2018 World Matchplay
| 2018 BetVictor World Matchplay | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Tournament information | |||
| Dates | 21–29 July 2018 | ||
| Venue | Winter Gardens | ||
| Location | Blackpool, England | ||
| Organisation(s) | Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) | ||
| Format | Legs | ||
| Prize fund | £500,000 | ||
| Winner's share | £115,000 | ||
| Nine-dart finish | Gary Anderson | ||
| High checkout | 170 Joe Cullen (x2) Peter Wright | ||
| Champion(s) | |||
| Scotland Gary Anderson | |||
| |||
The 2018 BetVictor World Matchplay was the 25th annual staging of the World Matchplay, organised by the Professional Darts Corporation. The tournament took place at the Winter Gardens, Blackpool, from 21–29 July 2018.
Phil Taylor was the defending champion, after defeating Peter Wright 18–8 in the 2017 final to claim his 16th World Matchplay title, but he retired following the 2018 PDC World Darts Championship final. For the first time, the winner of the tournament, (Gary Anderson) received the Phil Taylor Trophy, which was renamed in his honour in January 2018.[1]
Gary Anderson hit a nine dart finish in the fourth leg of his quarter-final match against Joe Cullen, which was the seventh nine-dart finish in the World Matchplay and the first since 2014. Anderson overcame Cullen 19–17, facing two match darts against him at 15–14 to Cullen.
Anderson went on to win his first World Matchplay title, defeating Mensur Suljović, 21–19 after extra time in the longest final in the tournament's history.[2]
The first round match between Kim Huybrechts and John Henderson made a piece of World Matchplay history, as it was the first time that a match was won by a single leg since the 1997 3rd place play-off. Huybrechts won the match 13–12 in a sudden-death leg, the first time the rule had been needed since it was introduced in 2013.
For the first time in World Matchplay history, no Englishmen progressed into the semi-finals, resulting in a first Matchplay final without an English player.
Prize money
[edit | edit source]The prize fund remained at £500,000, with the winner's earnings being £115,000. Gary Anderson received £45,000 for hitting a nine-dart finish in his quarter-final against Joe Cullen.
| Position (no. of players) | Prize money (Total: £500,000) | |
|---|---|---|
| Winner | (1) | £115,000 |
| Runner-up | (1) | £55,000 |
| Semi-finalists | (2) | £30,000 |
| Quarter-finalists | (4) | £17,500 |
| Second round | (8) | £11,000 |
| First round | (16) | £7,000 |
| Nine-dart finish | (1) | £45,000 |
Format
[edit | edit source]In previous stagings of the event all games had to be won by two clear legs with no sudden-death legs. However, after consulting the host broadcaster Sky Sports in 2013, the PDC decided that games will now only proceed for a maximum of six extra legs before a tie-break leg is required. For example, in a best of 19 legs first round match, if the score reaches 12–12 then the 25th leg will be the decider.
Qualification
[edit | edit source]The top 16 players on the PDC Order of Merit as of 2 July 2018 were seeded for the tournament. The top 16 players on the ProTour Order of Merit not to have already qualified were unseeded.
