World Matchplay
The Winter Gardens in Blackpool, where the tournament was held from 1994 to 2019 and from 2021.
Founded1994
Inaugural season1994
CountryEngland
Venue(s)Winter Gardens (1994–2019, 2021–)
Marshall Arena (2020)
Most recent
champion(s)		England Nathan Aspinall
Tournament formatLegs

The World Matchplay, also known as the Betfred World Matchplay for sponsorship purposes,[1] is a professional darts tournament and one of three legs of the Triple Crown. It is played in a legs format, and is run by the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC). Nathan Aspinall is the current champion after winning the 2023 edition.

History

The World Matchplay has been played annually since 1994 in the Empress Ballroom at the Winter Gardens, Blackpool. The first ever winner was Larry Butler, who beat Dennis Priestley 16–12, and the current holder is Nathan Aspinall.

The 1995 World Matchplay turned out to be Jocky Wilson's last appearance in a major televised event. Wilson had reached the quarter-finals of the inaugural tournament in 1994 and he beat Rod Harrington in the 1st round in 1995, but a 2nd round defeat against Nigel Justice was effectively the end of his career.

From 1994 to 2012, matches at the World Matchplay had to be won by two clear legs. For example, the first round was usually played over the first to 10 legs, but if the score reached 9–9, play continued until either player gained a two-leg lead. Starting with the 2013 World Matchplay, if a two leg-lead hadn't been established after six extra legs, then a sudden death leg is played, so sudden death would come into play in a first round match at 12–12.[2]

Over the course of the tournament's 29-year existence, there have been twelve different winners: Phil Taylor (16), Michael van Gerwen (3), Rod Harrington (2), Gary Anderson (1), Larry Butler (1), Rob Cross (1), Peter Evison (1), Colin Lloyd (1) James Wade (1), Peter Wright (1), Dimitri Van den Bergh (1) and Nathan Aspinall (1) . Dennis Priestley was also runner-up for three consecutive years.

From 2018 onwards, the World Matchplay champion will receive the Phil Taylor Trophy, as was announced by the PDC following the retirement of the sixteen-time winner of the tournament.[3]

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom, the 2020 World Matchplay was held at the Marshall Arena, Milton Keynes, behind closed doors.[4]

World Matchplay finals

Year Champion (average in final) Score Runner-up (average in final) Prize money Sponsor Venue
Total Champion Runner-up
1994 United States Larry Butler (92.70) 16–12 England Dennis Priestley (91.59) £42,400 £10,000 £6,000 Proton Cars Winter Gardens, Blackpool
1995 England Phil Taylor (90.72) 16–11 England Dennis Priestley (87.63) Webster's
1996 England Peter Evison (100.51) 16–14 England Dennis Priestley (96.67) £46,000 £12,000 £7,000
1997 England Phil Taylor (106.32) 16–11 England Alan Warriner (98.42) £6,000
1998 England Rod Harrington (95.03) 19–17 England Ronnie Baxter (94.07) £58,000 £14,000 £7,000 PDC
1999 England Rod Harrington (85.95) 19–17 England Peter Manley (86.91)
2000 England Phil Taylor (100.32) 18–12 England Alan Warriner (97.14) Stan James
2001 England Phil Taylor (99.57) 18–10 Wales Richie Burnett (90.99) £65,000
2002 England Phil Taylor (98.76) 18–16 Canada John Part (94.14) £75,500 £15,000 £7,500
2003 England Phil Taylor (94.38) 18–12 England Wayne Mardle (97.44) £80,000 £8,000
2004 England Phil Taylor (100.20) 18–8 England Mark Dudbridge (89.24) £100,000 £20,000 £10,000
2005 England Colin Lloyd (97.89) 18–12 Canada John Part (94.53) £120,000 £25,000 £12,500
2006 England Phil Taylor (100.08) 18–11 England James Wade (90.01) £150,000 £30,000 £15,000
2007 England James Wade (96.83) 18–7 England Terry Jenkins (91.62) £200,000 £50,000 £20,000
2008 England Phil Taylor (109.47) 18–9 England James Wade (102.58) £300,000 £60,000 £30,000
2009 England Phil Taylor (106.05) 18–4 England Terry Jenkins (92.32) £400,000 £100,000 £50,000
2010 England Phil Taylor (105.16) 18–12 Netherlands Raymond van Barneveld (100.11)
2011 England Phil Taylor (103.84) 18–8 England James Wade (98.84) Sky Bet
2012 England Phil Taylor (98.97) 18–15 England James Wade (95.92) Betfair
2013 England Phil Taylor (111.23) 18–13 England Adrian Lewis (105.92) BetVictor
2014 England Phil Taylor (107.19) 18–9 Netherlands Michael van Gerwen (101.49) £450,000
2015 Netherlands Michael van Gerwen (99.91) 18–12 England James Wade (90.37)
2016 Netherlands Michael van Gerwen (103.93) 18–10 England Phil Taylor (101.13)
2017 England Phil Taylor (104.24) 18–8 Scotland Peter Wright (99.74) £500,000 £115,000 £55,000
2018 Scotland Gary Anderson (101.12) 21–19 Austria Mensur Suljović (104.43)
2019 England Rob Cross (95.16) 18–13 England Michael Smith (95.91) £700,000 £150,000 £70,000 Betfred
2020 Belgium Dimitri Van den Bergh (98.31) 18–10 Scotland Gary Anderson (92.81) Marshall Arena, Milton Keynes
2021 Scotland Peter Wright (105.90) 18–9 Belgium Dimitri Van den Bergh (100.88) Winter Gardens, Blackpool
2022 Netherlands Michael van Gerwen (101.19) 18–14 Wales Gerwyn Price (96.92) £800,000 £200,000 £100,000
2023 England Nathan Aspinall (96.21) 18–6 Wales Jonny Clayton (93.56)

