The World Matchplay takes place from July 18-26 at the Winter Gardens in Blackpool.

The prestigious £450,000 tournament - first held in 1994 - features 32 stars competing across nine days in a knockout format.

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BetVictor World Matchplay
Saturday July 18 (7pm-11pm)
First Round
Simon Whitlock 10-4 Jelle Klaasen
Peter Wright 10-5 Kim Huybrechts
Michael van Gerwen 10-4 Benito van de Pas
Adrian Lewis 10-7 Joe Murnan

Sunday July 19
Afternoon Session (1pm-5pm)
First Round
Mervyn King 8-10 Andrew Gilding
Ian White 10-6 Stephen Bunting
Justin Pipe 7-10 Jamie Lewis
Michael Smith 4-10 Gerwyn Price

Evening Session (7pm-11pm)
First Round
Brendan Dolan 10-6 Vincent van der Voort
Terry Jenkins 9-11 Mensur Suljovic
Gary Anderson 10-4 Steve Beaton
James Wade 10-7 Kyle Anderson

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Chisnall now faces World Youth Champion Keegan Brown, who enhanced his growing reputation as a contender at darts' highest level with another composed performance, as he followed up his giant-killings at the Grand Slam of Darts and World Championship by claiming another big-name victim.

Thornton had gone into the event on a high following last weekend's European Tour triumph in Dusseldorf, but never recovered from seeing Brown take an early 5-1 lead as he suffered a sixth straight first round exit in Blackpool.

After Brown opened the game with a 14-darter, Thornton replied with a 12-darter only to see the Isle of Wight youngster win the next four to pull clear.

Thornton replied with finishes of 70, 40 and 62 as he reduced the gap to 5-4, but was crucially denied a chance to level as Brown fired in a 180 in a 14-darter to regain breathing space.

A 102 finish put him 7-4 up and he also took out another 14-darter to lead 8-5 before landing the bullseye to move to the brink of victory at 9-6.

Battling Thornton landed a 180 and finished 78 on tops to stay in the hunt, but Brown clinically sealed victory with another bull checkout, this time taking out 87 to seal his second round spot.

"I'm over the moon," said Brown. "I came here 12 years ago and watched Phil Taylor and Wayne Mardle in the final and thought it would be brilliant to play on that stage on day, and I've done that now.

"Robert's a player with Premier League experience so I wanted to get into him quickly and to take the first session 4-1 meant I could relax. Robert showed his class when he came back at me but thankfully I got there at the end.

"This is the hardest tournament to qualify for every year so I wanted to relax and play like I can do. To be in the last 16 makes me so happy."

The second round kicks off on Tuesday, with world number one Michael van Gerwen up against Welsh ace Jamie Lewis in their last 16 clash.

2013 World Matchplay finalist Adrian Lewis is up against another emerging Welsh star in Gerwyn Price, while Peter Wright takes on Andrew Gilding and Simon Whitlock faces Ian White.

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Hamilton, though, proved too strong in the next and landed double nine to complete a win which could kick-start his year, after dropping to 20th on the PDC Order of Merit.

"It was always going to be a tough game but I knuckled down, and this event and this venue seems to bring the best out of me," said Hamilton.

"I love this tournament, I love Blackpool and I love this crowd and it brought back some great memories for me getting back on that stage. The 96 and the 158 got me going and I controlled the game from there.

"The last six months have been a horrible time for me but there's more to come and if I play well I can give Phil a good game on Wednesday. Hopefully I can progress from what I've done tonight and be more consistent, but my game's getting there."

Earlier, Premier League semi-finalist Dave Chisnall edged out Jamie Caven 13-11 in a tie-break as the pair slugged out a 24-leg thriller.

Although Caven held a slender 2-1 lead early on, following a break of throw in leg three, Chisnall hit back to take a 6-4 advantage with the aid of a 13-darter and a 14-dart finish.

Caven took the next two to level at six-all, with the next six legs all going with the throw to send the game into a tie-break at 9-9, leaving a player needing to win by two clear legs.

The pair traded tops finishes and then shared the next two legs to remain locked at 11-all as Chisnall twice missed a single match dart, with double nine then seeing the number seven seed move 12-11 up and to the brink of victory.

