World Matchplay 2020

World Matchplay 2020
Tournament status
Tournament type	Ranking tournament
organizer	PDC
venue	Marshall Arena , Milton Keynes
Tournament dates
Defending champion	Rob Cross
Attendees	32
Opening game	18th July 2020
Endgame	July 26, 2020
Prize money (total)	£  700,000
Prize money (winner)	£ 150,000
winner	Dimitri Van den Bergh
statistics
highest finish	170 points from Gabriel Clemens Dimitri Van den Bergh
← 2019   2021 →

The World Matchplay 2020 is a major tournament in darts and was held from July 18th to 26th, 2020 by the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) for the 27th time. For the first time, the tournament was not played in the Winter Gardens in Blackpool , but in the Marshall Arena in Milton Keynes .

The defending champion was the Englishman Rob Cross . Which, however, failed in the first round against the German Gabriel Clemens .

In the final the Belgian Dimitri Van den Bergh won against the Scottish Gary Anderson with 18:10 legs. He is the first Belgian who could achieve a PDC major title. It is also the first time since 1996 that an unset player has won the World Matchplay. Van den Bergh receives the Phil Taylor Trophy, which is the third time .

Events in advance

The COVID-19 pandemic had also largely paralyzed professional darts since March 15. For a long time it was unclear how and whether the upcoming tournaments and thus also the World Matchplay should take place. With the PDC Summer Series , however, PDC tournaments were held again from July 8th. The World Matchplay was also officially confirmed on June 6, 2020. On July 1st, 2020 the PDC announced that the tournament should be held without spectators. It was also not held in the Winter Gardens in Blackpool , but in the Marshall Arena in Milton Keynes.

format

In the tournament with a total of 32 participants, which was carried out in the knockout system , each game was played in legs. Ten legs had to be won in the first round. Up until the final, the number of legs to be won increased per round, and at least 18 legs were played in the final. The important thing is that a game had to be won by two legs.

Until 2012, the World Matchplay differed from other darts tournaments in that no decision leg was scheduled. Instead, the game was played until a player was able to play a two-leg lead. This regulation was changed in 2013. The number of extra legs in which a player can bring about a decision by two legs has since been limited to five. Then a decision leg is played, if necessary, which corresponds to a sudden death .

Prize money

The prize money since the previous year was £ 700,000. These were distributed among the 32 participants as follows:

Position (number of players)		Prize money
winner	(1)	£ 150,000
finalist	(1)	£ 70,000
Semi-finalists	(2)	£ 50,000
Quarter finalists	(4)	£ 25,000
Round of 16 players	(8th)	£ 15,000
1st round loser	(16)	£ 10,000
		£ 700,000

Attendees

The field of participants in the World Matchplay consisted of the Top 16 of the PDC Order of Merit and the Top 16 of the PDC Pro Tour Order of Merit , who were not yet qualified via the Order of Merit, after the end of the PDC Summer Series on July 12th 2020.

Top 16 of the Order of Merit

1. Michael van Gerwen
2. Peter Wright
3. Gerwyn Price
4. Rob Cross
5. Michael Smith
6. Nathan Aspinall
7. Daryl Gurney
8. Gary Anderson
9. James Wade
10. Dave Chisnall
11. Ian White
12. Scale length Suljović
13. Krzysztof Ratajski
14. Adrian Lewis
15. Glen Durrant
16. Simon Whitlock

Top 16 of the Pro Tour Order of Merit

1. Joe Cullen
2. Brendan Dolan
3. José de Sousa
4. Danny Noppert
5. Jermaine Wattimena
6. Gabriel Clemens
7. Jonny Clayton
8. Jamie Hughes
9. Jeffrey de Zwaan
10. Ryan Joyce
11. Dimitri Van den Bergh
12. Justin Pipe
13. Vincent van der Voort
14. Keegan Brown
15. Steve Beaton
16. Ricky Evans

Seeding list

No. player Round reached 01. Michael van Gerwen Round of 16 02. Peter Wright Round of 16 03. Gerwyn Price 1 round 04th Rob Cross 1 round 05. Michael Smith Semifinals 06th Nathan Aspinall 1 round 07th Daryl Gurney Round of 16 08th. Gary Anderson final