Records and statistics

As of 23 July 2023.

Total finalist appearances

Rank Player Nationality Won Runner-up Finals Appearances
1 Phil Taylor England1611724
2 Michael van Gerwen Netherlands31415
3 Rod Harrington England2029
4 James Wade England15618
5 Gary Anderson Scotland11215
Peter Wright Scotland11213
Dimitri Van den Bergh Belgium1124
8 Larry Butler United States1013
Peter Evison England10111
Colin Lloyd England10115
Rob Cross England1017
Nathan Aspinall England1015
13 Dennis Priestley England03317
14 Alan Warriner England02214
John Part Canada02215
Terry Jenkins England02213
17 Ronnie Baxter England01117
Peter Manley England01113
Richie Burnett Wales0119
Wayne Mardle England0117
Mark Dudbridge England0118
Raymond van Barneveld Netherlands01113
Adrian Lewis England01117
Mensur Suljović Austria0117
Michael Smith England01111
Gerwyn Price Wales0119
Jonny Clayton Wales0116
  • Active players are shown in bold
  • Only players who reached the final are included
  • In the event of identical records, players are sorted in alphabetical order by family name

Champions by country

Country Players Total First title Last title
 England 7 23 1995 2023
 Netherlands 1 3 2015 2022
 USA 1 1 1994 1994
 Scotland 2 2 2018 2021
 Belgium 1 1 2020 2020

Nine-dart finishes

Eight nine-dart finishes have been thrown at the World Matchplay. The first one was in 2002, when Phil Taylor hit the first live 9-darter in UK television history.

Player Year (+ Round) Method Opponent Result
England Phil Taylor 2002, Quarter-Finals 3 x T20; 3 x T20; T20, T19, D12 England Chris Mason Won
Netherlands Raymond van Barneveld 2010, 1st Round 3 x T20; 3 x T20; T20, T19, D12 England Denis Ovens Won
Canada John Part 2011, 1st Round 3 x T20; 3 x T20; T20, T19, D12 Wales Mark Webster Lost
Netherlands Michael van Gerwen 2012, 2nd Round 3 x T20; 3 x T20; T20, T19, D12 England Steve Beaton Won
England Wes Newton 2012, 2nd Round 3 x T20; 2 x T20, T19; 2 x T20, D12 England Justin Pipe Lost
England Phil Taylor 2014, 2nd Round 3 x T20; 2 x T20, T19; 2 x T20, D12 England Michael Smith Won
Scotland Gary Anderson 2018, Quarter-Finals 3 x T20; 3 x T20; T20, T19, D12 England Joe Cullen Won
Wales Gerwyn Price 2022, Semi-Finals 3 x T20; 3 x T20; T19, T20, D12 Netherlands Danny Noppert Won

Tournament records

A match in progress on the World Matchplay stage.
Longest match in Matchplay history
The 2018 final went to 40 legs as a result of the format of "2 clear legs".
Longest unbeaten run
Phil Taylor from 2008 to 2015: Won 38 matches in a row. Taylor only lost eight matches in the history of the event:

Averages

An average over 100 in a match in the PDC World Matchplay has been achieved 142 times, of which Phil Taylor is responsible for 62. In 2010, Phil Taylor became the first player to average over 100 in all five rounds of the tournament. He repeated this feat in 2011 and 2013.

