Betfred World Matchplay 2026 schedule and results: Round-by-round scores from Blackpool as Luke Littler defended his title
Round-by-round results from the Betfred World Matchplay, where defending champion Luke Littler beat former world No 1 Gerwyn Price 18-9 to successfully defend his title at the Winter Gardens in Blackpool; Price finished runner-up for a second time in four years
Defending champion Luke Littler became the first player since Michael van Gerwen to retain the title in Blackpool, producing a tournament-record average as he sealed an emphatic 18-9 victory over Gerwyn Price.
Littler previously came past Niko Springer in his tournament opener ahead of beating Nathan Aspinall in a second-round thriller, before thrashing Josh Rock and Dirk van Duijvenbode to breeze through to the final.
2022 runner-up Price edged past Martin Schindler in his tournament opener and then improved to beat Rob Cross in the next round, before defeating Ross Smith to continue his record of reaching every TV major semi-final this season.
Price saw off Gian van Veen 16-13 to reach his first major TV final since 2023, with the victory lifting him to world No 4 and seeing him leapfrog Jonny Clayton as the highest-ranked Welshman.
The event featured the top 16 players from the PDC Werner Rankings Ladder as well as the best 16 players from the one-year ProTour rankings.
Prize purses for the 2026 event have been boosted to £1m, with the winner set to pocket £225,000. Littler reaching the final guarantees him becoming the first player in history to break £3m in prize money.
Betfred World Matchplay - Session by session results
Top 16 qualifiers from the Werner Ladder
1. Luke Littler 2. Luke Humphries 3. Gian van Veen 4. Michael van Gerwen 5. Jonny Clayton 6. James Wade 7. Gerwyn Price 8. Josh Rock 9. Stephen Bunting 10. Danny Noppert 11. Ryan Searle 12. Gary Anderson 13. Chris Dobey 14. Wessel Nijman 15. Ross Smith 16. Nathan Aspinall
Luke Woodhouse, Jermaine Wattimena, Kevin Doets, Andrew Gilding, Rob Cross, Krzysztof Ratajski, William O'Connor, Niko Springer, Niels Zonneveld, Martin Schindler, Ryan Joyce, Dirk van Duijvenbode, Cameron Menzies, Joe Cullen, Damon Heta, Dave Chisnall
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