No. player Round reached 09. James Wade Round of 16 10. Dave Chisnall 1 round 11. Ian White 1 round 12. Scale length Suljović Round of 16 13. Krzysztof Ratajski Quarter finals 14th Adrian Lewis Quarter finals 15th Glen Durrant Semifinals 16. Simon Whitlock Quarter finals

Results

	Round 1 July 18, 19, 20 and 21, 2020 best of 19 legs					Round of 16 July 21 and 22, 2020 best of 21 legs					Quarter-finals July 23 and 24, 2020 best of 31 legs					Semi-finals July 25, 2020 best of 33 legs					Final July 26th, 2020 best of 35 legs
	1	Michael van Gerwen 99.82	10
		Brendan Dolan 91.88	7th
						1	Michael van Gerwen 90.80	4th
						16	Simon Whitlock 98.11	11
	16	Simon Whitlock 89.96	10
		Ryan Joyce 90.11	4th
											16	Simon Whitlock 95.29	12
											8th	Gary Anderson 98.09	16
	8th	Gary Anderson 90.59	10
		Justin Pipe 87.41	5
						8th	Gary Anderson 92.91	11
						9	James Wade 93.96	8th
	9	James Wade 96.58	12 1
		Keegan Brown 99.45	10
																8th	Gary Anderson 97.99	18 1
																5	Michael Smith 93.85	16
	4th	Rob Cross 94.40	8th
		Gabriel Clemens 89.22	10
							Gabriel Clemens 96.89	10
						13	Krzysztof Ratajski 99.69	12 1
	13	Krzysztof Ratajski 107.53	10
		Jermaine Wattimena 96.47	4th
											13	Krzysztof Ratajski 93.82	13
											5	Michael Smith 98.32	16
	5	Michael Smith 101.02	10
		Jonny Clayton 91.10	3
						5	Michael Smith 94.99	14 1
						12	Scale length Suljović 91.70	12
	12	Scale length Suljović 100.47	12 1
		Jamie Hughes 101.13	10
																					8th	Gary Anderson 92.81	10
																						Dimitri Van den Bergh 98.31	18th
	2	Peter Wright 98.94	10
		José de Sousa 96.21	8th
						2	Peter Wright 100.87	8th
						15th	Glen Durrant 98.36	11
	15th	Glen Durrant 106.93	10
		Jeffrey de Zwaan 96.71	3
											15th	Glen Durrant 95.21	18 1
												Vincent van der Voort 93.79	16
	7th	Daryl Gurney 92.37	10
		Ricky Evans 90.29	5
						7th	Daryl Gurney 93.79	5
							Vincent van der Voort 97.67	11
	10	Dave Chisnall 94.20	6th
		Vincent van der Voort 98.95	10
																15th	Glen Durrant 98.44	15th
																	Dimitri Van den Bergh 98.97	17th
	3	Gerwyn Price 90.73	7th
		Danny Noppert 90.92	10
							Danny Noppert 87.63	7th
						14th	Adrian Lewis 99.81	11
	14th	Adrian Lewis 97.27	11 1
		Steve Beaton 89.94	9
											14th	Adrian Lewis 96.26	12
												Dimitri Van den Bergh 99.67	16
	6th	Nathan Aspinall 93.54	5
		Dimitri Van den Bergh 98.42	10
							Dimitri Van den Bergh 93.19	11
							Joe Cullen 92.81	9
	11	Ian White 93.80	12
		Joe Cullen 90.42	13 2

¹ The game went into extra time and had to be won by two legs.

² In the first round there was a decision leg at 12:12.

transmission

DAZN and Sport1 broadcast the tournament in German-speaking countries . In addition, all games could be seen live on the PDC website.

Web links

• Report on darts1.de
• Report on dartn.de

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Betfred World Matchplay to take place behind closed doors accessed on July 1, 2020 (English)
2. ↑ Youngster writes darts history accessed on July 27, 2020
3. ↑ Green light for World Matchplay accessed on June 27, 2020
4. ↑ Overview of the prize money in the database of DartsDatabase.co.uk (English)