These players have the most prize money to defend at the 2024 World Matchplay

In terms of stature, the World Matchplay is a hugely prestigious tournament. After the World Darts Championship, the World Matchplay is the tournament where the most prize money for the world rankings can be earned.

That prize money then remains on the world rankings for two years. This is because the PDC Order of Merit is based on performances achieved over a 104-week period. So at the upcoming World Matchplay, players must defend the results they achieved two years ago.

Especially for Michael van Gerwen, it will be a huge task. He captured his third title at the World Matchplay in 2022 and collected the top prize of 200,000 pounds. Since the prize money has not gone up since then, 'Mighty Mike' can only lose prize money in the world rankings.

Van Gerwen currently has 1,064,500 pounds in the world rankings. Almost 20 percent of his total is thus at stake during the upcoming edition in Blackpool. To make matters worse, Van Gerwen has been faced a horror draw. He was paired with teenage sensation Luke Littler, who won the Premier League Darts earlier this season. Littler obviously did not compete in the World Matchplay two years ago and thus has no prize money to defend.

Another player who will have to defend a fair share of his prize money is Gerwyn Price. 'The Iceman' lost to Van Gerwen in the final two years back, earning £100,000 from his second-place finish at the time.

Dimitri van den Bergh and Danny Noppert reached the semifinals at the 2022 World Matchplay. That result earned £50,000 for both players at the time. Van den Bergh has already covered a possible loss by winning the UK Open earlier this season, earning £110,000. For Noppert, the consequences may be greater with a quick elimination. 'The Freeze' is currently ranked No. 12 in the world and the differences with those players behind him are not great. Noppert might just have to drop some spots if he does not perform well in Blackpool, and if players like Ross Smith, Chris Dobey, Joe Cullen, Stephen Bunting and Luke Littler do manage to get far.

Defending champion Nathan Aspinall reached the quarterfinals in 2022, as did Peter Wright. They are defending 30,000 pounds at the World Matchplay. The other losing quarterfinalists were Dirk van Duijvenbode and Jose de Sousa. They are both missing from the upcoming edition, thus losing £30,000 in prize money on the world rankings later this month.

Rowby-John Rodriguez (second round), Gabriel Clemens (first round), Kim Huybrechts (first round), Martin Lukeman (first round), Adrian Lewis (first round), Callan Rydz (first round) and Madars Razma (first round) are the other players who are no longer there compared to two years ago. Back then, the second round was good for 15,000 pounds, while the first round was tied for 10,000 pounds in prize money.