2014 BetVictor World Matchplay

Posted: 17.07.14 in Tournament Analysis Blog category

We have a PDC televised tournament on the horizon! It's The World Matchplay from Blackpool

The World Matchplay in Blackpool is always a significant date on the darts calendar. It has always been the natural break between the first and second half of the darting year. Mind you that appears to be at an end. The PDC’s relentless pursuit of aiding the globalisation of darts has put pay to that.

For the darts industry August was always the time to go on holiday and get ready for September when the darts world awoke from its summer slumber. August is now busy but only for Barry’s chosen few mind. There are August dates in the diary for the PDC in Singapore, Perth and Sydney. The BDO calendar is rammed too-darts really is a 12 months a year game now.

So what does the Matchplay hold for us this year? Each year everyone bangs on (including us) that this is “the” most high quality field of players-16 from the 2 year rolling order of merit who usually represent the most consistent players on the circuit and the one year order of merit. These are the current “form horses” so it is a great combination of darting talent.

That said there hasn’t been a winner of the event other than The Power since 2007! James Wade won it then. The Taylor domination is a familiar story of course and says as much about Taylor as it does about the rest of the PDC crew! But are things changing, at last?

Adrian Lewis has threatened Taylor’s dominance over the past few years as has MVG of course.  Wade has always been one of the few players over the past few years who stands up to Taylor, even if Taylor usually comes out on top. The Machine seems back on track and in a bit of form. Throw Peter Wright into the equation as well and Whitlock and Anderson have, it appears come into a bit of form too. Finally, the latest BDO intern Stephen “Bunty” Bunting is a cracking tournament player.

So what do you think, are we on the cusp of a shift in darts dominance? Is Taylor, the darts master, slowly being overtaken by his apprentice and the rest of the gang? Well let’s ask someone that knows, that group of people that are rarely wrong, the bookies.

They have MVG as favourite, he is a best price 2/1. What about his foot though? He did wittily point out that he doesn’t throw with his foot but his recent results have told a different story. He doesn’t throw with his foot by the way, what I mean is his form of late has been inconsistent. Since his Premier League final appearance in May his best result is a Players’ Championship semi-final (excluding the World Cup and the Dubai thingy).

The Power is next at 7/2. Then comes Lewis (9/1), Anderson (14/1), Wade (16/1) Barney (16/1) and Peter Wright at a generous 25/1. The other two we mentioned were Simon Whitlock, who is at 33’s and The Bullet at 40/1.

So the bookies are going for a MVG v Phil Taylor final! Hmm, I’m not so sure. I think there are sufficient blips in both MVG’s and Taylor’s current form for one of the chasing pack to take advantage.

Whether they will or not is another matter. There are some cracking games in store-the full fixture list and format is as follows:

Saturday July 19

First Round
Ian White v Terry Jenkins
Simon Whitlock v Kevin Painter
Michael van Gerwen v Steve Beaton
James Wade v Andy Smith

Sunday July 20 Afternoon Session (1pm-5pm)
First Round
Dave Chisnall v Dean Winstanley
Brendan Dolan v Richie Burnett
Robert Thornton v Paul Nicholson
Andy Hamilton v Wayne Jones

Evening Session (7pm-11pm)
First Round
Justin Pipe v Michael Smith
Wes Newton v Ronnie Baxter
Phil Taylor v Darren Webster
Raymond van Barneveld v Vincent van der Voort

Monday July 21
Evening Session (7pm-11pm)
First Round
Peter Wright v Stephen Bunting
Mervyn King v Kim Huybrechts
Adrian Lewis v Andrew Gilding
Gary Anderson v Jamie Caven

Format
First Round - Best of 19 legs
Second Round - Best of 25 legs
Quarter-Finals - Best of 31 legs
Semi-Finals - Best of 33 legs
Final - Best of 35 legs
* Each game must be won by two clear legs, with up to a maximum of five additional legs being played before the sixth "extra" leg is sudden-death. There will be no re-throw for the bull in this instance.
For example, should a First Round game (best of 19 legs) reach 12-12, then the 25th leg would be the final and deciding leg.

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