(Luke Littler (Photo by Taylor Lanning/PDC)
Defending champion Luke Littler will headline the World Matchplay darts tournament starting this weekend at the Winter Gardens in Blackpool, as a star-studded 32-player field compete to win The Phil Taylor Trophy and a £225,000 top prize.
Littler kicks off his title defence against German debutant Niko Springer in Saturday’s penultimate tie, as the world number one aims to become the fourth player to retain the coveted title.
Premier League stars Josh Rock and Stephen Bunting take on Luke Woodhouse and Niels Zonneveld respectively, while 2023 World Matchplay champion Nathan Aspinall faces Joe Cullen in a repeat of their semi-final showdown three years ago.
Three-time World Matchplay winner Michael van Gerwen will take centre stage in Sunday afternoon’s session, as he plays two-time quarter-finalist Andrew Gilding in his opener.
2018 champion Gary Anderson makes his Winter Gardens return against Ryan Joyce, 2023 runner-up Jonny Clayton faces Damon Heta, while Chris Dobey and Dirk van Duijvenbode also lock horns.
World number three Gian van Veen takes on newly crowned European Darts Open champion Krzysztof Ratajski in Sunday’s evening session, while 2007 champion James Wade – last year’s runner-up – clashes with Jermaine Wattimena.
Wessel Nijman – a winner of eight PDC ProTour titles in 2026 – plays five-time World Matchplay quarter-finalist Dave Chisnall, as World Championship semi-finalist Ryan Searle meets Blackpool debutant William O’Connor.
Round one draws to a close on Monday evening, as 2024 champion Luke Humphries begins his bid to reclaim the title against Scottish number two Cameron Menzies.
2022 runner-up Gerwyn Price kicks off his campaign against Martin Schindler, 2019 champion Rob Cross and Dutch star Danny Noppert go head-to-head, while Ross Smith faces debutant Kevin Doets.
The round two action will be split across Tuesday and Wednesday evenings, with the quarter-finals on Thursday and Friday.
Saturday July 25 sees the semi-finals take place before the final is held on Sunday July 26, after the Women’s World Matchplay takes place earlier in the afternoon.
Session Schedule
Saturday July 18
Round One
Josh Rock v Luke Woodhouse
Stephen Bunting v Niels Zonneveld
Luke Littler v Niko Springer
Nathan Aspinall v Joe Cullen
Sunday July 19
Round One
Chris Dobey v Dirk van Duijvenbode
Gary Anderson v Ryan Joyce
Michael van Gerwen v Andrew Gilding
Jonny Clayton v Damon Heta
Sunday July 19
Round One
Ryan Searle v William O’Connor
James Wade v Jermaine Wattimena
Gian van Veen v Krzysztof Ratajski
Wessel Nijman v Dave Chisnall
Monday July 20
Round One
Ross Smith v Kevin Doets
Gerwyn Price v Martin Schindler
Luke Humphries v Cameron Menzies
Danny Noppert v Rob Cross
