The World of darts heads into the strangest territory it's ever been in the professional era, with dart players facing the most sterile and clinical environment they've ever endured. The World Matchplay gets underway this weekend as the first televised darts major in lockdown conditions and has been moved from the iconic Blackpool Winter Gardens for the first time in its history.
Michael van Gerwen said "The Summer Series gave us a taste of what is to come for our Matchplay games, but there is absolutely no doubt in my mind that these televised major games will go up another level, and we'll experience feelings and pressure in a way that nobody can yet fully understand."
World number 1 MvG faces Brendan Dolan on the opening night of the tournament, the “History Maker” making his return to the Matchplay for the first time since 2016 after a superb 12 months on the Pro Tour.
Daryl Gurney faces Ricky Evans in a replay of his opening fixture from 2019 as the Northern Irishman enter his fifth consecutive Matchplay, whilst Simon Whitlock faces Ryan Joyce on the opening night.
Crowd favourite, the Bronzed Adonis, Steve Beaton plays former World Matchplay finalist Adrian Lewis in Monday night's session. He will be joined by Vincent van der Voort and Danny Noppert during that session, who face Dave Chisnall and Gerwyn Price respectively.
Full coverage of the World Matchplay will be shown live on Sky Sports in the UK and around the world via the PDC's global broadcast partners.
2020 Betfred World Matchplay
Schedule of play - all times BST
Saturday July 18 (1800)
5x First Round Matches
Simon Whitlock v Ryan Joyce
Krzysztof Ratajski v Jermaine Wattimena
James Wade v Keegan Brown
Michael van Gerwen v Brendan Dolan
Gary Anderson v Justin Pipe
Sunday July 19 (1800)
5x First Round Matches
Mensur Suljovic v Jamie Hughes
Glen Durrant v Jeffrey de Zwaan
Rob Cross v Gabriel Clemens
Peter Wright v Jose De Sousa
Michael Smith v Jonny Clayton
Monday July 20 (1800)
5x First Round Matches
Dave Chisnall v Vincent van der Voort
Ian White v Joe Cullen
Daryl Gurney v Ricky Evans
Gerwyn Price v Danny Noppert
Adrian Lewis v Steve Beaton
Tuesday July 21 (1800)
1x First Round, 4x Second Round Matches
Nathan Aspinall v Dimitri Van den Bergh
Smith/Clayton v Suljovic/Hughes
Anderson/Pipe v Wade/Brown
Van Gerwen/Dolan v Whitlock/Joyce
Cross/Clemens v Ratajski/Wattimena
Wednesday July 22 (1900)
4x Second Round Matches
Gurney/Evans v Chisnall/Van der Voort
Aspinall/Van den Bergh v White/Cullen
Wright/De Sousa v Durrant/De Zwaan
Price/Noppert v Lewis/Beaton
Thursday July 23 (1900)
2x Quarter-Finals
Friday July 24 (1900)
2x Quarter-Finals
Saturday July 25 (2000)
Semi-Finals
Sunday July 26 (2030)
Final
