World's First Televised Lockdown Darts Major

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

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