Live Darts on Friday | World Matchplay 2026 Day Seven Preview and Order of Play
The quarter-final action continues at the 2026 World Matchplay in Blackpool on Friday with four former major winners vying to keep their seaside dreams alive.
Reigning champion Luke Littler and Dutch juggernaut Dirk van Duijvenbode secured their place in Saturday’s semi-finals last night, now a quartet of decorated stars do battle for the right to join them.
James Wade is the only former World Matchplay champion left standing in the bottom half of the draw, and the 2007 winner comes up against Gian van Veen in a repeat of their meeting at the same stage last year.
Wade prevailed 16-13 en route to reaching his seventh final in Blackpool – where he ultimately came up short at the hands of Littler.
The left-hander is featuring in a record-extending 21st consecutive World Matchplay campaign, having reached the final in five of his first seven appearances.
Wade, who has also finished runner-up at this year’s UK Open, has picked up a Players Championship title and opened up with a solid 10-7 success over Jermaine Wattimena on Sunday, before going on to defeat Ryan Searle 11-8 with a 99.8 average.
Van Veen exacted his revenge on Wade in the quarter-finals of this year’s World Masters and will be out to break new ground in Blackpool by reaching the semi-finals for the first time.
The world number three finished second from bottom in his debut Premier League campaign but bounced back with a run to the final of the World Cup alongside Van Gerwen for the Netherlands.
Van Veen saw off Krzysztof Ratajski 10-6 in the opening round before coming through a tie break thriller to deny his Dutch compatriot Wessel Nijman 14-12 in the Last 16.
Gerwyn Price, runner-up here in 2022, faces a showdown with former European Champion Ross Smith.
Price famously landed a nine-darter here en route to the final four years ago and extended his run of having not lost in the opening round at the Winter Gardens since 2019 by scraping past Martin Schindler in a tie break on Monday.
The Welshman then emphatically dispatched 2019 champion Rob Cross 11-5 with a 97.8 average to reach the quarter-finals for the fifth time.
Semi-finalist in this year’s World Masters and UK Open, Price also reached the Premier League play-offs and has picked up a title on both the European Tour and ProTour.
Smith, meanwhile, defied a 104 average from Dutch debutant Kevin Doets to prevail in a high quality first round tie, but received a walkover in Round Two after Cameron Menzies was forced to withdraw on medical grounds after taking ill early in the contest.
Smith finds himself into the quarter-finals for the second time in three years and knows what it takes to beat Price on this stage, having done so in the Last 16 two years ago.
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. For example, in a first to 16 quarter-final match, if the score reaches 15-15 then the 37th leg will be sudden death.
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World Matchplay 2026 Day Seven Schedule of Play
Friday July 24
Quarter-Finals
8pm-11pm
Ross Smith v Gerwyn Price
Gian van Veen v James Wade
