World Matchplay 2025: Schedule, Results, Field, Draw, Predictions and Format
PDCSunday, 27 July 2025 at 22:37
The World Matchplay 2025 is due to take place between 19-27 July 2025 in the traditional visit to the Winter Gardens in Blackpool for what is seen as the second biggest tournament on the darting calendar.
It sees the top 16 PDC Order of Merit stars face the top 16 ProTour Order of Merit players. They all compete for a lion's share of £800,000, with the winner receiving £200,000. Luke Humphries is the defending champion, having defeated Michael van Gerwen 18-15 in the 2024 final.
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World Matchplay 2025 - Match Schedule, Draw and Results
| Schedule of Play |
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Saturday July 19 First Round Evening Session (1900 BST) James Wade (104.44) 10-3 (95.76) Joe Cullen Danny Noppert (96.44) 10-2 (81.35) Cameron Menzies Luke Humphries (95.69) 8-10 (98.45) Gian van Veen Nathan Aspinall (98.88) 6-10 (101.72) Wessel Nijman |
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Sunday July 20 First Round Afternoon Session (1300 BST) Damon Heta (100.03) 10-12 (101.82) Andrew Gilding Rob Cross (96.1) 8-10 (95.33) Dirk van Duijvenbode Peter Wright (93.1) 8-10 (91.81) Jermaine Wattimena Dave Chisnall (91.87) 7-10 (93.01) Mike De Decker Evening Session (1900 BST) Gary Anderson (98.02) 10-5 (94.11) Luke Woodhouse Jonny Clayton (99.6) 10-7 (103.45) Martin Schindler Luke Littler (108.92) 10-2 (98.63) Ryan Searle Stephen Bunting (98) 10-8 (93.71) Ryan Joyce |
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Monday July 21 First Round Evening Session (1900 BST) Chris Dobey (90.95) 10-5 (83.22) Ricardo Pietreczko Gerwyn Price (100.21) 10-7 (98.46) Daryl Gurney Michael van Gerwen (91.84) 10-6 (87.1) Raymond van Barneveld Ross Smith (94.88) 5-10 (104.32) Josh Rock |
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Tuesday July 22 Second Round Evening Session (1900 BST) Gian van Veen (94.94) 11-5 (94.59) Danny Noppert Wessel Nijman (94.78) 5-11 (102.53) James Wade Stephen Bunting (92.71) 12-10 (91.7) Gary Anderson Jonny Clayton (93.41) 11-8 (92.62) Mike de Decker |
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Wednesday July 23 Second Round Evening Session (1900 BST) Andrew Gilding (100.5) 11-5 (93.78) Dirk van Duijvenbode Chris Dobey (96.5) 3-11 (108.73) Gerwyn Price Luke Littler (99.28) 13-11 (96.39) Jermaine Wattimena Michael van Gerwen (97.31) 11-13 (95.16) Josh Rock |
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Thursday July 24 Quarter-Finals Evening Session (2000 BST) Quarter-Finals x2 Gian van Veen (99.24) 13-16 (96.35) James Wade Stephen Bunting (94.97) 7-16 (98.13) Jonny Clayton |
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Friday July 25 Quarter-Finals Evening Session (2000 BST) Quarter-Finals x2 Luke Littler (103.91) 16-14 (98.45) Andrew Gilding Gerwyn Price (104.02) 11-16 (100.21) Josh Rock |
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Saturday July 26 Semi-Finals Evening Session (2000 BST) Semi-Finals James Wade (101.79) 20-18 (100.97) Jonny Clayton Luke Littler (107.5) 17-14 (104.15) Josh Rock |
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Final Evening Session (starts 20:00) James Wade (101.54) 13-18 (107.24) Luke Littler |
Format
All matches are in leg play format. All matches have to be won by two clear legs. If the scores are tied after the full distance and six extra legs, it will then be decided by sudden death.
The number of legs required to win will increase as the tournament continues.
First round: Best of nineteen legs - first to 10
Second round: Best of twenty-one legs - first to 11
Quarter-finals: Best of thirty-one legs - first to 16
Semi-finals: Best of thirty-three legs - first to 17
Final: Best of thirty-five legs - first to 18
Predictions
Samuel Gill, Head Editor for DartsNews.com sees Gerwyn Price lifting the title.
Gerwyn Price for me is the one to watch. He is due a title of this magnitude given his recent form.
It would be easy to say Luke Littler and I think he will be there or thereabouts but I see Price getting there at some moment and that is likely now.
Luke Humphries also wouldn't shock me to see him go back-to-back. While I will also keep a beady eye on Jonny Clayton and Stephen Bunting as their recent form shouldn't go unnoticed.
Favourites:
*** Gerwyn Price
** Luke Humphries, Luke Littler
* Jonny Clayton, Stephen Bunting, Michael van Gerwen
Mats Leering, writer for DartsNieuws.com sees Luke Littler as the big favourite. Given the World Matchplay draw and bracket, I see Luke Littler as the big favourite for the win. The youngster is in quite a promising quarter as far as I'm concerned, so he should normally at least make it to the semi-finals. Then, I am guessing he will meet Rock or Price, who can also go far.In the other part of the bracket, I see Bunting also reaching the semi-finals.
