2022 World Matchplay Darts Preview and Tips – JP
2022 World Matchplay Darts Preview
The second most prestigious of the darts season’s majors starts this weekend, The 2022 World Matchplay Darts, from the Winter Gardens, Blackpool. The Winter Gardens is a bit of a misnomer as the conditions inside the venue are going to more like a sauna. Ambient temperatures will be in the mid to high 20s and when you throw in a couple of thousand punters and a load of television lights, it will be excessively hot up on the stage.
There is £200000 for the winner, up £50000 from last year, so whoever picks up the title can afford to turn the air conditioning on. The first-round losers get £10000 and this is the second most lucrative tournament on the calendar.
2022 World Matchplay Darts: Long Format
The matches are relatively long with the first round being best of 19 legs all the way up to best of 35 in the final, but all matches must be won by a two leg margin. There is a limit of six extra legs before a sudden death tie -break leg must be played. It can be a long night at times at the Winter Gardens.
The 2022 World Matchplay Darts field is made up of the top 16 in the PDC Order of Merit, and the top 16 players from the pro tour OOM who had not already qualified. The draw was made earlier this week, and it must be said, has produced some absolutely cracking first round ties. This looks like being one of the most open, unpredictable Matchplays of all time, and a reflection that there is no one player who stands out as the World number one.
Officially, that honour goes to Peter Wright, but ask six different fans who is the best player in the world, and you could well get six different answers.
The Top 16 Players
1.Peter Wright
World Champion, World Number one and defending champion, Snakebite comes here in decent form, but not his best. He has won seven of his last ten matches and played some very good stuff in the recent run of four players championship events at the weekend. He hit nine ton plus averages but only reached one quarter final.
Wright has only picked up one title since winning the world championship and that was over 5 months ago. There are signs that he is coming back into form, but has he timed it to perfection, or will he come up short again? It took him until this tenth Matchplay appearance before he finally won it, but he has won his opening match for the last seven years.
2.Gerwyn Price
The Iceman at the Winter Gardens? He has a record of melting here. Price has never got beyond the quarter final stage and has lost four of his seven 1st round matches. His recent form is poor, losing five of his last seven, and he withdrew after the first two days of the players championships at the weekend. Hard to fancy.
3.Michael Smith
Bully Boy went through a purple patch recently, winning PC14, PC15, Dutch Darts Championship, US Darts Masters and PC16. He may have gone off the boil a little, but he has won seven of his last ten matches and has a seasonal win rate of 67%. It took Smith a while before he got going in Blackpool, failing to get beyond the second round for his first six years. However, he made the final in 2019, the semi-final in 2020 and the quarter final last year. If he can rekindle his form of May and June, he can have another good run.
4.Michael van Gerwen
There are question marks over MVG. His form has been well below his best for a year or two now and while he has improved in 2022, he is not the force of old. His annual win rate is 72%, which is very good, but that is his lowest since 2011. On the positive side, he has won six titles in 2022, three Euro Tour titles, two players championships and the Premier League. After winning the PL, he underwent wrist surgery and was expected to be out for 4-6 weeks.
Strangely, he returned to action at the Dutch Darts Masters a matter of days later, played well enough but lost 4-6 to Danny Noppert. We have not seen him since and he has played just that one match in the last four weeks. Recent form? He hasn’t got any and it is hard to say whether he can add to his two Matchplay titles, the last in 2016.
5.James Wade
Continues to hoover up good money and have good runs but Wade is not a prodigious tournament winner these days. This will be his seventeenth Matchplay and he has never failed to qualify since 2006. He has won it, back in 2007, and made six finals but he has not got beyond the quarter finals in the last six years and only won four matches in those last six. Wade has won six of his last ten matches and his annual win rate is 57%.
6.Gary Anderson
Anderson was never a great fan of Blackpool. He doesn’t like the long nights. Like Peter Wright, it took him until this tenth appearance until he won it in 2018 and he made the final again in 2020, when it was played behind closed doors. He has failed to get beyond the second round nine times. Anderson has won five of his last ten matches, but his 2022 win rate is only 44%, the lowest win rate of all 32 players in the field.
