Gerwyn Price, Rob Cross and Gary Anderson will be in action on a star-studded opening night of the 2023 Betfred World Matchplay, with the schedule of play confirmed for the summer’s biggest darts tournament.
Last year’s runner-up Price will take on Stephen Bunting when the £800,000 tournament begins on Saturday July 15 at Blackpool’s iconic Winter Gardens.
Former champions Cross and Anderson will also be in action on the opening night as they face Daryl Gurney and Dave Chisnall respectively in exciting ties.
A mouth-watering opening Saturday night in Blackpool will begin with a meeting between 2018 quarter-finalist Joe Cullen – the 2022 Masters champion – and Belgian debutant Mike De Decker.
Sunday’s afternoon session will be headlined by 2007 champion James Wade as he takes on Premier League star Chris Dobey, and World Youth Champion Josh Rock makes his debut against Damon Heta.
Reigning champion Michael van Gerwen will begin the defence of his title against Brendan Dolan in Sunday’s evening session, which will also see World Champion Michael Smith – the top seed as world number one – taking on Steve Beaton.
The first round concludes on Monday, as 2021 champion Peter Wright who takes on Andrew Gilding, while Dutch legend Raymond van Barneveld makes his first Blackpool appearance in five years against Ryan Searle.
The second round will take place across Tuesday July 18 and Wednesday July 19, before the quarter-finals are staged across Thursday July 20 and Friday July 21.
Saturday July 22 will see the semi-finals take place, before the final is held on Sunday July 23 when the champion will lift the Phil Taylor Trophy and pocket the £200,000 star prize.
This year’s visit to the Winter Gardens will once again feature the Betfred Women’s World Matchplay, which will see eight players competing on Sunday July 23 in an action-packed afternoon session.
Tickets for the Betfred World Matchplay are available through SeeTickets.com.
The Betfred World Matchplay will be broadcast live on Sky Sports in the UK & Ireland, through the PDC’s worldwide broadcast partners including DAZN and Viaplay, and on PDCTV (excluding UK, Ireland, Germany, Austria & Switzerland based subscribers).
2023 Betfred World Matchplay
Schedule of Play
Saturday July 15 (1900 BST)
4x First Round
Joe Cullen v Mike De Decker
Rob Cross v Daryl Gurney
Gerwyn Price v Stephen Bunting
Dave Chisnall v Gary Anderson
Sunday July 16
Afternoon Session (1300 BST)
4x First Round
Danny Noppert v Martin Schindler
Dirk van Duijvenbode v Kim Huybrechts
Damon Heta v Josh Rock
James Wade v Chris Dobey
Evening Session (1930 BST)
4x First Round
Nathan Aspinall v Krzysztof Ratajski
Luke Humphries v Jose de Sousa
Michael van Gerwen v Brendan Dolan
Michael Smith v Steve Beaton
Monday July 17 (1900 BST)
4x First Round
Dimitri Van den Bergh v Ross Smith
Ryan Searle v Raymond van Barneveld
Peter Wright v Andrew Gilding
Jonny Clayton v Gabriel Clemens
Tuesday July 18 (1900 BST)
4x Second Round – Order of Matches TBC
M Smith/Beaton v Wade/Dobey
Noppert/Schindler v Aspinall/Ratajski
Price/Bunting v Cullen/De Decker
Cross/Gurney v Chisnall/Anderson
Wednesday July 19 (1900 BST)
4x Second Round – Order of Matches TBC
Wright/Gilding v Searle/Van Barneveld
Clayton/Clemens v Van den Bergh/R Smith
Van Gerwen/Dolan v Heta/Rock
Humphries/De Sousa v Van Duijvenbode/Huybrechts
Thursday July 20 (2000 BST)
2x Quarter-Finals
Friday July 21 (2000 BST)
2x Quarter-Finals
Saturday July 22 (2000 BST)
Semi-Finals
Sunday July 23
Afternoon Session (1300 BST)
Betfred Women’s World Matchplay
Quarter-Finals
Beau Greaves v Noa-Lynn van Leuven
Robyn Byrne v Rhian O’Sullivan
Mikuru Suzuki v Aileen de Graaf
Fallon Sherrock v Lisa Ashton
Semi-Finals
Greaves/Van Leuven v Byrne/O’Sullivan
Suzuki/De Graaf v Sherrock/Ashton
Final
v
Evening Session (2000 BST)
Betfred World Matchplay
Final
Schedule subject to change. Schedule for second round onwards will be confirmed at PDC website and via @OfficialPDC social media channels.
Draw Bracket
(1) Michael Smith v Steve Beaton
(16) James Wade v Chris Dobey
(8) Danny Noppert v Martin Schindler
(9) Nathan Aspinall v Krzysztof Ratajski
(4) Gerwyn Price v Stephen Bunting
(13) Joe Cullen v Mike De Decker
(5) Rob Cross v Daryl Gurney
(12) Dave Chisnall v Gary Anderson
(2) Peter Wright v Andrew Gilding
(15) Ryan Searle v Raymond van Barneveld
(7) Jonny Clayton v Gabriel Clemens
(10) Dimitri Van den Bergh v Ross Smith
(3) Michael van Gerwen v Brendan Dolan
(14) Damon Heta v Josh Rock
(6) Luke Humphries v Jose de Sousa
(11) Dirk van Duijvenbode v Kim Huybrechts
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