2025 World Matchplay
| 2025 Betfred World Matchplay | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Tournament information | |||
| Dates | 19–27 July 2025 | ||
| Venue | Winter Gardens | ||
| Location | Blackpool, England | ||
| Organisation(s) | Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) | ||
| Format | Legs | ||
| Prize fund | £800,000 | ||
| Winner's share | £200,000 | ||
| |||
The 2025 World Matchplay, known as the 2025 Betfred World Matchplay for sponsorship reasons, is an upcoming professional darts tournament that will be held at the Winter Gardens in Blackpool, England, from 19 to 27 July 2025. It will be the 32nd annual staging of the World Matchplay by the Professional Darts Corporation. The tournament will feature 32 players; the top 16 players on the PDC Order of Merit will be seeded, and will compete in the first round against the top 16 players from the PDC Pro Tour Order of Merit who had not yet qualified. The total prize fund is £800,000, with the winner receiving £200,000. The fourth edition of the Women's World Matchplay will also take place on 27 July.[1]
Cameron Menzies and Wessel Nijman will make their debuts at the event, while Michael Smith missed out on qualification for the first time since 2013.
Luke Humphries is the defending champion, having defeated Michael van Gerwen 18–15 in the 2024 final.
Overview
[edit]Background
[edit]The 2025 World Matchplay is the 32nd edition of the tournament to be staged by the Professional Darts Corporation since its inception in 1994.[2] Held at the Winter Gardens in Blackpool, England, annually with the exception of 2020,[3] the inaugural champion was Larry Butler, who remains the only American to win a PDC major title; he defeated Dennis Priestley 16–12 in an upset victory in the final.[4][5] In 2018, the World Matchplay trophy was renamed to the Phil Taylor Trophy, in honour of the sixteen-time champion who retired from PDC darts following the 2018 World Championship.[6] The first recipient of the trophy was 2018 winner Gary Anderson.[7]
The 2025 edition will take place from 19 to 27 July 2025 at the Winter Gardens.[2] British bookmaker Betfred will continue its sponsorship of the event, having extended its partnership with the PDC in 2022.[8] Luke Humphries will enter the tournament as defending champion after defeating Michael van Gerwen 18–15 in the 2024 final to win his first World Matchplay title.[9][10]
Format
[edit]All matches will be 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, the match will be decided by a sudden death leg.[11]
The number of legs required to win will increase as the tournament progresses:[12]
- First round: Best of nineteen legs
- Second round: Best of twenty-one legs
- Quarter-finals: Best of thirty-one legs
- Semi-finals: Best of thirty-three legs
- Final: Best of thirty-five legs
Prize money
[edit]The prize fund remained at £800,000, with £200,000 going to the winner.[2][13] The winner will receive the Phil Taylor Trophy.
| Position (no. of players) | Prize money (Total: £800,000) | |
|---|---|---|
| Winner | (1) | £200,000 |
| Runner-up | (1) | £100,000 |
| Semi-finalists | (2) | £50,000 |
| Quarter-finalists | (4) | £30,000 |
| Second round | (8) | £15,000 |
| First round | (16) | £10,000 |
Qualification
[edit]
The top 16 players on the PDC Order of Merit at the cut-off point on 10 July will be seeded for the tournament. The top 16 players on the PDC Pro Tour Order of Merit, not to have already qualified on the cut-off date will be unseeded.[14]
Michael Smith, who won the 2023 PDC World Darts Championship and was runner-up at the 2019 World Matchplay, did not qualify for the event for the first time since 2013.[15] Among other notable players to not qualify are 2020 champion Dimitri Van den Bergh, 2021 semi-finalist Krzysztof Ratajski and reigning European champion Ritchie Edhouse. Cameron Menzies and Wessel Nijman will make their debuts at the event.[16]
The following players qualified for the tournament:
|
PDC Order of Merit |
Pro Tour Order of Merit
|
Schedule
[edit]| Match # | Round | Player 1 | Score | Player 2 | Break 1 | Break 2 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | 1 |  James Wade |
Joe Cullen |
|||
| 02 |  Danny Noppert |
 Cameron Menzies |
||||
| 03 | Luke Humphries |
Gian van Veen |
||||
| 04 | Nathan Aspinall |
Wessel Nijman |
| Match # | Round | Player 1 | Score | Player 2 | Break 1 | Break 2 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 05 | 1 |  Damon Heta |
Andrew Gilding |
|||
| 06 | Rob Cross |
Dirk van Duijvenbode |
||||
| 07 | Peter Wright |
Jermaine Wattimena |
||||
| 08 | Dave Chisnall |
 Mike De Decker |
||||
| 09 | Gary Anderson |
Luke Woodhouse |
||||
| 10 |  Jonny Clayton |
 Martin Schindler |
||||
| 11 | Luke Littler |
Ryan Searle |
||||
| 12 | Stephen Bunting |
Ryan Joyce |
| Match # | Round | Player 1 | Score | Player 2 | Break 1 | Break 2 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 13 | 1 | Chris Dobey |
Ricardo Pietreczko |
|||
| 14 | Gerwyn Price |
 Daryl Gurney |
||||
| 15 | Michael van Gerwen |
Raymond van Barneveld |
||||
| 16 | Ross Smith |
Josh Rock |
| Match # | Round | Player 1 | Score | Player 2 | Break 1 | Break 2 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 17 | 2 | Luke Humphries or Gian van Veen |
Danny Noppert or Cameron Menzies |
|||
| 18 | Nathan Aspinall or Wessel Nijman |
James Wade or Joe Cullen |
||||
| 19 | Stephen Bunting or Ryan Joyce |
Gary Anderson or Luke Woodhouse |
||||
| 20 | Jonny Clayton or Martin Schindler |
Dave Chisnall or Mike De Decker |
| Match # | Round | Player 1 | Score | Player 2 | Break 1 | Break 2 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 21 | 2 | Luke Littler or Ryan Searle |
Peter Wright or Jermaine Wattimena |
|||
| 22 | Damon Heta or Andrew Gilding |
Rob Cross or Dirk van Duijvenbode |
||||
| 23 | Michael van Gerwen or Raymond van Barneveld |