An average of over 105 in a match in the World Matchplay has been achieved 35 times, of which Phil Taylor is responsible for 24. The highest match average ever in the World Matchplay is 114.99 by Phil Taylor in his Last 32 victory over Barrie Bates in 2010. The highest match average ever in the World Matchplay Final is 111.23 by Phil Taylor against Adrian Lewis in 2013.

Ten highest PDC World Matchplay one-match averages[5]
Average Player Year (+ Round) Opponent Result
114.99 England Phil Taylor 2010, Last 32 Wales Barrie Bates 10–6
113.43 England Phil Taylor 1997, Last 32 Canada Gary Mawson 8–0
112.17 England Phil Taylor 2002, Quarter-Final England Chris Mason 16–7
111.23 England Phil Taylor 2013, Final England Adrian Lewis 18–13
110.93 Netherlands Michael van Gerwen 2015, Last 16 Wales Jamie Lewis 13–2
110.51 England Adrian Lewis 2014, Last 32 England Andrew Gilding 10–0
110.37 Scotland Peter Wright 2021, Semi-Final Netherlands Michael van Gerwen 17–10
109.71 England Phil Taylor 2008, Last 16 England Colin Osborne 13–5
109.47 England Phil Taylor 2008, Final England James Wade 18–9
109.47 England Phil Taylor 2009, Last 16 England Kevin Painter 13–3
Five highest losing averages
Average Player Year (+ Round) Opponent Result
105.92 England Adrian Lewis 2013, Final England Phil Taylor 13–18
105.68 Scotland Gary Anderson 2014, Semi-Final England Phil Taylor 15–17
105.17 Scotland Gary Anderson 2017, Last 16 Northern Ireland Daryl Gurney 9–11
104.57 Scotland Peter Wright 2019, Quarter-Final Northern Ireland Daryl Gurney 13–16
104.43 Austria Mensur Suljović 2018, Final Scotland Gary Anderson 19–21
Different players with a 100+ match average (Updated 19/07/23)
Player Total Highest Av. Year (+ Round)
England Phil Taylor 62 114.99 2010, Last 32
Netherlands Michael van Gerwen 19 110.93 2015, Last 16
Scotland Peter Wright 15 110.37 2021, Semi-Final
Scotland Gary Anderson 11 106.06 2018, Semi-Final
England Adrian Lewis 9 110.51 2014, Last 32
England James Wade 6 103.59 2015, Last 32
Belgium Dimitri Van den Bergh 6 103.68 2021, Last 16
England Rob Cross 5 104.08 2017, Last 16
Wales Gerwyn Price 4 104.64 2022, Quarter-Final
Northern Ireland Daryl Gurney 3 104.43 2023, Last 16
Netherlands Raymond van Barneveld 3 103.86 2010, Last 16
England Mervyn King 3 101.06 2014, Last 32
England Michael Smith 3 101.02 2020, Last 32
Poland Krzysztof Ratajski 2 107.53 2020, Last 32
England Glen Durrant 2 106.93 2020, Last 32
England Ryan Searle 2 105.19 2023, Last 32
Austria Mensur Suljović 2 104.43 2018, Final
England Peter Evison 2 103.77 1996, Last 16
England Ian White 2 103.51 2015, Last 32
England Dave Chisnall 2 103.02 2018, Last 16
England Stephen Bunting 2 102.48 2016, Last 32
Netherlands Danny Noppert 2 102.36 2022, Last 16
England Luke Humphries 2 101.78 2023, Last 32
England Steve Beaton 2 100.98 2011, Last 32
Netherlands Dirk van Duijvenbode 1 103.61 2022, Last 32
Portugal José de Sousa 1 103.26 2022, Last 16
Netherlands Jeffrey de Zwaan 1 103.22 2018, Quarter-Final
England Nathan Aspinall 1 102.96 2019, Last 32
England Colin Lloyd 1 102.57 2005, Last 16
England Shayne Burgess 1 102.03 1999, Last 16
Wales Jonny Clayton 1 101.90 2023, Last 16
England Andy Hamilton 1 101.88 2006, Semi-Final
England Alan Warriner-Little 1 101.55 1997, Quarter-Final
Scotland John Henderson 1 101.33 2019, Last 32
Spain Cristo Reyes 1 101.29 2017, Last 32
England Rod Harrington 1 101.22 1997, Last 32
England Jamie Hughes 1 101.13 2020, Last 32
England Kevin Painter 1 101.01 2009, Last 32
England Joe Cullen 1 100.67 2023, Last 32
England Mark Walsh 1 100.41 2008, Last 32
Five highest tournament averages
Average Player Year
106.31 England Phil Taylor 2010
105.81 England Phil Taylor 2013
105.73 England Phil Taylor 2009
105.50 England Phil Taylor 2011
104.82 England Phil Taylor 2008

Format

From the beginning of the tournament in 1994, the World Matchplay has always been a legs only event. The length of matches for each round has changed several times over the years, as shown below.

