2018 BetVictor World Matchplay
Tournament information
Dates	21–29 July 2018
Venue	Winter Gardens
Location	Blackpool, England
Organisation(s)	Professional Darts Corporation (PDC)
Format	Legs
Prize fund	£500,000
Winner's share	£115,000
Nine-dart finish	Gary Anderson
High checkout	170 Joe Cullen (x2) 170 Peter Wright
Champion(s)
Gary Anderson
«2017 2019»

The 2018 BetVictor World Matchplay was the 25th annual staging of the World Matchplay, organised by the Professional Darts Corporation. The tournament took place at the Winter Gardens, Blackpool, from 21–29 July 2018.

Phil Taylor was the defending champion, after defeating Peter Wright 18–8 in the 2017 final to claim his 16th World Matchplay title, but he retired following the 2018 PDC World Darts Championship final. For the first time, the winner of the tournament, (Gary Anderson) received the Phil Taylor Trophy, which was renamed in his honour in January 2018.^[1]

Gary Anderson hit a nine dart finish in the fourth leg of his quarter-final match against Joe Cullen, which was the seventh nine-dart finish in the World Matchplay and the first since 2014. Anderson overcame Cullen 19–17, facing two match darts against him at 14–15 scoreline.

Anderson went on to win his first World Matchplay title, defeating Mensur Suljović, 21–19 after extra time in the longest final in the tournament's history.^[2]

The first round match between Kim Huybrechts and John Henderson made a piece of World Matchplay history, as it was the first time that a match was won by a single leg since the 1997 3rd place play-off. Huybrechts won the match 13–12 in a sudden-death leg, the first time the rule had been needed since it was introduced in 2013.

For the first time in World Matchplay history, no Englishmen progressed into the semi-finals, resulting in a first Matchplay final without an English player.

Prize money

The prize fund remained at £500,000, with the winner's earnings being £115,000. Gary Anderson received £45,000 for hitting a nine-dart finish in his quarter-final against Joe Cullen.

Format

In previous stagings of the event all games had to be won by two clear legs with no sudden-death legs. However, after consulting the host broadcaster Sky Sports in 2013, the PDC decided that games will now only proceed for a maximum of six extra legs before a tie-break leg is required. For example, in a best of 19 legs first round match, if the score reaches 12–12 then the 25th leg will be the decider.

Qualification

The top 16 players on the PDC Order of Merit as of 2 July 2018 were seeded for the tournament. The top 16 players on the ProTour Order of Merit not to have already qualified were unseeded.

The following players qualified for the tournament:

Draw

	First round (best of 19 legs) 21–23 July [3][4][5]					Second round (best of 21 legs) 24–25 July [6][7]					Quarter-finals (best of 31 legs) 26–27 July [8][9]					Semi-finals (best of 33 legs) 28 July [10]					Final (best of 35 legs) 29 July [11]
	1	Michael van Gerwen 97.88	6
		Jeffrey de Zwaan 94.42	10
							Jeffrey de Zwaan 98.99	11
						16	Adrian Lewis 103.86	9
	16	Adrian Lewis 93.61	10
		James Wilson 87.72	8
												Jeffrey de Zwaan 103.22	16
											8	Dave Chisnall 99.05	8
	8	Dave Chisnall 94.09	10
		Keegan Brown 76.62	4
						8	Dave Chisnall 103.02	11
						9	Michael Smith 98.11	8
	9	Michael Smith 97.43	10
		Jonny Clayton 84.06	6
																	Jeffrey de Zwaan 99.12	12
																4	Gary Anderson 106.06	17
	5	Daryl Gurney 89.19	12
		Steve West 91.79	10
						5	Daryl Gurney 87.69	3
							Joe Cullen 99.65	11
	12	Gerwyn Price 90.23	3
		Joe Cullen 91.39	10
												Joe Cullen 95.26	17
											4	Gary Anderson 97.13	19
	4	Gary Anderson 96.66	10
		Stephen Bunting 86.21	7
						4	Gary Anderson 104.17	11
						13	Raymond van Barneveld 95.29	9
	13	Raymond van Barneveld 90.67	10
		Kyle Anderson 90.69	6
																					4	Gary Anderson 101.12	21
																					6	Mensur Suljović 104.43	19
	2	Peter Wright 89.28	10
		Jelle Klaasen 84.36	5
						2	Peter Wright 105.60	11
						15	Kim Huybrechts 96.16	5
	15	Kim Huybrechts 94.17	13
		John Henderson 91.00	12
											2	Peter Wright 101.35	16
											7	Simon Whitlock 96.14	5
	7	Simon Whitlock 88.20	10
		Richard North 80.40	2
						7	Simon Whitlock 93.96	11
						10	James Wade 90.88	7
	10	James Wade 89.60	12
		Jermaine Wattimena 87.63	10
																2	Peter Wright 88.68	13
																6	Mensur Suljović 90.16	17
	6	Mensur Suljović 93.00	10
		Steve Beaton 90.92	6
						6	Mensur Suljović 97.21	11
						11	Ian White 93.51	8
	11	Ian White 92.58	10
		Max Hopp 90.51	7
											6	Mensur Suljović 98.03	16
											14	Darren Webster 95.70	10
	3	Rob Cross 98.58	10
		Mervyn King 91.85	5
						3	Rob Cross 98.81	8
						14	Darren Webster 93.39	11
	14	Darren Webster 91.95	10
		Steve Lennon 91.00	6