With Caven throwing to force a sudden-death 25th leg, Chisnall kicked off with 140, 180 - his 13th of the game - and 135 to leave 46, and eventually sealed victory at the eighth attempt.

"It was a funny game but a good game before me because I won," said Chisnall. "Hats off to Jamie because he played well and kept plodding on and hitting his doubles and pulling it back, but thankfully I broke his throw in the last leg.

"I had a feeling that the game was going to go all the way because he's a great player. Sometimes I was in control but I was probably under pressure more than Jamie because I was almost always in the lead.

"My scoring's never a problem but sometimes it's my doubles which are a bit dodgy, but luckily I won tonight and that's all that matters."

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Phil Taylor began his quest to win the BetVictor World Matchplay for an incredible 16th time with a crushing 10-2 win over John Henderson on Monday night, as Andy Hamilton, Keegan Brown and Dave Chisnall joined him in the second round.

Taylor, unbeaten at the Winter Gardens since 2007, kicked off his challenge in the £450,000 event in ideal fashion by seeing off the Scottish qualifier with a comfortable victory.

Taylor kicked off three of the opening four legs with 180s as he established a 3-1 lead, and extended the gap to five legs before Henderson hit back to trail 6-2.

Taylor hit a fourth maximum as he regained his five-leg lead and then clinically took out 109 and 64 to move 9-2 up and landed another 180 before sealing victory with two double eights to finish 32.

"It was a good win and I did what I set out to do," said Taylor. "John's a better player than he showed tonight but you've got to attack your opponent and put them under pressure.

"I knew John was a little bit under pressure from the beginning so I tried to speed him up a bit and push him.

"This is my favourite venue and I love the tournament, and I feel comfortable here so it's great to still be in the hunt."

Taylor's second round opponent will be Stoke rival Andy Hamilton, who caused an upset by knocking out five-time World Champion Raymond van Barneveld with a fine 10-7 victory.

Hamilton had claimed the final ProTour qualifying place in the tournament and was the 750/1 outsider to claim the title with sponsors BetVictor ahead of the event - but has seen those odds slashed to 125/1 following the win.

Checkouts of 96 and 158 in the first two legs gave him an ideal start, and though van Barneveld hit back to 3-2, Hamilton took the next five legs without reply - landing a 13-darter and three 180s in the process - as he moved 8-2 up.

Van Barneveld won the next three to spark a revival, and after Hamilton landed a 180 and a 91 finish to move 9-5 up, he took out 48 and 96 to cut the gap to two legs.

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From Arthur Askey to Shirley Bassey, the Winter Gardens in Blackpool bring out the best performers in the world. Now Phil Taylor looks to get in on the act by landing a 16th World Matchplay title.

The tungsten dart legend has been utterly peerless during his time at the tournament, which is held beside the seaside in sunny Lancashire.

Taylor has won 15 Matchplay titles since it began in 1995 and 'The Power' is now aiming to make it eight in a row and continue his 35-match unbeaten run when he kicks-off his campaign on Monday.

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Andy Hamilton caused the shock of the 2015 World Matchplay Tungsten Darts so far by knocking out five-time world champion Raymond van Barneveld in the first round on Monday night.

'Barney', a 21-time major title winner, was expected to beat the out-of-form Hamilton but struggled with his average from the start and eventually lost 10-7 at the famous Winter Gardens venue in Blackpool.

'The Hammer' raced into a two-leg lead, hitting a 158 checkout along the way. With the momentum fully with the world No 20, Van Barneveld couldn't find the catalyst needed to recover from his poor throwing.

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The Premier League player was always playing catch up against White who returned for the final mini-session to take five of the last six legs and send Bunting packing in a match illuminated by 17 180s.

White hit bullseye to claim his first leg before breaking Bunting’s throw, then going 3-1 up to leave his opponent looking bewildered. He checked out from 118 to go 4-2 up but Bunting’s nine maximums helped him to make it five apiece heading into a break.

When they returned to the oche it was one-way traffic with White breaking Bunting’s throw twice and taking out 112 to put himself one leg away from victory. Bunting briefly delayed the inevitable before White secured a second-round tie against Simon Whitlock.

