Live Darts on Thursday | World Matchplay 2025 Day Six Preview and Order of Play
The quarter-final action gets under way at the 2025 World Matchplay on Thursday as four in-form stars battle it out in Blackpool.
Despite a raft of shock early exits, three of the top five seeds remain standing in the sport’s second most prestigious major, alongside a former winner of this title and a former PDC World Champion.
The stakes and format now rise significantly at the Winter Gardens, with ties from the top half of the draw taking centre stage on Thursday night.
James Wade is the only former Betfred World Matchplay champion still standing in the competition, and the 2007 winner looks to continue his love affair with the Empress Ballroom stage when he faces reigning World Youth Champion Gian Van Veen.
Wade boasts an incredible record of longevity in this event, having finished runner-up on debut in 2006 before lifting the trophy a year later and going on to reach a further four finals.
The 42-year-old is making his 20th consecutive appearance in the World Matchplay, with his run to last year’s semi-finals sparking a superb spell of resurgence which has seen him reach the UK Open final and return to the winner’s circle on the ProTour in 2025.
The left-hander produced, statistically, his best-ever display in this event when he thrashed Joe Cullen 10-3 with a 104.4 average in Round One, before following up with a 102.5 average in an 11-5 dismantling of Wessel Nijman.
Van Veen, meanwhile, is bidding to reach only his second major ranking semi-final, following on from the 2023 European Championship – where he was denied 11-9 by Wade in Dortmund.
The 23-year-old pulled off a sensational 10-8 victory to dethrone defending champion Luke Humphries on opening night before sweeping aside his World Cup team-mate Danny Noppert 11-5 in the Last 16.
Victory here would put ‘The Giant’ to the brink of a place in the world’s top 16 for the first time in his young career.
The second match of the evening sees fourth seed Stephen Bunting come up against fifth seed Jonny Clayton.
Bunting has banished his below-par recent record in this tournament to reach his first quarter-final here since 2019 courtesy of narrow wins over Ryan Joyce and Gary Anderson.
The former Masters champion, twice a World Series event winner this year, is looking to break new ground in Blackpool, in what is his 11th World Matchplay appearance.
Clayton has enjoyed a terrific season so far, finishing runner-up in both the World Masters and World Cup of Darts, while also claiming the Dutch Championship title and a Players Championship title.
The Welshman is defending £100,000 in prize money from his run to the final two years ago and kicked off his campaign with a high quality 10-7 win over Martin Schindler, before battling past World Grand Prix champion Mike De Decker 11-8 on Tuesday night.
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.
WATCH THE WORLD MATCHPLAY STREAMED LIVE HERE
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Betfred World Matchplay 2025 Day Six Schedule
Thursday July 24
Quarter-Finals
8pm-11pm
Gian van Veen v James Wade
Stephen Bunting v Jonny Clayton
