World Matchplay (darts)

The World Matchplay, also known as the Betfred World Matchplay for sponsorship purposes, 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. Luke Littler is the current champion after winning the 2025 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 Luke Littler.
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.
Over the course of the tournament's 31-year existence, there have been fourteen different winners: Phil Taylor, Michael van Gerwen, Rod Harrington, Gary Anderson, Nathan Aspinall, Larry Butler, Rob Cross, Peter Evison, Luke Humphries, Luke Littler, Colin Lloyd, Dimitri Van den Bergh, James Wade and Peter Wright.
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.
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.

Records and statistics

Total finalist appearances

Rank	Player	Nationality	Won	Runner-up	Finals	Appearances
1	Phil Taylor		16	1	17	24
2	Michael van Gerwen		3	2	5	16
3	Rod Harrington		2	0	2	9
4	James Wade		1	6	7	20
5	Gary Anderson		1	1	2	16
5	Dimitri Van den Bergh		1	1	2	5
5	Peter Wright		1	1	2	14
8	Larry Butler		1	0	1	3
8	Peter Evison		1	0	1	11
8	Colin Lloyd		1	0	1	15
8	Rob Cross		1	0	1	8
8	Nathan Aspinall		1	0	1	6
8	Luke Humphries		1	0	1	4
8	Luke Littler		1	0	1	2
14	Dennis Priestley		0	3	3	17
15	Alan Warriner		0	2	2	14
15	John Part		0	2	2	15
15	Terry Jenkins		0	2	2	13
18	Ronnie Baxter		0	1	1	17
18	Peter Manley		0	1	1	13
18	Richie Burnett		0	1	1	9
18	Wayne Mardle		0	1	1	7
18	Mark Dudbridge		0	1	1	8
18	Raymond van Barneveld		0	1	1	14
18	Adrian Lewis		0	1	1	17
18	Mensur Suljović		0	1	1	7
18	Michael Smith		0	1	1	12
18	Gerwyn Price		0	1	1	10
18	Jonny Clayton		0	1	1	7

Active players are shown in bold
Only players who reached the final are included
In the event of identical records, players are sorted by date first achieved

Nine-dart finishes

Nine 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

Method

Opponent

Result

Tournament records

;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:

1994 Bob Anderson 9–11
1996 Peter Evison 1–8
1998 Ronnie Baxter 10–13
1999 Peter Manley 14–17
2005 John Part 11–16
2007 Terry Jenkins 11–17
2015 James Wade 14–17
2016 Michael van Gerwen 10–18

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.

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.

Year	Round 1	Round 2	Quarters	Semis	Final	Notes
1994	8	8	11	11	16	Must win by 2 clear legs
1995–1996	8	8	11	13	16	Must win by 2 clear legs
1997	8	8	11	13	16	Preliminary round: First to 6 legs All rounds: Must win by 2 clear legs
1998	8	8	13	13	18	Must win by 2 clear legs
1999–2012	10	13	16	17	18	Must win by 2 clear legs
2013–2015	10	13	16	17	18	Must win by 2 clear legs Sudden death after 6 extra legs
2016–present	10	11	16	17	18	Must win by 2 clear legs Sudden death after 6 extra legs

Women's World Matchplay

Since 2022, the PDC have held a Women's event on the Sunday afternoon before the main event final. The winner qualifies for the World Championship and the Grand Slam of Darts.

Media coverage

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