7.Jose de Sousa
The Special One has only played in two Matchplays and won just one match. He has lost six of his last ten matches and his doubling has been well short of what is required. Hard to fancy him making much progress.
8.Jonny Clayton
2021 was The Year of The Ferret, but 2022 not so much. However, he showed a return to form at the weekend, reaching the Quarter final of PC20 on Sunday and the final of PC21 on Monday. He has won eight of his last ten matches and he remains one of the very top players in the game. His Matchplay record is dire however, winning just one match in four appearances.
9.Dimitri van den Bergh
Dancing Dimitri has fond memories of this event. He was a behind closed doors winner in 2020 but backed that up by coming here last year and reaching the final, losing to Peter Wright, and that is his only losing match in the Matchplay. Van Den Bergh won two World Series events in June but most recently won six of his last ten matches and he was blowing hot and cold at the weekend. He does play his best stuff on the big stage, and he is 9-1 for his last ten Televised matches, but this is much tougher than a World Series.
10. Rob Cross
Cross didn’t have a great preparation for this event, losing three first round matches at the weekend and winning just two on Monday. He has lost six of his last ten, but he had been playing well in May, reaching two Euro Tour finals. He might just have come off the boil a little.
11. Danny Noppert
Noppert is having a good season. He won the UK Open back in March and since then he has reached two Euro Tour finals and most recently, won PC19 last Saturday. His 2022 win rate is 73% and he has won eight of his last ten matches. He is very much a contender in the majors these days, but he tends to throw in too many sub 90 averages to be super confident about his chances.
12. Luke Humphries
Cool Hand Luke has made a big step forward in 2022, winning no less than four Euro Tour titles and a player’s championship. The next step is to win a major. His win rate in 2022 is a field leading 76% and he is averaging 97.23. He warmed up with a semi-final and quarter final at the weekend, he has won seven of his last ten matches, has reached three World Championship quarter finals and a UK Open final. He has only played one Matchplay, losing in the second-round last year. Another serious contender.
13. Joe Cullen
The Premier League runner up, Cullen is another to enjoy something of a breakthrough year. He is a bit of a later bloomer compared to Luke Humphries and this will be his eighth Matchplay. His record isn’t good, losing four first round matches and only going beyond the second round once, reaching the quarter final in 2018. His recent form sees six losses in his last ten and he was a bit flat in the recent players championship events with six of his eight matches seeing sub 92 averages.
14. Dirk van Duijvenbode
The Aubergenius comes here in fine form, winning PC18 on Friday. He took the rest of the weekend off but that was just to take care of some personal business at home rather than an injury or illness. He was runner up at the Dutch Darts Masters and has been enjoying a lot of good runs on the Euro Tour and in players championships, winning two this season.
Dirk made his debut last season, losing in the first round and he does lack much in the way of major experience. He has won eight of his last ten matches, is a very heavy 180 hitter and must be short listed given his form.
15. Dave Chisnall
It is easy to forget that Chisnall is still a top 16 player. He has been off the radar for a while, but this will be his twelfth Matchplay. Chisnall has reached five quarter finals but lost the lot. He could reach another one, but it’s hard to see why he should be breaking his major duck this late in his career. Chizzy warmed up well, playing nineteen matches at the weekend, winning fifteen. His win rate in 2022 is 71% and he is still picking up nice cheques without winning titles.
16. Krzysztof Ratajski
The Polish Eagle has had his tail feathers clipped. His career has stalled and when he reached the semi-final here last year, it looked like his stage game had finally clicked, that he would kick on but that hasn’t been the case. He has won seven of his last ten, but his seasonal win rate is just 57%.
The Pro-Tour Qualifiers
Damon Heta
The World Cup winner is heading in the right direction and there is no doubting that he has the game to win majors. He has a 72% win rate and is averaging 97.95 in 2022. However, there are a lot of losing semi-finals in his timeline. If the boost of lifting the World Cup gives him the extra confidence required, he can go on to great things. He has the game, he just needs the experience and confidence to go with it.
