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World Matchplay (darts)
The World Matchplay, also known as the Betfred World Matchplay for sponsorship purposes, is a professional darts tournament and one of three legs of the Triple Crown. It is played in a legs format, and is run by the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC). Luke Humphries is the current champion after winning the 2024 edition. History The World Matchplay has been played annually since 1994 in the Empress Ballroom at the Winter Gardens, Blackpool. The first ever winner was Larry Butler, who beat Dennis Priestley 16–12, and the current holder is Luke Humphries. The 1995 World Matchplay turned out to be Jocky Wilson's last appearance in a major televised event. Wilson had reached the quarter-finals of the inaugural tournament in 1994 and he beat Rod Harrington in the 1st round in 1995, but a 2nd round defeat against Nigel Justice was effectively the end of his career. From 1994 to 2012, matches at the World Matchplay had to be won by two clear legs. For example, the f ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Winter Gardens, Blackpool
The Winter Gardens is a large entertainment complex in Blackpool, Lancashire, England, which includes a theatre, ballroom and conference facilities. Opened in 1878, it is a Grade II* listed building, operated by Blackpool Entertainment Company Limited on behalf of Blackpool Council, which purchased the property from Leisure Parcs Ltd as part of a £40 million deal in 2010. The Winter Gardens has hosted the annual Trades Union Congress, the Conservative Party Conference (UK), Conservative Party Conference, Labour Party Conference, and the twice-annual Liberal Democrat Conference. The venue's owners claim that every Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Prime Minister, since World War II has addressed an audience at the venue. It has also hosted the Blackpool Dance Festival since its inception in 1920, and the World Matchplay (darts), World Matchplay darts tournament since 1994. The annual dance competitions Miss Dance of Great Britain and Dance Master UK are hosted there an ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jocky Wilson
John Thomas "Jocky" Wilson (22 March 1950 – 24 March 2012) was a Scottish professional darts player. After turning professional in 1979, he quickly rose to the top of the game, winning the World Professional Darts Championship in 1982, then again in 1989. Wilson competed in all major darts tournaments of the era and won the British Professional Championship a record four times between 1981 and 1988. A contemporary and rival of Eric Bristow, Bob Anderson and John Lowe, Wilson's ungainly appearance and rough-hewn lifestyle belied his prowess in the sport. He was dogged by health problems, however, and suddenly retired from the game in December 1995. He withdrew from public life and rarely appeared in public or gave interviews before his death in March 2012. In 2022 the new World Seniors Darts Championships was launched with the trophy engraved with the names of four deceased former World Champions on the darts: Wilson, Bristow, Leighton Rees and Andy Fordham. Earl ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Peter Wright (darts Player)
Peter Stuart Wright (born 10 March 1970) is a Scottish professional darts player who competes in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events, where he is currently ranked PDC Order of Merit, world number fourteen; he was ranked world number one on two occasions in 2022. Nicknamed "Snakebite", he is a two-time PDC World Darts Championship, PDC World Champion, having won the 2020 PDC World Darts Championship, 2020 and 2022 PDC World Darts Championship, 2022 World Championships. He has also won the 2021 World Matchplay. Widely regarded as one of the greatest players in the history of the sport, Wright has won 34 events on the PDC Pro Tour, putting him fourth on the all-time list behind Michael van Gerwen, Phil Taylor (darts player), Phil Taylor and Gary Anderson (darts player), Gary Anderson. When he was 24, Wright qualified for the first round of the 1995 BDO World Darts Championship, 1995 BDO World Championship but then stopped playing darts professionally, working instead as a bu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
James Wade
James Martin Wade (born 6 April 1983) is an English professional darts player who competes in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events, where he is currently ranked world number nine; he reached a peak ranking of world number two in 2010. Widely regarded as one of the greatest ever darts players to have never won a world championship and the greatest left-hander in the history of the sport, Wade is a four-time PDC World Championship semi-finalist and eleven time PDC major winner, placing him third in the all-time list behind Phil Taylor and Michael van Gerwen. Wade started his career in the British Darts Organisation (BDO) in 2001 before joining the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) in 2004. His best performance in a major BDO tournament came at the International Darts League in 2004 and 2007, reaching the quarter-finals on both occasions. He became the then-youngest player to win a major PDC title when he won the 2007 World Matchplay at age 24. His PDC major wins i ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dimitri Van Den Bergh
Dimitri Barbara Peter Van den Bergh (born 8 July 1994) is a Belgian professional darts player who competes in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events, where he is currently ranked world number twenty-two; he reached a peak ranking of world number five in 2021. Nicknamed "the Dreammaker", Van den Bergh has won two PDC major titles – the World Matchplay and the UK Open. He also won two World Series of Darts titles in 2022. He defeated Gary Anderson 18–10 in the 2020 World Matchplay final, and defeated Luke Humphries 11–10 in the 2024 UK Open final. He finished as the runner-up at both the World Matchplay and World Series Finals in 2021. He is a one-time World Championship semi-finalist, reaching the last four at the 2023 PDC World Championship. In his youth career, Van den Bergh won the PDC World Youth Championship in both 2017 and 2018, and eleven PDC Development Tours, making him one of the most successful players in the history of the PDC's youth system. Care ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Colin Lloyd
