World Matchplay 2023: Darts predictions, betting tips and preview for the Sky Sports-televised major at the Winter Gardens in Blackpool
The Sky Sports-televised World Matchplay gets under way this weekend and our Chris Hammer brings you his quarter-by-quarter preview and tips.
Darts betting tips: World Matchplay
1pt Jonny Clayton to win the World Matchplay at 20/1 (General)
1pt Dirk van Duijvenbode to win the World Matchplay at 25/1 (Sky Bet, Betfred)
1pt James Wade to win quarter one at 10/1 (bet365, Coral, Boylesports)
1pt Dave Chisnall to win quarter two at 13/2 (BetVictor)
1pt Ross Smith to win quarter three at 10/1 (Sky Bet, BetVictor)
We've had three Ashes Tests and Wimbledon is nearly over but the summer of sport can't truly begin until the first dart of the World Matchplay is thrown at the Winter Gardens in Blackpool on Saturday night.
Only 11 different players have won the PDC's second-longest running major thanks largely to Phil Taylor winning an astonishing 16 of his 17 finals down the years and six of them are in this year's field of 32: Michael van Gerwen, James Wade, Gary Anderson, Peter Wright, Dimitri Van den Bergh and Rob Cross.
But will we see a new champion crowned in the 30th staging of this iconic event?
World Matchplay: Quarter One
- (1) Michael Smith v Steve Beaton
- (16) James Wade v Chris Dobey
- (8) Danny Noppert v Martin Schindler
- (9) Nathan Aspinall v Krzysztof Ratajski
Sky Bet odds to win the quarter: Smith 10/11, Aspinall 5/1, Noppert 13/2, Wade 15/2, Dobey 11/1, Ratajski 11/1, Schindler 14/1, Beaton 125/1
Michael Smith heads to Blackpool bidding to become just the fourth player in history to possess World Matchplay and World Championship trophies at the same time behind Phil Taylor, Michael van Gerwen and Peter Wright - and just the sixth player ever to have ever won both in their careers, with Rob Cross and Gary Anderson being the others.
That would be remarkable considering this time last year he still hadn't won his maiden major trophy - but on current seasonal form and statistics, he's perhaps not 'the one' to beat.
Nevertheless, Bully Boy has picked up a couple of titles since April and in his most recent outing on the European Tour he produced a 111 average against Josh Rock en route to the quarter-finals.
His overall seasonal average of 95.89 may only be the 11th best in the 32-player field but we know what standard he can produce when it really matters on the biggest stages and more importantly he has the belief and confidence to finally get the job done here having previously been a runner-up in 2019.
However, this is still a very awkward quarter of the draw with Danny Noppert or Nathan Aspinall potentially lurking in the last eight - but before then he may have to come up against a resurgent James Wade in round two.
The Machine is preparing for his 18th successive appearance at the Winter Gardens which is remarkable feat considering how hard it is to qualify for this event and although he's not threatened to go the distance here in recent years, he has reached the final six times before, including his triumphant campaign of 2007.
Wade's seasonal average of 95.23 is well over a point higher than it was this time last year and, more importantly, it continues to climb after a sustained two-week period of highly impressive performances.
In his last 11 matches, he's rattled in averages of 101, 107, 105 and 109 while he's only gone below 96 on one occasion. For Wade this is a significant improvement and not what you'd usually expect from him. If he can keep this level going for a little while longer then don't be surprised to see him challenging at the business end of the tournament.
World Matchplay: Quarter Two
- (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
Sky Bet odds to win the quarter: Price 11/10, Cross 9/2, Chisnall 11/2, Anderson 13/2, Cullen 14/1, De Decker 20/1, Gurney 25/1, Bunting 125/1
If you were told this quarter includes the player with the highest overall seasonal average, you wouldn't be surprised. It's Gerwyn Price with a phenomenal 99.18.
But what if you were told the second highest is also in this quarter...and unseeded!
Having plummeting out of the world's top 20 at the end of a highly disappointing 2022 that prompted many fans to question whether Gary Anderson would soon be contemplating his retirement, the Flying Scotsman has rolled back the years in sensational fashion - and Sporting Life may have had something to do with it.
Back in March, Paul Nicholson wrote a column about the 'worst losers in darts' and named Anderson as one of them, albeit extremely constructively! Just days later, he went on to win his first PDC ranking event in three years and then said he was fired up by the aforementioned article.
He almost doubled his tally for the season last month only to lose a last-leg decider to Michael Smith but that hasn't taken the shine off a resurgence that has seen him average over 100 for fun, just like the good old days.
Losing his Premier League spot was also a blessing in disguise on his schedule and he seems to be enjoying the game a lot more now - to the extent that he's even returned to European Tour action for the first time in many years.
His seasonal average of 98.02 puts him ahead of Luke Humphries, Michael van Gerwen and Josh Rock in the top five so now it's just a case of whether he can maintain these standard in the longer format during a long and tiring week in Blackpool.
No seeded player wanted to draw Anderson but he won't be happy to have ended up with a tie against Dave Chisnall either.
Chizzy has won two European Tour titles earlier this season as well as reaching another final back in May while he also finished runner-up to Humphries in a Players Championship tournament just days ago, losing 8-7.
He's averaged over 100 six times in his last eight matches and he couldn't be much hotter heading to his most local major.
I'd expect whoever comes through this crowd pleasing contest to end up in the quarter-final and could well give Price a real run for his money.
World Matchplay: Quarter Three
- (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
Sky Bet odds to win the quarter: Wright 11/4, Clayton 3/1, Van den Bergh 9/2, Searle 8/1, Clemens 10/1, Smith 10/1, Gilding 12/1, Van Barneveld 12/1
There aren't many darts fans and pundits predicting the World Matchplay champion will come from this quarter.