Nathan Aspinall
The Asp has the experience, has already won a major and got back to winning ways when winning PC13 in April. His floor form is very good, and he warmed up by winning fourteen matches at the weekend, reaching two semi-finals. His scoring may noy not be at its best, but overall his game is in good shape and he has won 72% of his matches in 2022.
Ryan Searle
Lost his debut match last year but he is building up his bank of major experience. He has won 64% of his matches in 2022 and is playing OK, not at his best, but better on the floor than on the stage.
Martin Schindler
Schindler is quite experienced for a young player, but this will be his tournament debut. He has won six of his last ten matches, but his form has tailed off a bit and going deep would be less likely than it may have been a month or two ago.
Brendan Dolan
The History Maker has played in seven Matchplays but has only won three matches. He had the perfect warm up by winning PC21 on Monday, which was a bit of a surprise on the back of losing three first round matches. He hasn’t had a great year overall, but he has moved back up the rankings and overtaken Daryl Gurney to retake the title of Northern Irelands number 1.
Daryl Gurney
Northern Ireland’s most successful player and a two-time Matchplay semi-finalist. Outside of those runs in 2017 and 2019, he has only won two other matches. His scoring average is down to just 92.97, well below his peak, but his win rate is up to 64% and he has won six of his last ten matches. The consistency isn’t there, he can still have matches where he is very hard to beat, but there are too many poor ones to see a deep run this year.
Callan Rydz
Made the quarter final on debut last year. The Riot is an explosive player who can smash up anyone on his day. He was playing well in May, reaching the final of PC15, and the semi-final of ET8, but since then he has played eight and lost four. He is not in great form and hard to fancy.
Gabriel Clemens
The German Giant has played three and won one in Blackpool. His recent form has picked up after a difficult year. He reached the final of PC18 last weekend, losing 0-8 to Dirk van Duijvenbode. He was poor in his following five matches and it is hard to say that his form has returned.
Adrian Lewis
Jackpot has played in sixteen Matchplays, making the final in 2013, and has had four more semi-finals. He failed to qualify last year. He warmed up by winning PC20 on Monday, his first title since 2019. Lewis has only lost three first round matches here, and only one of his last ten. Interesting, but will he handle the heat?
Andrew Gilding
Hasn’t qualified for the Matchplay since 2015, but he has never been playing as well as he is in 2022. He has reached two players championship finals in 2022 and a Euro Tour semi-final. His win rate is 64% and he has won seven of his last ten. He was runner up on Saturday, losing 6-8 to Danny Noppert. He is unlikely to win, but he’ll be a tough opponent.
Stephen Bunting
The Bullet has never enjoyed much joy in Blackpool, winning just three matches in seven appearances. He has lost six of his last ten matches and is hard to fancy.
Kim Huybrechts
The Hurricane has played in seven Matchplays and won just a single match.
Martin Lukeman
Smash has been having a ball on the Euro Tour and his success has opened this door for him. A tournament debut is his reward and a very rare TV appearance. This will be a new experience for him and playing the experienced James Wade will be a big ask.
Chris Dobey
Has qualified twice before but failed to win a match. One of the games big underachievers, Dobey has played eight and lost six on TV in the last 12 months. He has lost five of his last ten matches and is hard to fancy.
Madars Razma
We are getting to see more of Razma these days as he continues to improve. He has the lowest seasonal average of anyone in the field at 90.54. He reached the semi-final of ET 9 at the start of the month and has reached a players championship final this season. Underrated but unlikely to have a long run.
Rowby-John Rodriguez
Last man in, Rowby-John is making his debut. He was runner up to Luke Humphries in ET9 two weeks ago and was 0-4 up in the final. He is in decent form, winning seven of his last ten, and confident. Will take his chances and his A game is very strong. The longer format on TV will be relatively new for him, he has only played two, losing both to Wade, and Clayton who he faces in the first round.
