Unseeded, but unstoppable: Dirk van Duijvenbode continues remarkable World Matchplay run
PDCFriday, 24 July 2026 at 10:00
The World Matchplay has long been known as one of the most prestigious and demanding tournaments on the darts calendar. The best players in the world battle at the Winter Gardens in Blackpool for one of the sport’s most coveted titles, with the sixteen highest-ranked players protected as seeds at the start of the tournament.
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Yet history repeatedly proves that a high seeding offers no guarantee of success. With Dirk van Duijvenbode’s semifinal in 2026, an unseeded player has once again reached the last four.
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Van Duijvenbode thus joins a select group of players who, as unseeded entrants, managed to put together an impressive surge. The Dutchman follows in the footsteps of Josh Rock, who reached the semifinals last year as an unseeded player. It is now the third consecutive World Matchplay at which a player outside the top sixteen in the seedings has managed to break through to the last four.
That run began in 2024 with James Wade. Remarkably, the Englishman was unseeded at the time despite his outstanding track record. The former champion and multiple finalist had dropped outside the seeded positions due to his lower place in the world rankings, but showed in Blackpool that experience on this stage is of immeasurable value.
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For the previous instance in that vein, you have to look back to 2020. That year, Dimitri Van den Bergh made history by not only reaching the semifinals as an unseeded player, but ultimately lifting the title as well. To this day, the Belgian remains the only player to win the World Matchplay from an unseeded position.
Dirk van Duijvenbode faces Luke Littler in the semifinals
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In the years before that, a few surprise names also delivered fine performances. Glen Durrant reached the semifinals on debut in 2019, after Jeffrey de Zwaan had produced a major shock the year before with an impressive run of victories.
Daryl Gurney reached the last four in 2017, while Ronnie Baxter and Andy Hamilton did so in 2012 and 2011 respectively.
Dirk van Duijvenbode celebrates.
Gap is narrowing
Notably, between 2021 and 2023 no unseeded player managed to reach the semifinals. That underlines how exceptional the current streak is. The achievements of Wade, Rock, and now Van Duijvenbode show that the gap between seeded and unseeded players has narrowed.
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At a tournament like the World Matchplay, where the pressure is high and the margins are fine, strong form at the right moment proves at least as important as the protection of seeding status.
Samuel GillChief Content Officer
Samuel Gill is the Chief Content Officer (CCO) of DartsNews.com, a role he has held since 2020. He is responsible for editorial governance across the platform, including setting content standards, overseeing accuracy and consistency, and guiding long-term editorial strategy across professional darts coverage. Since joining, he has contributed more than 10,000 articles and editorial pieces, playing a central role in the development and daily operation of the site.
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.
In his current role, Samuel works closely with editors and writers to ensure content meets clear journalistic standards, with a focus on source verification, editorial consistency, and timely updates when new, confirmed information becomes available.
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