World Matchplay Darts 2020
Proper live darts returns this weekend as the second most prestigious event on the tour gets underway. Forget the Summer Series and before that the PDC Home Tour, this is Darts’ true return.
Sadly, there will be no crowd for this year’s World Matchplay Darts, which for the first time in many years, will not take place at Blackpool’s Winter Gardens but instead, behind closed doors at the Marshall Arena in Milton Keynes.
Play will run from July 18-26 and will include a star-studded field of 32 with the likes of Michael van Gerwen, Gerwyn Price, Peter Wright and Gary Anderson who have all been sorely missed.
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Michael van Gerwen is the 13/8 favourite with bet365 to win his third World Matchplay. It would be the Dutch world number one’s first Matchplay title since 2016. Last year’s champion Rob Cross is the long priced 20/1 but he has big tourney form so this price might tempt some.
World champion Peter Wright, who defeated Gerwyn Price to win the fifth and final Players Championship event of the PDC Summer Series, is the second favourite at 11/2. This is ahead of The Iceman Price himself who is priced at a reasonable 13/2.
Recent PDC Home Tour victor Nathan Aspinall is likely to have plenty of backers at 10/1, while some will like the look of 12/1 for Gary Anderson who finished runner-up in the Home Tour, once he’d fixed his home Wi-Fi issues.
Each game must be won by two clear legs, with up to a maximum of five additional legs being played before the sixth additional leg is played to sudden death. Further down the field, Michael ‘Bully Boy’ Smith is 20’s, Glenn ‘Duzza’ Durrant is 25’s and Daryl ‘SuperChin’ Gurney is a best price of 40/1, all with bet365.
World Matchplay Darts Draw
Saturday, July 18
First Round (best of 19 legs)
- Simon Whitlock v Ryan Joyce
- Krzysztof Ratajski v Jermaine Wattimena
- James Wade v Keegan Brown
- Michael van Gerwen v Brendan Dolan
- Gary Anderson v Justin Pipe
Sunday, July 19
First Round (best of 19 legs)
- Mensur Suljovic v Jamie Hughes
- Glen Durrant v Jeffrey de Zwaan
- Rob Cross v Gabriel Clemens
- Peter Wright v Jose De Sousa
- Michael Smith v Jonny Clayton
Monday, July 20
First Round (best of 19 legs)
- Dave Chisnall v Vincent van der Voort
- Ian White v Joe Cullen
- Daryl Gurney v Ricky Evans
- Gerwyn Price v Danny Noppert
- Adrian Lewis v Steve Beaton
Tuesday, July 21
Second Round (best of 21 legs)
- First-round: Nathan Aspinall v Dimitri Van den Bergh
- Smith/Clayton v Suljovic/Hughes
- Anderson/Pipe v Wade/Brown
- Van Gerwen/Dolan v Whitlock/Joyce
- Cross/Clemens v Ratajski/Wattimena
Wednesday, July 22
Second Round (best of 21 legs)
- Gurney/Evans v Chisnall/Van der Voort
- Aspinall/Van den Bergh v White/Cullen
- Wright/De Sousa v Durrant/De Zwaan
- Price/Noppert v Lewis/Beaton
Thursday, July 23
Quarter-Finals (Best of 31 legs)
Friday, July 24
Quarter-Finals (Best of 31 legs)
Saturday, July 25
Semi-Finals (best of 33 legs)
- Winner QF 1 v Winner QF 2
- Winner QF 3 v Winner QF 4
Sunday, July 26
- Final (best of 35 legs)
QUICK GLANCE AT WORLD MATCHPLAY DARTS 2020
Venue: Marshall Arena, Milton Keynes
Dates: 18.07.2020 – 26.07.2020
Format: Best of 19, 21, 31, 33
Current Champion: Rob Cross
Where To Watch: Sky Sports
When To Watch: (1800 GMT)
Premier League Darts 2020 Updated Schedule
The 2020 Darts Premier League season will pick itself up again in August following its coronavirus enforced shutdown after only six rounds of fixtures. Naturally, the tour element has gone out of the window for most of the rest of this year’s event. Instead, Milton Keynes’ Marshall Arena, where this week’s World Matchplay is taking place, will host the next six rounds of fixtures on six consecutive nights behind closed doors beginning August 25.
After this, on September 17, the play picks up the same as before on Thursday nights in Glasgow, Manchester, Newcastle, Sheffield and London where the tourney plays to a climax.
When we get back underway, Michael van Gerwen will again be looking for his sixth Premier League crown which would also be his fifth in succession. Glenn Durrant is tops right now but MVG will surely be hunted down by the likes of Peter Wright, Rob Cross, Gary Anderson and Nathan Aspinall.
The challengers will return, meaning Chris Dobey, Jeffrey de Zwaan and Jermaine Wattimena all still have the chance to enjoy Premier League nights, even if the Dutch pair, in particular, will lose the chance to do it in front of home fans as Rotterdam’s doubleheader hosting has been canceled.
Second-placed Michael van Gerwen is the short-priced favourite to win the event.
Night Seven, Tuesday, August 25
- Michael Smith v Gary Anderson
- Michael van Gerwen v Rob Cross
- Nathan Aspinall v Gerwyn Price
- Chris Dobey v Daryl Gurney
- Peter Wright v Glen Durrant
Night Eight, Wednesday, August 26
- Gary Anderson v Gerwyn Price
- Nathan Aspinall v Daryl Gurney
- Michael Smith v Rob Cross
- Michael van Gerwen v Glen Durrant
- Peter Wright v Jeffrey de Zwaan
Judgement Night, Thursday, August 27
- Glen Durrant v Rob Cross
- Nathan Aspinall v Michael Smith
- Peter Wright v Daryl Gurney
- Michael van Gerwen v Gary Anderson
- Jermaine Wattimena v Gerwyn Price
Night 10, Friday, August 28
Night 11, Saturday, August 29
Night 12, Sunday, August 30
Night 13 – Thursday, September 17
- The SSE Hydro, Glasgow
Night 14 – Thursday, September 24
- The Manchester Arena, Manchester
Night 15 – Thursday, October 1
- The Utilita Arena, Newcastle
Night 16 Thursday, October 15
- The FlyDSA Arena, Sheffield
Play-Offs Thursday, October 22
The O2, London
- 2x Semi-Finals (Best of 19 legs)
- Final
