Darts World Matchplay 2015: Round 1 Results, Standings, Updated Draw, Fixtures

All roads lead to Blackpool this week on the PDC tour, as the World Matchplay takes centre stage at the iconic Winter Gardens for the season’s third major championship.

The Matchplay brings together the 32 best players on the world darts circuit, but it’s one man who always seems to find the recipe for success on the intimate stage—Phil Taylor.

The Power has won this tournament a staggering 15 times since the inaugural competition in 1995, including the last seven on the spin.

Time after time, Taylor finds an extra gear in Blackpool, and he’s undoubtedly the man to beat in 2015. Former player Wayne Mardle reflected on as much, telling Sky Sports the 16-time world champion is near impossible to stop in the Matchplay:

"

Taylor just doesn’t lose in Blackpool. It’s a different surface to Phil—it’s like he’s using a different board with different dimensions. The format works for him. When he gets up and running in the World Matchplay, he’s so difficult to stop. If he doesn’t lose in the early stages then suddenly you play him in a best-of-25 match and think 'hold on, I need to play very well to beat Phil Taylor here.'

"

Never has Taylor’s dominance been so apparent than in last year’s tournament, where he disposed of the rampant Michael van Gerwen 18-9 in the final to win with minimal fuss.

The Power will have his work cut out this time around, though, with the likes of the world No. 1 Van Gerwen, Adrian Lewis, Peter Wright, Dave Chisnall and world champion Gary Anderson all vying for to dethrone him.

Read on for daily updates as the drama unfolds in Blackpool, as eight days of dramatic darting action get underway with the best-of-19 first round.

Darts World Matchplay 2015 Fixtures/Results

TOM HEVEZI/Associated Press

Saturday, July 18
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 (1 p.m. BST)

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 (7 p.m. BST)

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

Monday July 20 (7 p.m. BST)

Robert Thornton 7-10 Keegan Brown
Dave Chisnall 13-11 Jamie Caven
Phil Taylor 10-2 John Henderson
Raymond van Barneveld 7-10 Andy Hamilton

Day 3: Defending Champion Taylor Advances Comfortably

Dan Mullan/Getty Images

Phil Taylor cruised to the second round of the 2015 BetVictor World Matchplay, taking care of John Henderson in a hurry on Monday. The Power surrendered just two legs in his opening match, comfortably winning 10-2.

Henderson didn't exactly put up much of a fight, averaging just 81.9 throughout the match, but Taylor's performance was still impressive. With an average of 95.6 and a high finish of 109, the World No. 2 didn't have to be at his very best on the doubles, where he made just 34.5 percent.

Taylor started the first two legs with a maximum before Henderson nicked his first leg, taking advantage of two missed doubles from his opponent. What followed was an absolute demolition, however. The next time Henderson checked out, he was down 6-2 and on the wrong end of a masterclass, and the following four legs also went Taylor's way.

According to Sky Sports Darts, the defending champion took his undefeated streak at the tournament to 36 matches, and he has to be considered the favourite for this year's crown as well. Taylor has lifted the trophy at Winter Gardens a record 15 times and hasn't been beaten in Blackpool since 2007.

Dave Chisnall needed 24 legs to get past Jamie Caven, in what was undoubtedly the match of the night. Neither player managed to get a lead of more than a single leg until Chizzy nailed double eight in leg 24, winning 13-11. He missed four match darts in that frame alone, and had Caven completed the comeback, the two would have played out a sudden death.

Chizzy held the advantage in average but really struggled with his doubles, converting just over 30 percent, including six misses in the final two legs. He'll have to do better to survive against some of the more explosive scorers, but he'll like his chances in the second round, where he'll face Keegan Brown.

Brown entered the tournament without a major title on his resume but shocked Robert Thornton in the first round, winning 10-7. The 22-year-old averaged 97 and converted 52.6 percent of his doubles, putting together the kind of performance that is sure to raise eyebrows among the favourites.

As shared by the PDC's official Twitter account, he was over the moon with his win:

"

WATCH: Hear from @keegz180 after he saw off Robert Thornton to reach round two in Blackpool! #WorldMatchplay https://t.co/2bkd0k2oC9

— PDC Darts (@OfficialPDC) July 20, 2015"

In the final match of the day, Andy Hamilton caused a minor shock by beating Raymond van Barneveld. The 48-year-old will be rewarded for his efforts with a second-round match against Taylor.