Statistics

Player	Eliminated	Played	Legs Won	Legs Lost	100+	140+	180s	High checkout	3-dart average	Checkout success
Gary Anderson	Winner	5	78	64	169	96	52	152	100.88	36.45%
Mensur Suljović	Final	5	73	58	173	108	35	151	97.16	40.56%
Jeffrey de Zwaan	Semi-finals	4	49	40	106	68	23	140	99.12	42.86%
Peter Wright	Semi-finals	4	50	32	108	73	11	170	88.68	37.14%
Dave Chisnall	Quarter-finals	3	29	28	58	38	21	148	99.05	47.06%
Simon Whitlock	Quarter-finals	3	26	25	58	26	15	132	96.14	38.46%
Darren Webster	Quarter-finals	3	31	30	89	45	11	138	95.70	41.67%
Joe Cullen	Quarter-finals	3	38	25	77	39	10	170	95.26	41.46%
Adrian Lewis	Second round	2	19	19	44	16	6	121	103.86	40.91%
Rob Cross	Second round	2	18	19	39	28	9	156	98.81	27.59%
Michael Smith	Second round	2	22	20	35	24	14	110	98.11	40.00%
Kim Huybrechts	Second round	2	16	23	40	27	12	156	96.16	33.33%
Raymond van Barneveld	Second round	2	19	17	39	15	9	130	95.29	69.23%
Ian White	Second round	2	18	18	44	22	12	154	93.51	50.00%
James Wade	Second round	2	19	21	64	29	4	149	90.88	24.14%
Daryl Gurney	Second round	2	15	21	52	16	4	100	87.69	25.00%
Michael van Gerwen	First round	1	6	10	16	8	6	100	97.88	35.29%
Mervyn King	First round	1	5	10	15	9	5	72	91.85	41.67%
Steve West	First round	1	10	12	23	18	6	108	91.79	31.25%
John Henderson	First round	1	12	13	30	13	3	114	91.00	52.17%
Steve Lennon	First round	1	6	10	24	10	2	124	91.00	37.50%
Steve Beaton	First round	1	6	10	24	11	1	120	90.92	46.15%
Kyle Anderson	First round	1	6	10	14	9	5	90	90.69	33.33%
Max Hopp	First round	1	7	10	23	16	1	80	90.51	46.67%
Gerwyn Price	First round	1	3	10	8	5	5	99	90.23	23.08%
James Wilson	First round	1	8	10	19	12	2	86	87.72	44.44%
Jermaine Wattimena	First round	1	10	12	24	16	1	113	87.63	29.41%
Stephen Bunting	First round	1	7	10	8	11	3	110	86.21	46.67%
Jelle Klaasen	First round	1	5	10	13	7	1	40	84.36	31.25%
Jonny Clayton	First round	1	6	10	15	8	3	154	84.06	54.55%
Richard North	First round	1	2	10	8	10	1	80	80.40	50.00%
Keegan Brown	First round	1	4	10	14	3	1	109	76.62	33.33%

References