World Matchplay.

In his opening match, Anderson takes on Woodhouse. 'Woody' is there for the second time in Blackpool, last year he lost 10-8 to Nathan Aspinall on his debut in the first round. Woodhouse has had a steady year so far and is 31st in the world rankings. His best performance in a major came last year, when he reached the semifinals of the European Championship. To keep up with Anderson, he will have to achieve a high level of scoring. If he does, Woodhouse certainly has a chance to surprise.

Next it was the turn of Jonny Clayton and Martin Schindler. Clayton was a losing finalist two years ago, when he lost 18-6 to Nathan Aspinall in the final. 'The Ferret' is on a nice roll this year, already winning a Players Championship and a Euro Tour. Earlier this year he also did well at the majors, reaching the final of the Winmau World Masters and the semifinals of the UK Open. Moreover, last month Clayton lost the final of the World Cup of Darts alongside Gerwyn Price, which was lost against Northern Ireland.

Schindler has also already won a Players Championship and a Euro Tour this year. The 28-year-old German is there for the fourth consecutive time at the World Matchplay, but has never got past the opening round. Still, Schindler will be no walk in the park for Clayton. After all, 'The Wall' is playing stronger than ever this year and has now climbed to eighteenth in the world rankings. On a major, quarterfinal finishes at the World Grand Prix and UK Open are his best results for now. Schindler indicated earlier that he can and wants to make progress especially on the majors, starting with the World Matchplay. If he manages to raise his level, this could be an exciting match.

In the penultimate match of evening session Luke Littler aims to finally win in Blackpool. 'The Nuke' made his debut at the World Matchplay last year, but it went wrong in the opening round against Michael van Gerwen. A big disappointment for 'The Nuke' and he wants to rectify that this year. Littler of course started the year excellently by becoming the youngest darts world champion ever. Afterwards, he won a second major with the UK Open. Since then, however, he has been dry for a while, the Premier League Darts title went to Luke Humphries and at the World Cup of Darts he lost to the same Humphries in the opening round. Littler will therefore be extra keen to win the World Matchplay, if he succeeds he will immediately realize the 'Triple Crown': World Darts Championship, Premier League Darts and World Matchplay.

Littler obviously starts his match in the first round as towering favorite, yet his opponent Ryan Searle is certainly not to be underestimated. Heavy Metal' has already won a Players Championship this year, but in the majors he only reached the last sixteen at the Winmau World Masters. Searle, however, is an open-minded player who can score very high when he reaches his level. If he can find those high scores regularly, Littler is certainly not already through.

Rounding out the evening at the Winter Gardens will be Stephen Bunting and Ryan Joyce. Bunting is one of the most successful players this year with already two World Series of Darts tournaments, one Players Championship and one Euro Tour on his record. In the world rankings, 'The Bullet' has now climbed to fourth in the world rankings. At 40, it is time for Bunting to start reaping the rewards at the majors, where he only holds one title, the Masters in 2024. Bunting starts the World Matchplay as one of the top favorites.

In his opening match, Bunting will take on his compatriot Joyce. For the world number 26, it is his third participation in the World Matchplay. In his previous two participations, he never got past the first round. Joyce' best performance at a major was the semifinals at the 2023 Players Championship Finals and the 2024 World Grand Prix. 'Relentless' is not the player who stands out the most in the darts world, but on his day he can certainly provide a stunt against the top players. Will he be able to do the same against Bunting?