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Gary Anderson began his quest for the Triple Crown with a straightforward 10-4 victory over Steve Beaton at the World Matchplay on July 19.

The Flying Scotsman is aiming to add the Matchplay trophy to the World Darts Championship and Premier League Darts titles that he has already won in 2015, and used his first-round match at Blackpool’s Winter Gardens as a showcase of his tungsten talents.

He broke Beaton’s throw within minutes then took out 79, before punishing his opponent’s inability to finish with a demonstration of how to do so from 113. Beaton broke back before Anderson did the same with a finish from 75.

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Two exciting opportunity's for players to book their places in this years Grand Slam of Darts and join Scott Mitchell, Martin Adams,Geert De Vos and Martin Phillips at the Civic Hall, North Street, Wolverhampton WV1 1RD between 7th - 15th November 2015.

The UK/Rep of Ireland along with players from outside Europe can enter the BDO Play-Offs in Hull on 6th October 2015 and the European players can enter the NDB Play-Offs in Veldhoven on 18th October 2015. There will be 2 qualifiers from each event.

Full details are given in the attached press releases.

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Klaasen – who won his second PDC title in Wigan – kept his superb run of results going as he romped to victory over fan favourite Petersen, landing an 11-darter in the process as the South African struggled to recapture the form that saw him defeat Peter Wright on day two.

Robert Thornton will be Klaasen’s next opponent after he ensured it would not be a case of third time lucky for two-time European Darts Open runner-up Simon Whitlock, winning 6-3.

With the match evenly posied at 3-3, Thornton found another gear as he reeled of the final three legs, closing out the win with a classy 12-dart leg as he expertly checked out 121.

Klaasen’s Dutch counterpart Michael van Gerwen also enjoyed a comprehensive victory as he raced to a 6-1 victory against Johnny Haines in the opening game of the final day.

After a below-par performance on day two, van Gerwen started slowly again against Swindon-thrower Haines as he was broken in the opening leg of the match. But the Dutchman would quickly regain his form as he took the next six legs without reply, finishing with a 101.47 average and ending in style with a spectacular 11-dart leg.

Van Gerwen will now face Alan Norris, who is into his first European Tour quarter-final after edging out Mervyn King 6-5 in a deciding leg. After an even start to the match, Norris landed his highest checkout of the match (127) to open up a 4-2 lead.

King would respond well though as he took the next three legs to move 5-4 in front, before Norris kicked off with six perfect darts in the penultimate leg as he forced a decider where he would land tops to break the throw and seal victory.

Fifth seed Brendan Dolan produced a solid display to Terry Jenkins 6-4 in the third game of the afternoon.

Jenkins started superbly as he stormed into a 3-1 lead, including a brilliant 11-darter in the second leg as he kicked off with back-to-back maximums. Dolan would hit back in style though as he found his form as he took the following four legs before swiftly wrapping up the win on tops.

Dolan will take on Kim Huybrechts in the last eight after the Belgian defeated International Darts Open winner Michael Smith 6-4 in Dusseldorf. There was nothing to separate the pair in the early exchanges before Huybrechts kicked on to open up a two leg lead at 5-3 before wrapping up the victory with a 13-darter two legs later.

James Wade would win by the same scoreline as he ended Mark Webster's impressive run in Dusseldorf.

There was never more than a leg in the match until the final leg as the pair both struggled to pull clear, with Wade landing brilliant 138 and 121 finishes on his way to victory as he continued his strong form of late having won last weekend's Players Championship event in Wigan.

Wade will now face-off with Vincent van der Voort, who enjoyed a much simpler passage into the quarter-finals as he comprehensively defeated Dutch Darts Masters runner-up Justin Pipe 6-1.

Van der Voort was always on top as he raced into a 4-0 lead against the tenth seed, checking out 127 in the process, before beginning with a 180 in the final leg and finishing on double 16.

As for professional game of dart, we recommend tungsten dart, tungsten is an extremely dense metal. It is also very durable, so a high-density tungsten dart resists wear and the knurling will last much longer.

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