Ross Smith or Josh Rock |
||||
| 24 | Chris Dobey or Ricardo Pietreczko |
Gerwyn Price or Daryl Gurney |
| Match # | Round | Player 1 | Score | Player 2 | Break 1 | Break 2 | Break 3 | Break 4 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 25 | QF |  |
|
|||||
| 26 | |
|
| Match # | Round | Player 1 | Score | Player 2 | Break 1 | Break 2 | Break 3 | Break 4 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 27 | QF | |
|
|||||
| 28 | |
|
| Match # | Round | Player 1 | Score | Player 2 | Break 1 | Break 2 | Break 3 | Break 4 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 29 | SF | |
|
|||||
| 30 | |
|
| Match # | Round | Player 1 | Score | Player 2 | Break 1 | Break 2 | Break 3 | Break 4 | Break 5 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 31 | F | |
|
Draw
[edit]The draw was announced on 10 July.[17]
| First round (best of 19 legs) 19–21 July | Second round (best of 21 legs) 22–23 July | Quarter-finals (best of 31 legs) 24–25 July | Semi-finals (best of 33 legs) 26 July | Final (best of 35 legs) 27 July | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 1 | Luke Humphries
| |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Gian van Veen
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 16 | Danny Noppert
| |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Cameron Menzies
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 8 | Nathan Aspinall
| |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Wessel Nijman
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 9 | James Wade
| |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Joe Cullen
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 4 | Stephen Bunting
| |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Ryan Joyce
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 13 | Gary Anderson
| |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Luke Woodhouse
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 5 | Jonny Clayton
| |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Martin Schindler
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 12 | Dave Chisnall
| |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Mike De Decker
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2 | Luke Littler
| |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Ryan Searle
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 15 | Peter Wright
| |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Jermaine Wattimena
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 7 | Damon Heta
| |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Andrew Gilding
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 10 | Rob Cross
| |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Dirk van Duijvenbode
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 3 | Michael van Gerwen
| |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Raymond van Barneveld
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 14 | Ross Smith
| |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Josh Rock
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 6 | Chris Dobey
| |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Ricardo Pietreczko
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 11 | Gerwyn Price
| |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Daryl Gurney
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||
References
[edit]- ^ "Women's World Matchplay Darts: Schedule, draw, dates as Beau Greaves, Fallon Sherrock, Noa-Lynn van Leuven headline in Blackpool". Sky Sports. 9 June 2025. Retrieved 9 July 2025.
- ^ a b c "World Matchplay 2025". Mastercaller. Retrieved 9 July 2025.
- ^ Hammer, Chris (4 July 2020). "World Matchplay will take place behind closed doors in Milton Keynes instead of Blackpool's Winter Gardens". Sporting Life. Retrieved 9 July 2025.
- ^ Phipps, Toby; Austwicke, Jack; Caffry, Liam (17 October 2024). "Larry Butler, Scott Waites and the moments which have shocked darts". Chronicle Live. Retrieved 9 July 2025.
- ^ Gorton, Josh (28 July 2019). "Who will join the World Matchplay roll of honour?". Sky Sports. Retrieved 9 July 2025.
- ^ "Phil Taylor trophy introduced for World Matchplay in Blackpool". Sky Sports. 2 January 2018. Retrieved 11 July 2025.
- ^ "Anderson wins World Matchplay title after Blackpool thriller". RTÉ. 29 July 2018. Retrieved 11 July 2025.
- ^ Allen, Dave (24 July 2022). "Betfred secure new three-year World Matchplay sponsorship". Professional Darts Corporation. Retrieved 9 July 2025.
- ^ "Humphries beats Van Gerwen in World Matchplay final to seal darts double". The Guardian. PA Sport. 21 July 2024. Retrieved 9 July 2025.
- ^ "Humphries beats Van Gerwen to win Matchplay title". BBC Sport. 21 July 2024. Retrieved 9 July 2025.
- ^ "World Matchplay: Fixtures and results with Michael van Gerwen, Luke Humphries, Fallon Sherrock in action". Sky Sports. 21 July 2024. Retrieved 9 July 2025.
- ^ "World Matchplay Darts: Draw, schedule, format and prize money confirmed as Luke Littler, Luke Humphries seek title". Sky Sports. 10 July 2025. Retrieved 10 July 2025.
- ^ "Increased prize funds confirmed for PDC televised events". PDC. 1 July 2022. Retrieved 3 July 2022.
- ^ "PDC Rankings Rules". Professional Darts Corporation. Archived from the original on 29 May 2025. Retrieved 9 July 2025.
- ^ "World Matchplay Darts: Michael Smith to miss event for first time since 2013 after finishing outside qualification spots". Sky Sports. 9 July 2025. Retrieved 9 July 2025.
- ^ Gorton, Josh (9 July 2025). "2025 Betfred World Matchplay field confirmed". Professional Darts Corporation. Retrieved 9 July 2025.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j Gorton, Josh (10 July 2025). "2025 Betfred World Matchplay draw - Humphries to face Van Veen in Blackpool". Professional Darts Corporation. Retrieved 10 July 2025.