2022 World Matchplay Darts: The Draw
1st Quarter
Peter Wright, Ratajski, Clayton and Van den Bergh are the four seeds. They are joined by Razma, Bunting, Rodriguez and Rydz. It is a tough quarter, but they all are. Wright’s form is encouraging if not rock solid, ditto Clayton. Van den Bergh is a tournament specialist and maybe only Ratajski is easily opposed. Wright is 6-0 against Razma and that should be a good match for him to get his feet under the table.
Jonny Clayton faces a tough opener against Rodriguez. The Austrian beat Clayton in the World Cup, but that was a first to four format. Overall, Clayton is 5-2 up and won their only best of 19 leg match 10-7. Van den Bergh faces a potential banana skin in Callan Rydz, but it looks like one of the top three seeds should come through.
2nd Quarter
There are no easy quarters, but the second is the quarter of death. MVG is the top seed, but he comes with no recent form and is facing a rejuvenated Adrian Lewis, coming here on the back of his first title in three years. Joe Cullen is right up against it facing Damon Heta in the first round.
Nathan Aspinall faces Luke Humphries in his opener in another very close first round match. Only James Wade looks to have a straightforward opening match. Humphries is getting used to winning not just matches, but titles. He has been good for us on the Euro Tour and it might be worth reinvesting some profit on him.
3rd Quarter
This is the most open of the quarters. Only Dave Chisnall sticks out as being in good form, but he has never gone beyond the quarter finals. He does have a good draw, a very winnable opener, and with Price not in good form he has a navigable path to the quarters. There is nobody he shouldn’t be able to beat, it is just a matter of does he beat himself?
4th Quarter
This looks to be between Michael Smith and Dirk van Duijvenbode, who are drawn to meet in the second round. However, Gilding and Searle are no pushovers, especially the in form Gilding. Smith does have two recent wins over Gilding and Goldfinger may have to head home early.
Dirk can be a slow starter and he is no shoo in against Searle. Down at the bottom of the quarter we have Danny Noppert, one of the form players of 2022. He may not have the fire power of Smith and Dirk, but he wins a lot of matches.
2022 World Matchplay Darts: Ante Post Selections
We have had four different winners in the last four years which reflects the more competitive state of darts these days. That said, the winners, bar Van den Bergh, have all been World Champions. Will that trend continue, or will we see something of a changing of the guard?
There are players like Luke Humphries and Danny Noppert who are winning things and moving up the pecking order. Players like Michael Smith who might be about to do what Anderson and Wright did and win after many attempts. The old guard like MVG and Wright who are still very capable of winning the big ones, and there are a few dark horses who could go close at big odds. It is not an easy tournament to try and unpick.
I am a fan of recent form and quality. Confidence is another big plus. For that reason, Luke Humphries gets a pick. He has moved up a level and he is using the Euro Tour to get a lot of experience of winning titles. He showed a lot of bottle to win his last title, coming back from 0-4 down to snatch a match he should have lost, and probably would have 12 months ago.
2022 World Matchplay Darts Tip: 1 point e/w Luke Humphries to win @ 13.00 with Betfred (1/4 the odds 1-4)
Michael Smith is very tempting for once. He got used to winning last month and that is the kind of form that will change him from a potential major winner, to actually crossing the line. However, he has just come off the boil a little and that makes 12.00 look about right. From the same quarter I will take Danny Noppert at much bigger odds.
The Freeze has already won a major in 2022, some would say he was gifted it by Smith, but Noppert got the trophy. Now that he is a new father, he has grown up, he is at the top of his game and open to improvement. He does get tight in the later stages, but with Fred going e/w the top 4 and offering best price, he makes enough appeal for a bet.
2022 World Matchplay Darts Tip: 1 point e/w Danny Noppert to win @ 34.00 with Betfred
From the top quarter Peter Wright gets a straight win only pick. He knows how to win the big ones and caught the eye at the weekend with performances that were more like his A game. He looks to have a decent path to the quarter final and he has made two finals in the last four years, winning one.
2022 World Matchplay Darts Tip: 1 point Peter Wright to win @ 9.50 with SpreadEx
The final bet is not to win the tournament, but to win the third quarter. It would be his best ever result in the tournament, but the draw has been kind to Chizzy, and he is winning enough matches to suggest he could make the semi-final.