Jonny Clayton and Peter Wright are priced at around 20/1 to lift the Phil Taylor Trophy but that could be considered quite disrespectful considering their lofty world rankings and the fact they've both picked up two titles each this season.
That said, Snakebite's seasonal average of 93.87 is among the lowest in the 32-player field and despite helping Anderson reach the World Cup of Darts final, his individual performances since the start of June have been worrying, with plenty of averages in the 80s.
Clayton, by contrast, has been remarkably consistent in recent months and recently became the first player in the Dart Connect era to average over 90 in 50 successive matches. Typically, as soon as the Ferret had brought up the half century, he promptly slumped to 89 in a 6-0 thumping of Danny Noppert on Tuesday before getting back up to 99 during a defeat to Jose de Sousa in his final match before Blackpool - so he will be more dangerous than the odds suggest.
However, I feel Ross Smith could be an outsider worth following in this quarter.
The European champion hasn't exactly set the world alight this season following his maiden breakthrough towards the end of 2022 but he did pick up a Players Championship title against Anderson back in March and is second only to Dirk van Duijvenbode for 180 hitting in 2023.
Average-wise, he's among the top 12 in the field and if he can get his first win on the Winter Gardens stage against a vulnerable Dimitri Van den Bergh in the opening round and get this Blackpool crowd bouncing to his maximums, then he could be Clayton's biggest threat.
While I feel the Welshman is worth a small flutter in the outright market given his consistent quality, a saver on Smith in the quarter betting at such a big price also has appeal.
World Matchplay: Quarter Four
- (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
Sky Bet odds to win the quarter: MVG 6/5, Humphries 7/2, Rock 9/2, Van Duijvenbode 6/1, Heta 12/1, De Sousa 33/1, Huybrechts 33/1, Dolan 100/1
This really has to go down as the quarter of death considering five of these players have won 11 titles between them this season.
It's the most successful quarter of the entire draw and the third favourite to come through it - Josh Rock - hasn't won anything in 2023!
The confident Northern Irish sensation won't be fazed about making his Blackpool debut in just his second full season on the PDC circuit and despite his lack of titles this year, he has reached three finals and boasts the fifth highest average in the whole field.
Luke Humphries and Damon Heta both head into the tournament high on confidence having won the most recent two Players Championship events while Michael van Gerwen defied his recent discomfort by storming to glory at the Poland Darts Masters with an average of 113.
There are still question marks whether MVG, who will undergo more surgery after the World Matchplay, can maintain consistent high levels throughout such a long and draining week in Blackpool but nobody would be shocked to see him defend this title.
Humphries will be regarded as MVG's chief threat in this tough quarter having also picked up a European Tour title recently - not to mention the fact his seasonal average of 97.84 puts him third behind Price and Anderson - although it's the player who he beat so dramatically to win that event who is on my radar.
Dirk van Duijvenbode was on the brink of his first stage crown against Humphries in Trier before agonisingly missing four match darts in an 8-7 defeat and you'd like to think the pair will collide again in the second round in Blackpool.
The Dutchman, who has won three Players Championship titles this season, couldn't quite respond from the heartache in style during this week's double-header but he did win six of his eight matches and averaged over 100 in four of them.
His seasonal average of 96.35 is firmly in the top 10 and he will be looking forward to another Winter Gardens campaign having reached the quarter-finals 12 months ago.
It's a brutal quarter, but whoever comes through it will be battle hardened to cope with anyone in the rest of what promises to be a thrilling week.
World Matchplay: Past Finals
- 1994 - Larry Butler 16-12 Dennis Priestley
- 1995 - Phil Taylor 16-11 Dennis Priestley
- 1996 - Peter Evison 16-14 Dennis Priestley
- 1997 - Phil Taylor 16-11 Alan Warriner
- 1998 - Rod Harrington 19-17 Ronnie Baxter
- 1999 - Rod Harrington 19-17 Peter Manley
- 2000 - Phil Taylor 18-12 Alan Warriner
- 2001 - Phil Taylor 18-10 Richie Burnett
- 2002 - Phil Taylor 18-16 John Part
- 2003 - Phil Taylor 18-12 Wayne Mardle
- 2004 - Phil Taylor 18-8 Mark Dudbridge
- 2005 - Colin Lloyd 18-12 John Part
- 2006 - Phil Taylor 18-9 James Wade
- 2007 - James Wade 18-7 Terry Jenkins
- 2008 - Phil Taylor 18-11 James Wade
- 2009 - Phil Taylor 18-4 Terry Jenkins
- 2010 - Phil Taylor 18-12 Raymond van Barneveld
- 2011 - Phil Taylor 18-8 James Wade
- 2012 - Phil Taylor 18-15 James Wade
- 2013 - Phil Taylor 18-13 Adrian Lewis
- 2014 - Phil Taylor 18-9 Michael van Gerwen
- 2015 - Michael van Gerwen 18-12 James Wade
- 2016 - Michael van Gerwen 18-10 Phil Taylor
- 2017 - Phil Taylor 18-8 Peter Wright
- 2018 - Gary Anderson 21-19 Mensur Suljovic
- 2019 - Rob Cross 18-13 Michael Smith
- 2020 - Dimitri Van den Bergh 18-10 Gary Anderson
- 2021 - Peter Wright 18-9 Dimitri Van den Bergh
- 2022 - Michael van Gerwen 18-14 Gerwyn Price
World Matchplay Most Titles
- Phil Taylor - 16
- Michael van Gerwen - 3
- Rod Harrington - 2
- Peter Wright - 1
- Dimitri Van den Bergh - 1
- Rob Cross - 1
- Gary Anderson - 1
- Larry Butler - 1
- Peter Evison - 1
- Colin Lloyd - 1
- James Wade - 1
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