The World Matchplay of Darts is a huge opportunity for qualifiers to add massive prize money amounts towards their ranking on the Main OoM.
It’s simple, the farther a player goes, the bigger the prize fund becomes.
A trip to the quarterfinal round alone could be massive for certain players.
Those who go on to the final and are either a runner-up or the winner are the ones who reap the benefits the most, by adding a huge chunk to their ranking total.
What players have the most to defend going into the 2025 World Matchplay?
Getting far in this tournament can set a player up well for the next two years, but if they don’t have any other major runs or consistent performances in that period, they face the grueling effects of the prize money vanishing once the two years pass.
We just saw that with Michael Smith after the 2025 PDC World Championship. He was knocked out early, which meant he wasn’t gaining much prize money from the tournament, and lost all the money towards his ranking total that he earned from his WC title in 2023.
He dropped far down and away from his previous position, as world number two, and that performance ultimately contributed to why he didn’t qualify for the World Matchplay next week.
Let’s take a look at some of the players who will try and avoid the position that Smith ended up in.
MORE: These 3 major PDC stars didn’t qualify for the 2025 World Matchplay of Darts
Nathan Aspinall
Aspinall has had a great bounce-back year between performances in the Premier League, at majors and the European Tour, but he faces a lot of pressure this upcoming week.
Aspinall is the current world number seven, with a two-year prize money total of £523,250.
£200,000 of that comes from his title at the World Matchplay in 2023.
After the World Matchplay ends in a couple of weeks, that money is gone.
Aspinall faces Wessel Nijman in the first round of action this weekend, so the pressure will be felt to avoid an early exit that could be detrimental to his positioning in the rankings.
Aspinall has won several ranked events this year, including a couple on the European Tour, which helps him pick up money that can make up for poor performances at other events, but he’d be helping his future self if he could at least make it to the quarterfinals this year.
We know Aspinall is a much better player than the rankings would show in the scenario where he loses next week, but that could create issues down the line with qualifying for other tournaments or even getting into the Premier League next year.
MORE: Who qualified for the 2025 World Matchplay of Darts?
Joe Cullen
Cullen was a semifinalist at the World Matchplay two years ago, so £50,000 is set to come off his ranking money.
With how Cullen has been struggling recently, a big run in a TV title tournament can allow him to breathe a big sigh of relief moving forward.
He will also be defending money from a semifinal appearance at the World Grand Prix in 2023, in a few months.
He has to find quality tournament performances to replace the money he will lose from the World Matchplay and World Grand Prix over the next few months.
MORE: 2025 World Matchplay of Darts: Draw, schedule, prize money and format explained
Jonny Clayton
Clayton was the runner-up in the 2023 World Matchplay final against Nathan Aspinall.
He’ll lose that £100,000 after this year’s tournament passes.
He’s currently the world number five, and most of the reasons why Aspinall is in danger apply to Clayton as well.
He missed out on the Premier League this year, despite his high ranking, but has been consistent on the ProTour and in majors this year.
Clayton would still qualify for the majors even with an early exit, but he could drop out of the top 10 on the Main OoM, which I’m sure he would be upset about.
Clayton hasn’t been in the Premier League since 2023 and won it all in 2021.
MORE: Gerwyn Price sets tone for World Matchplay of Darts after winning second title this week
Peter Wright
Peter Wright had a quality run to the quarterfinals at this year’s PDC WC, but other than that, he hasn’t had many strong performances at majors in the last 18 months.
A second-round exit at the 2023 World Matchplay will mean that little money will come off Wright’s prize money total.
However, a good tournament can provide his insurance going forward, as prize money will fade away soon from his ranking. This includes the money he earned through a quarterfinal run at the World Grand Prix in 2023 and his European Championship win in 2023 (£145,000 combined).
Wright is currently just inside the top 16 for the Main OoM and is 23rd on the ProTour OoM.
Wright will need to find his form if he wants to guarantee spots in majors over the next year or so.
MORE: 5 PDC darts players under most pressure to perform well at upcoming tournaments
Raymond van Barneveld
It’s not known how much longer we will see RVB competing regularly on the tour in the PDC, but he hasn’t put together many great performances recently.
He barely got into the World Matchplay this year, getting the second-to-last ProTour qualifier spot.
He has the tall task of playing Michael van Gerwen in the first round, so there aren’t the highest expectations for him going in.
Whether it’s this tournament or in a major in the future, RVB needs to start accumulating some decent prize money to avoid falling further in the world rankings, which would make it much harder for him to qualify for majors.
He isn’t necessarily defending prize money, but like I said, sooner than later, he’ll have to go on a run if he wants to compete in majors like the Matchplay in the future.
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