Colin Edward Lloyd (born 7 August 1973), nicknamed Jaws, is an English former professional darts player. He formerly competed in Professional Darts Corporation events, where he was ranked world number one from April 2005 to January 2007 (except for March–May 2006). He won two major televised titles – the 2004 World Grand Prix and the 2005 World Matchplay. PDC career 1999–2004 A former builder, Lloyd broke onto the scene in 1999, making his TV debut the same year, In the first round he beating Scott Cummings 10–8, thrashing Alan Warriner 13–2 in the second round and the quarter-finals losing to Peter Manley 16–8 of the 1999 PDC World Matchplay. His World Championship debut came in 2000 – but he lost in the first round to Shayne Burgess. After another first round loss at the 2001 World Championships, his major breakthrough was in the 2002 PDC World Championship, where he reached the semi-finals, losing to Peter Manley 6–4. He had beaten Alex Roy, Warrin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Peter Evison
Peter Kenneth Evison (born 27 May 1964) is an English former professional darts player who competed in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) and British Darts Organisation (BDO) events. Nicknamed The Fen Tiger, his greatest achievements were winning the 1989 Winmau World Masters and the 1996 World Matchplay. Darts career BDO Before appearing in a major tournament, Evison was a contestant on Bullseye. He, along with his teammate, failed however, to get to Bully's prize board. Evison later appeared on the show in which he scored 300 points on the "Pounds for points" charity round. Evison appeared on the show again in 1989, scoring 323 points in 9 darts in the "Pounds for points" round. He appeared again one more time where he scored 306. Evison burst on the darts scene in 1986 with a surprise victory over John Lowe in the British Professional Championship, a major televised tournament in that era. Evison made his World Championship debut in 1988, and went on to reach the qua ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rob Cross (darts Player)
Robert Cross (born 21 September 1990) is an English professional darts player who competes in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events, where he is currently ranked world number eight; he reached a peak ranking of world number two in 2018 and 2019. Nicknamed "Voltage", Cross is a former PDC World Champion, defeating Phil Taylor in the 2018 World Championship final after turning professional less than a year beforehand. He has won three other PDC major titles: the 2019 World Matchplay and the European Championship in 2019 and 2021. He has also won five World Series of Darts titles. Cross has won a total of twenty-one PDC titles in his professional career; sixteen ranking and five non-ranking. Before turning professional he reached the last 32 at the UK Open, losing there to Michael van Gerwen, and won four titles on the PDC Challenge Tour in 2016, which earned him his PDC Tour Card. BDO career 2015 In October 2015, Cross attempted to qualify for the 2016 BDO World D ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nathan Aspinall
Nathan Aspinall (born 15 July 1991) is an English professional darts player who competes in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events, where he is currently ranked PDC Order of Merit, world number six; he reached a peak ranking of world number four in 2024. Nicknamed "the Asp", he has won two PDC major televised titles, winning the 2023 World Matchplay and 2019 UK Open. Aspinall has finished as runner-up at four other major televised events: the 2020 Premier League Darts, 2020 Premier League, 2022 World Grand Prix (darts), 2022 World Grand Prix, 2022 Grand Slam of Darts, 2022 Grand Slam and 2023 World Series of Darts Finals, 2023 World Series Finals. He is a two-time PDC World Darts Championship, World Championship semi-finalist with back-to-back semi-final appearances in 2019 PDC World Darts Championship, 2019 and 2020 PDC World Darts Championship, 2020. He won his first World Series of Darts title at the 2019 US Darts Masters. He won his first two PDC European Tour, European ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gary Anderson (darts Player)
Gary James Grant Anderson (born 22 December 1970) is a Scottish professional darts player who competes in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events, where he is currently ranked world number thirteen; he reached a peak ranking of world number two from 2015 to 2017. Anderson is a former British Darts Organisation (BDO) and World Darts Federation (WDF) world number one. Nicknamed "the Flying Scotsman", after the famous steam train, he is a two-time, back-to-back PDC World Champion, having won the title in 2015 and 2016, and is widely regarded as one of the greatest players in the history of the sport. Before switching to the PDC following the 2009 BDO World Championship, Anderson won four BDO major titles: the International Darts League, World Trophy and Finder Masters in 2007 as well as the 2008 Finder Masters. He defeated Phil Taylor 7–6 in the 2015 PDC World Championship final and Adrian Lewis 7–5 the following year, while he was also a finalist in 2011, 2017 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rod Harrington
Rodney Harrington (born 30 December 1957) is an English former professional darts player and commentator. He used the nickname "The Prince of Style" for his matches, often wearing a suit and waistcoat for his games. Harrington enjoyed some major success during his professional career including the prestigious Winmau World Masters in 1991 and two successive World Matchplays in 1998 and 1999. At the PDC Awards Dinner held in January 2019, Harrington was inducted into the PDC Hall of Fame. Darts career BDO career He started his career before the game split into two separate organisations during the early 1990s. He accumulated many Open tournament titles including the Belgian Open (1991, 1992), Denmark Open (1991, 1992), French Open (1991, 1993) and the Swedish Open (1991). Harrington's 1991 Winmau World Masters victory over Phil Taylor remains one of Taylor's rare major final defeats – although Taylor was only a one-time World Champion at the time and had lost his world crown ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Michael Van Gerwen
Michael van Gerwen (; born 25 April 1989) is a Dutch professional darts player, who competes in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events, where is currently ranked PDC Order of Merit, world number three; he was ranked world number one from 2014 to 2021. He is also a three-time PDC World Darts Championship, PDC World Champion, having won the title in 2014 PDC World Darts Championship, 2014, 2017 PDC World Darts Championship, 2017 and 2019 PDC World Darts Championship, 2019. Van Gerwen has won 47 PDC majors, Professional Darts Corporation#Roll of Honour, second in the all-time list behind Phil Taylor (darts player), Phil Taylor. This includes a record seven Premier League Darts, Premier League titles, three titles in the World Matchplay (darts), World Matchplay, Grand Slam of Darts, Grand Slam and UK Open respectively, six World Grand Prix (darts), World Grand Prix titles, the Players Championship Finals on a record seven occasions, a joint-record four European Championship (dart ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
