Littler & Ashton win Matchplay titles - results & prize money
Luke Littler beat James Wade 18-13 in a superb final to win the World Matchplay title for the first time
- Published
The 2025 World Matchplay started on Saturday, 19 July and ran until Sunday, 27 July, with 18-year-old Luke Littler winning the Phil Taylor Trophy and a first prize of £200,000.
World champion Littler defeated James Wade 18-13 in a high-quality final.
The tournament - one of the Professional Darts Corporation's majors - featured 32 players and took place at Blackpool's Winter Gardens.
The top 16 in the PDC's world rankings qualified automatically, with the other 16 places given to the 16 highest-ranked players in the ProTour rankings.
That meant some big names did not qualify - including 2023 world champion Michael Smith.
World number one Luke Humphries was the defending Matchplay champion but was knocked out in the opening round by the Netherlands' Gian van Veen.
A separate, shorter women's tournament featuring eight players also took place on 27 July and was won by four-time women's world champion Lisa Ashton, who defeated Fallon Sherrock 6-5 in the final.
Lisa Ashton earned spots in both the Grand Slam of Darts and the PDC World Championship as a result of her World Matchplay victory
The 16 top-ranked players were seeded in the World Matchplay, meaning their first-round opponents were those who qualified via the ProTour.
The seeded players were drawn in such a way the number one seed would face the number 16 seed if they both won their first-round match, and so on.
In the first round, matches were the best of 19 legs, which increased to a best-of-21 in the second round.
The quarter-finals were the best of 31 legs, with the semi-finals and final potentially lasting 33 and 35 legs respectively.
Matches needed to be won by two clear legs, but if a two-leg lead was not found within six extra then there would be a sudden-death leg.
What was the World Matchplay prize money?
Littler took home £200,000 in prize money from the tournament's prize pool of £800,000.
Runner-up Wade won £100,000, with two losing semi-finalists - Jonny Clayton and Josh Rock - securing £50,000 each.
An exit in the quarter-finals earned players £30,000 each, while those knocked out in the second round secured £15,000 each.
Those beaten in the first round took home £10,000.
In the women's tournament, the total prize pot was £25,000, with Ashton receiving £10,000.
World Matchplay results
Final (best of 35 legs)
James Wade 13-18 Luke Littler
Semi-finals (best of 33 legs)
James Wade 20-18 Jonny Clayton
Luke Littler 17-14 Josh Rock
Quarter-finals (best of 31 legs)
Gian Van Veen 13-16 James Wade
Stephen Bunting 7-16 Jonny Clayton
Luke Littler 16-14 Andrew Gilding
Josh Rock 16-11 Gerwyn Price
Second round (best of 21 legs)
Gian Van Veen 11-5 Danny Noppert
Wessel Nijman 5-11 James Wade
Stephen Bunting 12-10 Gary Anderson
Jonny Clayton 11-8 Mike De Decker
Andrew Gilding 11-5 Dirk van Duijvenbode
Chris Dobey 3-11 Gerwyn Price
Luke Littler 13-11 Jermaine Wattimena
Michael van Gerwen 11-13 Josh Rock
First round (best of 19 legs)
James Wade 10-3 Joe Cullen
Danny Noppert 10-2 Cameron Menzies
Luke Humphries 8-10 Gian van Veen
Nathan Aspinall 6-10 Wessel Nijman
Damon Heta 10-12 Andrew Gilding
Rob Cross 8-10 Dirk van Duijvenbode
Peter Wright 8-10 Jermaine Wattimena
Dave Chisnall 7-10 Mike De Decker
Gary Anderson 10-5 Luke Woodhouse
Jonny Clayton 10-7 Martin Schindler
Luke Littler 10-2 Ryan Searle
Stephen Bunting 10-8 Ryan Joyce
Chris Dobey 10-5 Ricardo Piertreczko
Gerwyn Price 10-7 Daryl Gurney
Michael van Gerwen 10-6 Raymond van Barneveld
Ross Smith 5-10 Josh Rock
Women's World Matchplay results
Final (best of 11 legs)
Lisa Ashton 6-5 Fallon Sherrock
Semi-finals (best of nine legs)
Beau Greaves 3-5 Lisa Ashton
Noa-Lynn van Leuven 4-5 Fallon Sherrock
Quarter-finals
Beau Greaves 4-1 Kirsi Viinikainen
Lisa Ashton 4-2 Robyn Byrne
Noa-Lynn van Leuven 4-0 Lorraine Winstanley
Fallon Sherrock 4-3 Gemma Hayter
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