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PDC Darts World Matchplay Odds

The PDC's World Matchplay is one of the most reputable tournaments in the sport of Darts, organised by the Professional Darts Corporation. 32 players qualify for the tournament, the top 16 players are added by Order of Merit and then the 16 players who are closest but don't quite make the top 16 are unseeded. Basically meaning a player in the top 16 will face a player ranked 17th-32rd in the first round.

Last year, in the 16 opening round matches, 11 were won by the seeded player and five were won by the unseeded player. However, it was 9th seed Nathan Aspinall who won the tournament overall, beating Jonny Clayton 18-6 in the final. This was one of the most one-sided finals in the history of the event but came as a shock as neither competitor was high in the World Matchplay betting odds at the start of the tournament.

Only Terry Jenkins has picked up fewer legs in a final than Clayton in 2023 and on that occasion, Jenkins was against Phil Taylor who put forward the second best average in a final.

PDC Darts World Matchplay Format

In the first round of the World Matchplay, the 16 seeded competitors will face the 16 unseeded competitors as the competition goes from 32 players to 16.

The first round of the tournament is a first to 10 legs match, the number of legs required to win increases to 11 for the second round.

The first real test of endurance comes in the form of the quarter-finals as the number of legs required to win increases to 16 and eventually raises to 18 for the final.

In 2018, the tournament was renamed as the Phil Taylor Trophy - to honour the man who is regarded as Darts Greatest Ever Player.

PDC Darts World Matchplay Winners

The competition is currently on a run of seven different winners in seven different years, the previous record was three different winners in three years. Such is the dominance of Phil Taylor in this event. 'The Power' made 17 finals, winning 16 of them - with Michael Van Gerwen the only person to beat Taylor in a final.

Nine Dart Finishes at the PDC World Matchplay

Between 2010 and 2014, we saw a spell of 9 dart finishes in this event but since there have been just two in 10 years with Gary Anderson hitting one against Joe Cullen in 2018 and Gerwyn Price hitting one against Danny Noppert in the 2022 Semi-Finals.

Phil Taylor Records at the World Matchplay

Phil Taylor is the only player to hit multiple nine-darters at the event, hitting one in 2002 against Chris Mason and repeating that feat in 2014 against Michael Smith.

Taylor has the longest unbeaten run in any PDC event at this competition, winning 38 matches in a row between 2008 and 2015, it was James Wade who finally ended the streak of Phil Taylor in the 2015 semi-finals.

Nobody beat Phil Taylor more than once at the World Matchplay - Bob Anderson, Peter Evison, Ronnie Baxter, Peter Manley, John Part, Terry Jenkins, James Wade and Michael Van Gerwen all hold victories over Taylor but nobody completed this feat more than once.

After beating Phil Taylor, only one player failed to make the final of the event, that was Bob Anderson in 1994.