Normally Humphries should also be able to get that far, but he meets Gian van Veen straight away in the first round. For me the Dutchman is a potential outsider, and therefore also a danger for Humphries. The winner of the match between Aspinall and Nijman also has a real chance of getting far in that part of the bracket. As other potential outsiders i see names like Jonny Clayton, Martin Schindler, Michael van Gerwen, Damon Heta and Gary Anderson.
Favourites:
*** Luke Littler
** Stephen Bunting, Luke Humphries
*Gerwyn Price, Gian van Veen, Nathan Aspinall
Pieter Verbeek, Editor for DartsNieuws.com also sees Luke Littler as the likely winner.
The World Matchplay always serves as a perfect checkpoint to assess where players stand halfway through the season, right before the busy autumn schedule kicks off. For me, Luke Littler is the favourite to lift the title in Blackpool. I expect ‘The Nuke’ to be highly motivated to redeem himself after last year’s early exit in the first round. On top of that, I think Littler has been handed a favourable draw, and should, in theory, reach at least the semi-finals without too much trouble.His main rival is, of course, fellow Luke and Premier League nemesis Luke Humphries – the man who denied Littler back-to-back Premier League titles.
However, Humphries has a much tougher path ahead of him. He faces Gian van Veen in the opening round – arguably one of the most dangerous opponents in the entire field. Add Nathan Aspinall and James Wade to his quarter, and it becomes clear that Humphries has a far from straightforward route.
As for the outsiders, I’m looking at players who have made the strongest impression in the first half of the season. Gerwyn Price looks to be back to something close to his best, though he needs to win another ranking major to really solidify that status. Both Jonny Clayton and Josh Rock have enjoyed a strong spring campaign, and each of them has a draw that offers real opportunities.
Of course, Nathan Aspinall deserves to be in that conversation as well. He’s had an excellent first half of the year. However, I believe ‘The Asp’ has been handed too tough a draw to really have a chance to claim the title – though I’d be happy to be proven wrong
Favourites
*** Luke Littler
** Luke Humphries
* Gerwyn Price, Jonny Clayton, Josh Rock
Nicolas Gayer, Editor for DartsNews.DE sees Josh Rock as having the tools.
This year’s World Matchplay feels like a wide-open affair. Yes, of course, there are two standout players: both Luke Humphries and Luke Littler have proven time and again over the past few months that they are by far the best players in the world right now. And yet, I don’t believe either of them is currently in unbeatable form.That opens the door for the rest of the world’s elite—and I believe Josh Rock is going to burst through that door at the Empress Ballroom this year. The young Northern Irishman has made remarkable progress this season. Once a promising talent who burst onto the scene with remarkable dominance but then struggled to fully live up to the hype, “Rocky” has now firmly established himself among the absolute world-class players.
Armed with new equipment and a level of scoring power rarely seen before, he has been shining across various tournaments since the beginning of the year. Not to mention, he played a pivotal role in securing Northern Ireland’s first-ever World Cup of Darts title. Of course, there are other, more established names traveling to Blackpool as favorites—but I believe Josh Rock is ready to take the next big step in his career.
Alongside the aforementioned Littler and Humphries, I expect strong performances from Gerwyn Price and Damon Heta. Price has impressively shown this year that he’s left his slump behind and is once again a part of the extended world elite. The Welshman will be highly motivated in Blackpool to finally end his long-standing major drought. As for Damon Heta, I feel his big breakthrough at a major event is just a matter of time.
The Australian, who has become a symbol of steady improvement and consistent progress, continues his incredible journey from World Series local representative to one of the best dart players on the planet. I believe he’ll reap the rewards for all his hard work in Blackpool.From a German perspective, much will depend on Martin Schindler’s opening match. "The Wall" will face Jonny Clayton—a matchup we’ve already seen five times this year, three of which went the Welshman’s way. If Schindler can get through this, his side of the draw gives him a real chance of reaching the quarterfinals or even the semifinals.
I also give Ricardo Pietreczko a good shot at winning his first-round match against Chris Dobey. However, with potential matchups against Josh Rock and Gerwyn Price later on, I don’t expect a deep run beyond that.
Favourites:
*** Josh Rock
** Luke Littler, Luke Humphries
* Gerwyn Price, Damon Heta, Gary Anderson
Field
The field sees Luke Humphries lead the way alongside Luke Littler, Michael van Gerwen among others.
Mike de Decker and Cameron Menzies are the two newcomers to this year's field with this confirmed with the recent ProTour double header.
2025 Betfred World Matchplay
Top 16 from the Werner Ladder Rankings
(Seeded for First Round Draw)
- Luke Humphries
- Luke Littler
- Michael van Gerwen
- Stephen Bunting
- Jonny Clayton
- Chris Dobey
- Damon Heta
- Nathan Aspinall
- James Wade
- Rob Cross
- Gerwyn Price
- Dave Chisnall
- Gary Anderson
- Ross Smith
- Peter Wright
- Danny Noppert
Qualifiers from ProTour Rankings
- Martin Schindler
- Josh Rock
- Cameron Menzies
- Gian van Veen
- Wessel Nijman
- Ryan Searle
- Mike De Decker
- Dirk van Duijvenbode
- Jermaine Wattimena
- Andrew Gilding
- Daryl Gurney
- Joe Cullen
- Ricardo Pietreczko
- Luke Woodhouse
- Raymond van Barneveld
- Ryan Joyce
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