2022 World Matchplay: Draw, schedule, prize money, and preview for the Sky Sports-televised event

The 29th annual World Matchplay gets underway at the infamous Winter Gardens in Blackpool on July 15th. Sky Sports-televised event is the biggest darts tournament outside of the World Championship. The Match play has delivered some of most memorable moments in the sport.

The World Matchplay consists of 32 players - the top 16 players in the PDC's Order of Merit and the ProTour Qualifiers. Peter Wright is the current world number one and defending champion. Gerwyn Price, Michael Smith, James Wade, Damon Heta, Brendan Dolan, Adrian Lewis and Dirk van Duijvenobde are also in contention.

The World Matchplay starts on Saturday, July 16 and ends on Sunday, 24th. The tournament consists of a knockout format. There are up to five additional legs played before the sixth additional leg is sudden-death.

The World Matchplay gets underway on Saturday with Krzysztof Ratajski, Dimitri Van den Bergh, Jonny Clayton and Peter Wright all in action. The headline encounter sees Michael van Gerwen take on the two-time world champion Adrian Lewis. First round games take place on Monday night. Second round matches take places on Tuesday and Wednesday, while the quarter-finals will be held on Thursday and Friday. Saturday and Sunday will see the semi-final clashes, and the World match on June 24.

Peter Wright is the defending World Matchplay champion. He won the title last year. Wright won 10 games in a row against Danny Noppert, then averaged 105 in his victory over Joe Cullen, 17-10 against Michael van Gerwen and 18-9 against Dimitri Van den Bergh.

The 2022 World Matchplay will be broadcast live on Sky Sports. Fans can follow the action on platforms such as DAZN, Viaplay and PDCTV.