1994

  • First Round: First to 8 legs (match must be won by 2 clear legs)
  • Second Round: First to 8 legs (match must be won by 2 clear legs)
  • Quarter Finals: First to 11 legs (match must be won by 2 clear legs)
  • Semi Finals: First to 11 legs (match must be won by 2 clear legs)
  • Final: First to 16 legs (match must be won by 2 clear legs)

1995–1996

  • First Round: First to 8 legs (match must be won by 2 clear legs)
  • Second Round: First to 8 legs (match must be won by 2 clear legs)
  • Quarter Finals: First to 11 legs (match must be won by 2 clear legs)
  • Semi Finals: First to 13 legs (match must be won by 2 clear legs)
  • Final: First to 16 legs (match must be won by 2 clear legs)

1997

  • Preliminary Round: First to 6 legs (no tiebreak; sudden death leg at 5–5)
  • First Round: First to 8 legs (match must be won by 2 clear legs)
  • Second Round: First to 8 legs (match must be won by 2 clear legs)
  • Quarter Finals: First to 11 legs (match must be won by 2 clear legs)
  • Semi Finals: First to 13 legs (match must be won by 2 clear legs)
  • Final: First to 16 legs (match must be won by 2 clear legs)

1998

  • First Round: First to 8 legs (match must be won by 2 clear legs)
  • Second Round: First to 8 legs (match must be won by 2 clear legs)
  • Quarter Finals: First to 13 legs (match must be won by 2 clear legs)
  • Semi Finals: First to 13 legs (match must be won by 2 clear legs)
  • Final: First to 18 legs (match must be won by 2 clear legs)

1999–2012

  • First Round: First to 10 legs (match must be won by 2 clear legs)
  • Second Round: First to 13 legs (match must be won by 2 clear legs)
  • Quarter Finals: First to 16 legs (match must be won by 2 clear legs)
  • Semi Finals: First to 17 legs (match must be won by 2 clear legs)
  • Final: First to 18 legs (match must be won by 2 clear legs)

2013–2015

  • First Round: First to 10 legs (match must be won by 2 clear legs; sudden death leg at 12–12)
  • Second Round: First to 13 legs (match must be won by 2 clear legs; sudden death leg at 15–15)
  • Quarter Finals: First to 16 legs (match must be won by 2 clear legs; sudden death leg at 18–18)
  • Semi Finals: First to 17 legs (match must be won by 2 clear legs; sudden death leg at 19–19)
  • Final: First to 18 legs (match must be won by 2 clear legs; sudden death leg at 20–20)

2016–present

  • First Round: First to 10 legs (match must be won by 2 clear legs; sudden death leg at 12–12)
  • Second Round: First to 11 legs (match must be won by 2 clear legs; sudden death leg at 13–13)
  • Quarter Finals: First to 16 legs (match must be won by 2 clear legs; sudden death leg at 18–18)
  • Semi Finals: First to 17 legs (match must be won by 2 clear legs; sudden death leg at 19–19)
  • Final: First to 18 legs (match must be won by 2 clear legs; sudden death leg at 20–20)

Media coverage

The World Matchplay has been broadcast in the UK by Sky Sports since the first tournament.[6]

Sponsors

There have been seven different sponsors for the World Matchplay:

SponsorYears
Proton Cars1994
Webster's1995–1997
No sponsor1998–1999
Stan James2000–2010
Skybet2011
Betfair2012
BetVictor[1]2013–2018
Betfred2019–

References

  1. 1 2 "BetVictor To Sponsor World Matchplay". Professional Darts Corporation. Retrieved 28 July 2013.
  2. ↑ "News | PDC". pdc.tv. Archived from the original on 23 June 2013.
  3. ↑ "Taylor Receives World Matchplay Honour". PDC.
  4. ↑ Phillips, Josh. "Betfred World Matchplay to take place behind closed doors". Professional Darts Corporation. Retrieved 1 July 2020.
  5. ↑ dartsdatabase.co.uk; best winning averages
  6. ↑ "PDC & Sky Sports Extend Partnership". Professional Darts Corporation. Retrieved 28 July 2013.
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