2023 World Matchplay

Darts tournamentTemplate:SHORTDESC:Darts tournament
The **2023 Betfred World Matchplay** was the 30th annual staging of the World Matchplay, organised by the Professional Darts Corporation. The tournament took place at the Winter Gardens, Blackpool, from 15–23 July 2023.

Michael van Gerwen was the defending champion after winning his third World Matchplay title, defeating Gerwyn Price 18–14 in the 2022 final, but he became only the second defending champion in the history of the Matchplay to lose in the first round the following year, when he lost 10–7 to Brendan Dolan.

Nathan Aspinall won his first World Matchplay title (and his second PDC major) by defeating Jonny Clayton 18–6 in the final.

This was the first World Matchplay where none of the top 4 seeds made the quarter-finals, with Michael Smith, Peter Wright, Michael van Gerwen and Gerwyn Price all knocked out before the end of the second round.

The 2023 Women's World Matchplay will also take place during the event, being held on 23 July, hours before the main final.

## Prize money

The prize fund is expected to remain £800,000, with £200,000 going to the winner.

 **First round** | (16) | £10,000

## Format

All games have to be won by two clear legs, with a game being extended if necessary for a maximum of six extra legs before a tie-break leg is required. For example, in a first to 10 legs first round match, if the score reaches 12–12 then the 25th leg will be the decider.

The first round is played first to 10 legs, second round first to 11 legs, quarter-finals first to 16 legs, semi-finals first to 17 legs and final first to 18 legs.

## Qualification

The top 16 players on the PDC Order of Merit at the cut-off point on 2023 European Darts Matchplay were seeded for the tournament. The top 16 players on the ProTour Order of Merit, not to have already qualified on the cut-off date were unseeded.

Josh Rock and Mike De Decker made their debuts in the tournament.

The following players qualified for the tournament:

2. Peter Wright  *(Second round)*
3. Michael van Gerwen  *(First round)*
4. Gerwyn Price  *(Second round)*
5. Rob Cross  *(First round)*
6. Luke Humphries  *(Semi-finals)*
7. Jonny Clayton  *(Runner-up)*
8. Danny Noppert  *(Second round)*
9. **Nathan Aspinall**  **(Champion)**
10. Dimitri Van den Bergh  *(Second round)*
11. Dirk van Duijvenbode  *(Second round)*
12. Dave Chisnall  *(First round)*
13. Joe Cullen  *(Semi-finals)*
14. Damon Heta  *(Quarter-finals)*
15. Ryan Searle  *(Quarter-finals)*
16. James Wade  *(First round)*
2. Martin Schindler  *(First round)*
3. Ross Smith  *(First round)*
4. Krzysztof Ratajski  *(First round)*
5. José de Sousa  *(First round)*
6. Andrew Gilding  *(First round)*
7. Gary Anderson  *(Second round)*
8. Stephen Bunting  *(First round)*
9. Gabriel Clemens  *(First round)*
10. Chris Dobey  *(Quarter-finals)*
11. Raymond van Barneveld  *(First round)*
12. Daryl Gurney  *(Quarter-finals)*
13. Mike De Decker  *(First round)*
14. Steve Beaton  *(First round)*
15. Brendan Dolan  *(Second round)*
16. Kim Huybrechts  *(First round)*

## Draw

The draw took place on 4 July and was drawn by Colin Lloyd.

## References

1. ↑ Vintage Van Gerwen stuns Price to claim World Matchplay hat-trick. *PDC.tv* (25 July 2022). Retrieved on July 25, 2022.
2. ↑ World Matchplay Final: Michael van Gerwen beats Gerwyn Price at the Winter Gardens in Blackpool. *SKY Sports* (24 July 2022). Retrieved on July 27, 2022.
3. ↑ Awesome Aspinall storms to Betfred World Matchplay title. *PDC.tv* (23 July 2023). Retrieved on July 23, 2023.
4. ↑ Increased prize funds confirmed for PDC televised events (en).
5. ↑ Duo seal Betfred World Matchplay debuts as Blackpool field confirmed. *PDC.tv* (2 July 2023). Retrieved on July 2, 2023.
6. ↑ 2023 Betfred World Matchplay draw. *PDC.tv* (4 July 2023). Retrieved on July 4, 2023.