The following players qualified for the tournament:
Draw
[edit | edit source]Statistics
[edit | edit source]| Player | Eliminated | Played | Legs Won | Legs Lost | 100+ | 140+ | 180s | High checkout | 3-dart average | Checkout success |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Scotland Gary Anderson | Winner | 5 | 78 | 64 | 169 | 96 | 52 | 152 | 100.88 | 36.45% |
| Austria Mensur Suljović | Final | 5 | 73 | 58 | 173 | 108 | 35 | 151 | 97.16 | 40.56% |
| Netherlands Jeffrey de Zwaan | Semi-finals | 4 | 49 | 40 | 106 | 68 | 23 | 140 | 99.12 | 42.86% |
| Scotland Peter Wright | Semi-finals | 4 | 50 | 32 | 108 | 73 | 11 | 170 | 88.68 | 37.14% |
| England Dave Chisnall | Quarter-finals | 3 | 29 | 28 | 58 | 38 | 21 | 148 | 99.05 | 47.06% |
| Australia Simon Whitlock | Quarter-finals | 3 | 26 | 25 | 58 | 26 | 15 | 132 | 96.14 | 38.46% |
| England Darren Webster | Quarter-finals | 3 | 31 | 30 | 89 | 45 | 11 | 138 | 95.70 | 41.67% |
| England Joe Cullen | Quarter-finals | 3 | 38 | 25 | 77 | 39 | 10 | 170 | 95.26 | 41.46% |
| England Adrian Lewis | Second round | 2 | 19 | 19 | 44 | 16 | 6 | 121 | 103.86 | 40.91% |
| England Rob Cross | Second round | 2 | 18 | 19 | 39 | 28 | 9 | 156 | 98.81 | 27.59% |
| England Michael Smith | Second round | 2 | 22 | 20 | 35 | 24 | 14 | 110 | 98.11 | 40.00% |
| Belgium Kim Huybrechts | Second round | 2 | 16 | 23 | 40 | 27 | 12 | 156 | 96.16 | 33.33% |
| Netherlands Raymond van Barneveld | Second round | 2 | 19 | 17 | 39 | 15 | 9 | 130 | 95.29 | 69.23% |
| England Ian White | Second round | 2 | 18 | 18 | 44 | 22 | 12 | 154 | 93.51 | 50.00% |
| England James Wade | Second round | 2 | 19 | 21 | 64 | 29 | 4 | 149 | 90.88 | 24.14% |
| Northern Ireland Daryl Gurney | Second round | 2 | 15 | 21 | 52 | 16 | 4 | 100 | 87.69 | 25.00% |
| Netherlands Michael van Gerwen | First round | 1 | 6 | 10 | 16 | 8 | 6 | 100 | 97.88 | 35.29% |
| England Mervyn King | First round | 1 | 5 | 10 | 15 | 9 | 5 | 72 | 91.85 | 41.67% |
| England Steve West | First round | 1 | 10 | 12 | 23 | 18 | 6 | 108 | 91.79 | 31.25% |
| Scotland John Henderson | First round | 1 | 12 | 13 | 30 | 13 | 3 | 114 | 91.00 | 52.17% |
| Republic of Ireland Steve Lennon | First round | 1 | 6 | 10 | 24 | 10 | 2 | 124 | 91.00 | 37.50% |
| England Steve Beaton | First round | 1 | 6 | 10 | 24 | 11 | 1 | 120 | 90.92 | 46.15% |
| Australia Kyle Anderson | First round | 1 | 6 | 10 | 14 | 9 | 5 | 90 | 90.69 | 33.33% |
| Germany Max Hopp | First round | 1 | 7 | 10 | 23 | 16 | 1 | 80 | 90.51 | 46.67% |
| Wales Gerwyn Price | First round | 1 | 3 | 10 | 8 | 5 | 5 | 99 | 90.23 | 23.08% |
| England James Wilson | First round | 1 | 8 | 10 | 19 | 12 | 2 | 86 | 87.72 | 44.44% |
| Netherlands Jermaine Wattimena | First round | 1 | 10 | 12 | 24 | 16 | 1 | 113 | 87.63 | 29.41% |
| England Stephen Bunting | First round | 1 | 7 | 10 | 8 | 11 | 3 | 110 | 86.21 | 46.67% |
| Netherlands Jelle Klaasen | First round | 1 | 5 | 10 | 13 | 7 | 1 | 40 | 84.36 | 31.25% |
| Wales Jonny Clayton | First round | 1 | 6 | 10 | 15 | 8 | 3 | 154 | 84.06 | 54.55% |
| England Richard North | First round | 1 | 2 | 10 | 8 | 10 | 1 | 80 | 80.40 | 50.00% |
| England Keegan Brown | First round | 1 | 4 | 10 | 14 | 3 | 1 | 109 | 76.62 | 33.33% |
Source: Match reports from the draw.
References
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