Live Darts on Friday | World Matchplay 2025 Day Seven Preview and Order of Play
The quarter-finals draw to a close at the 2025 Betfred World Matchplay on Friday as four decorated stars battle it out in Blackpool.
Day Six saw 2007 champion James Wade book his place in a tenth World Matchplay semi-final in his 20th appearance, while 2023 runner-up Jonny Clayton sealed his spot in the Last Four for the second time.
Three of the sport’s current hottest properties and a new cult hero now collide in the bottom half of the draw for the right to join Wade and Clayton in Saturday’s semis.
The opening fixture of the evening sees reigning World Champion Luke Littler continue his title tilt with a clash against former UK Open champion Andrew Gilding.
The pair have met twice in televised competition, with Littler prevailing in his landmark debut World Championship campaign in 2023/24, before Gilding gained his revenge with a shock scalp in last October’s European Championship.
Littler is bidding to join Luke Humphries as the latest player to secure an illustrious Triple Crown alongside his World Championship and Premier League triumphs.
UK Open and Belgian Open champion this year, Littler registered his first win on the Winter Gardens stage at the expense of a helpless Ryan Searle, averaging 109 in a 10-2 demolition, before recovering from 7-2 down to deny a spirited Jermaine Wattimena 13-11 in a thrilling tie break.
The 18-year-old averaged ten points fewer in his comeback win over Wattimena, but underlined his battling qualities and nerveless temperament to remain in the running to become the youngest champion in the tournament’s history.
Gilding, meanwhile, finds himself at this stage of proceedings for the second successive year, having come through an epic tie break to deny seventh seed Damon Heta 12-10 in Round One, before brushing aside Dirk van Duijvenbode 11-5 with a second consecutive ton-plus average.
The 54-year-old, runner-up in this year’s European Darts Grand Prix, is appearing in his fifth major ranking quarter-final since 2015 but faces a formidable task over the extended format if he is to defy the odds once more.
A mouth-watering climax to the quarter-finals then sees 2022 runner-up Gerwyn Price take on newly-crowned World Cup of Darts winner Josh Rock.
The pair were on opposite sides in last month’s World Cup final in Frankfurt as Rock and Daryl Gurney narrowly prevailed in a deciding leg to claim the crown for Northern Ireland.
Price remains in a blistering vein of form having claimed the Baltic Sea Darts Open title last weekend to follow on from the Poland Darts Masters crown a week earlier.
The 2021 World Champion came through a fiery clash with rival Daryl Gurney in his opener, averaging 100.2 in a 10-7 victory which ended in a tense altercation between the pair on stage.
The 11th seed then sealed an 11-3 demolition of Chris Dobey with a sensational 108.7 average to reach the last eight in Blackpool for the fourth time.
Rock had failed to win a match in either of his two previous visits to the Winter Gardens, but made it third time lucky by defeating Ross Smith 10-5 with a 104.3 average.
The 24-year-old then hit back from 5-1 down to deny three-time champion Michael van Gerwen 13-11 in a pulsating tie break for a place in only his third major ranking quarter-final.
The Antrim ace is now provisionally ranked back among the world’s top 16 and would climb as high as 11th with victory over The Iceman.
The action gets under way from 8pm BST, with Quarter-Final matches to be contested over the best of 31 legs.
Matches will be extended if necessary for a maximum of six extra legs before a sudden death leg is required.
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Betfred World Matchplay 2025 Day Seven Schedule
Friday July 25
Quarter-Finals
8pm-11pm
Luke Littler v Andrew Gilding
Josh Rock v Gerwyn Price
