Betfred World Matchplay field decided ahead of Blackpool return
The field for the 2025 Betfred World Matchplay has been confirmed, as world number one Luke Humphries sets his sights on back-to-back titles in Blackpool later this month.
The 32-player field for the sport’s summer showpiece was confirmed following the conclusion of Players Championship 21 in Leicester on Wednesday, which was won by former world youth champion Bradley Brooks.
This year’s World Matchplay sees the sport’s top names return to Winter Gardens from July 19-27, as a star-studded 32-player field competes for the coveted Phil Taylor Trophy.
The top 16 players from the Werner Rankings Ladder are joined by 16 qualifiers from the one-year ProTour rankings, with the draw taking place today.
Reigning champion Humphries will be the top seed in the £800,000 event, as he bids to join Rod Harrington, Phil Taylor and Michael van Gerwen in becoming the fourth player to retain the title.
World champion Luke Littler returns as the number two seed, with three-time winner van Gerwen seeded third.
Former Masters champion Stephen Bunting and 2023 World Matchplay runner-up Jonny Clayton will be fourth and fifth seeds respectively, while Chris Dobey enters the fray in sixth position.
Former champions Nathan Aspinall (eighth), James Wade (ninth) and Rob Cross (10th) will also be among the seeded stars, alongside 2022 finalist Gerwyn Price.
Gary Anderson and Peter Wright – champions in 2018 and 2021 respectively – also make up the top 16, as Anderson returns to the seeded positions for the first time in three years.
German number one Martin Schindler headlines the 16 ProTour qualifiers, based on prize money won in European Tour events and Players Championships within the last year.
Northern Ireland’s newly-crowned World Cup winners Josh Rock and Daryl Gurney will both feature, as will world youth champion Gian van Veen – a Blackpool debutant 12 months ago.
Cameron Menzies and Wessel Nijman are two newcomers in this year’s field, while World Grand Prix champion Mike De Decker makes his return alongside Dutch duo Dirk van Duijvenbode and Jermaine Wattimena.
The 16 ProTour qualifiers also include 2023 semi-finalist Joe Cullen and Raymond van Barneveld, the runner-up back in 2010.
Van Barneveld claimed the penultimate spot in the 32-player field, with Ryan Joyce’s qualification only confirmed in last-gasp fashion on Wednesday.
Joyce faced a nervous wait in his bid for qualification, fending off the challenge of Poland’s number one Krzysztof Ratajski to secure a third appearance on the Fylde coast.
Ratajski, a semi-finalist in 2021, needed to reach the Players Championship 21 final to overhaul Joyce.
However, he was beaten by Price in the last eight in Leicester, while Brooks’ run to take a maiden ProTour title was not enough to secure him qualification.
Ratajski will be one of several big-name absentees in Blackpool, with former world champion Michael Smith missing out on qualification for the first time since 2013.
European champion Ritchie Edhouse also fell short in his qualification bid, while 2020 winner Dimitri Van den Bergh sees his run of five consecutive appearances come to an end.