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Nathan Aspinall survives opening night scare at the World Matchplay

Betfred World Matchplay 2024 | Day One Preview and Order of Play

Jamie Shaw in World Matchplay 13 Jul 2024

Humphries and Pietreczko face off (Photo by PDC)

The 2024 Betfred World Matchplay begins in Blackpool on Saturday, with the defending champion and three World Champions among a stellar line-up.

The 31st staging of the sport’s summer showpiece will see 32 players competing for an £800,000 prize fund at the iconic Winter Gardens from July 13-21.

The opening night sees reigning champion Nathan Aspinall launch the defence of his title with a tie against debutant Luke Woodhouse.

Aspinall, who thrashed Jonny Clayton 18-6 in last year’s final, l is bidding to become only the fourth player to successfully retain the Betfred World Matchplay title, after Phil Taylor, Rod Harrington and Michael van Gerwen.

The Asp, who narrowly missed out on a place in the Premier League play-offs for the second successive year, is making his sixth World Matchplay appearance and has reached at least the quarter-final stage in each of his last three.

Woodhouse is one of five debutants in this year’s competition after securing the 14th of 16 ProTour Order of Merit places.

The Bewdley ace reached the semi-finals of a Players Championship event in April and also enjoyed a fine run to the Last 16 of the UK Open a month earlier.

The opening match of the tournament sees former World Champion Gerwyn Price take on two-time major winner Daryl Gurney.

Price is defending runner-up prize money from this event two years ago and returns for his tenth consecutive World Matchplay campaign as he looks to get his hands on the Phil Taylor trophy for the first time.

The Welshman endured a Premier League campaign to forget and has pulled out of a number of events this season, including The Masters and the recent World Cup, but did pick up the Nordic Masters title last month as well as reaching the final of the International Open.

Price notably defeated Gurney by five sets to four in the quarter-finals of the 2021 World Championship en route to glory at Ally Pally and the pair have played out a number of fiery encounters over the past decade.

Gurney has twice made it to the semi-finals in Blackpool (2017 and 2019) and enjoyed a resurgent run to the Last Eight 12 months ago with victories over former champions Rob Cross and Gary Anderson along the way.

The Northern Irishman, world ranked 27, missed out on a place in the recent World Cup and will be determined to prove he is still a force to be reckoned with on the televised stage as he faces his former foe.

Another stand-out tie sees world number one and World Champion Luke Humphries start his bid for a maiden Matchplay crown against a familiar opponent in Ricardo Pietreczko.

The pair notably met in the World Championship last December as ‘Cool Hand’ came from 3-1 down to deny the German in a decisive seventh set – a pivotal moment on his way to capturing the world title.

Humphries has racked up four major televised ranking titles since last October and added the World Cup to his haul last month on his debut for England alongside Michael Smith.

Runner-up in the UK Open and Premier League, Humphries is making only his fourth World Matchplay appearance, with his best run to date coming 12 months ago when he reached the semi-finals – only to be denied 17-15 by Clayton in an epic.

In contrast, Pietreczko has struggled for form throughout the year despite starting brightly by reaching the semi-finals of the Belgian Darts Open in February.

The enigmatic German secured his Matchplay debut largely thanks to his sensational German Darts Championship triumph last October – where he defeated the likes of Stephen Bunting, Michael van Gerwen and Peter Wright along the way.

Last year’s runner-up Clayton commences his bid to go one better when he meets five-time World Champion Raymond van Barneveld.

Clayton had won just one match in his five previous Matchplay appearances but finally produced his brilliant best on the Winter Gardens stage 12 months ago despite tragic family circumstances.

The tenacious Welshman has struggled for consistency in front of the TV cameras since, but did reach the Last 16 of the UK Open and was runner-up in May’s Dutch Darts Championship.

The Ferret faces a stalwart of the sport in Van Barneveld – who is making his 14th World Matchplay appearance at the age of 57.

However, Barney’s record in Blackpool is somewhat below-par, with just one final appearance (2010) to his name and no runs beyond the Second Round in his last eight attempts.

The Dutch darting icon picked up his second Players Championship title in March since coming out of retirement and will be determined to embark on an overdue run in Blackpool.

The action gets under way from 7.30pm BST, with First Round matches to be contested over the best of 19 legs.

Matches will be extended if necessary for a maximum of six extra legs before a sudden death leg is required. For example, in a first to ten First Round match, if the score reaches 12-12 then the 25th leg will be the sudden death decider.

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Betfred World Matchplay 2024 Day One Schedule

Saturday July 13

First Round

7.30pm-11.30pm
Gerwyn Price v Daryl Gurney
Jonny Clayton v Raymond van Barneveld
Luke Humphries v Ricardo Pietreczko
Nathan Aspinall v Luke Woodhouse

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