Day 2 (Evening Session): Big Names Power Through

TOM HEVEZI/Associated Press

World champion Gary Anderson began his bid to win the 2015 BetVictor World Matchplay by beating Steve Beaton 10-4. In the process, Anderson kept his Triple Crown hopes alive.

He took an early break to leave Beaton reeling. A 113 checkout eventually sealed Anderson's route to the second round, per Sky Sports.

While his progress was relatively serene, Terry Jenkins was caught cold by towering Austrian Mensur Suljovic. A scrappy game went to overtime before Suljovic took the spoils, 11-9.

Among the highlights was Jenkins hitting half a dozen maximums. He also nailed a double two while under pressure from Suljovic to even the match at nine legs apiece.

A double 16 followed as part of Suljovic's winning run. The pro-Jenkins crowd at Blackpool's Winter Gardens did not greet the victory with much enthusiasm.

The evening session began with Dutchman Vincent van der Voort nearly hitting a nine-darter against Brendan Dolan. Van der Voort would soon wish he'd taken his chance.

Dolan staked himself to a 2-1 lead with a pair of doubles to wrap up winning legs. He managed to hold his throw to build a 7-3 lead and then survive a brief wobble before winning 10-6. A double 16 was the finishing throw.

That match bookended the session with the night's main event, James Wade battling Kyle Anderson. The pair were impossible to separate as they split the first 10 legs five apiece.

In the 11th, they traded 100s, before Wade took the leg thanks to a sweetly hit double 18. Anderson immediately responded with a 180.

He was unflappable and steady, giving the player dubbed "The Machine" a taste of his own medicine. In the 13th leg, Wade hit 140, followed by Anderson's 137 as the seesaw scrap continued.

At 7-6 up, Wade had Anderson under real pressure for the first time. But a 100 and 98 kept his game opponent hanging around.

Another 180 put Anderson in the driving seat, but he missed tops to take the leg. Fortunately, a double 10 soon let him even things at seven legs each.

Then it was Wade's turn to miss tops. But he held his throw the next time to move back in front, albeit by a slender margin.

Double five finally gave Wade the edge he needed. A 180 followed, as Anderson seemed beaten.

Wade sealed things with a double 10 to take the match of the day.

Monday's session will see 2014 winner Phil Taylor in action, as well as Raymond van Barneveld.

All scoring information via PDC.TV.

Day 2 (Afternoon Session): Some Big Names Fall

TOM HEVEZI/Associated Press

Some big names fell by the wayside on the second day of the 2015 edition of the BetVictor World Matchplay Darts Championship. In fact, to be more accurate, those big names were shoved through the exit door by defiant opponents.

The first to leave early was veteran Mervyn King. The 49-year-old couldn't overcome Andrew "Goldfinger" Gilding.

Things started brightly for King who hit a maximum in each of the first two legs to open up a 2-0 lead. But a pair of treble-19's got Gilding back in it during the third leg.

He'd hit a double-10 for the win. That was just the start of an amazing rally from the 44-year-old. He took the next seven legs.

World No. 12 King couldn’t hold his throw to go out on 140 and level the match. Gilding hit double 18 to move 4-2 in front.

King was looking very uncomfortable at the oche. Later, he missed double-16 at 7-2 down to get back in it. Then he hit his familiar double to make the score 7-3 and stop the rot.

Despite some late heroics and desperate chucking from King, Gilding closed things out to win 10-8. Given how often he's struggled in Blackpool, along with King's reputation as one of the shrewdest players in Darts, Gilding's win has to rate as a significant upset.

Then it was Ian White and Stephen Bunting's turn. The pair produced a wild 5-5 tie after 10 legs.

But it was White who soon took control. A trio of maximums got him going and created a 7-5 lead. Double tops wrapped things up at 10-6.

Next up, James Lewis saw off Justin Pipe 10-7. Neither player particularly excelled, with both averaging just above 90, per the PDC.TV official site.

But it was Lewis who held his nerve and proved the steadier scorer. Along with Gilding's upset, not many would have predicted Pipe being sent home this early.

But if the crowd were surprised by those results, they would have been downright shocked watching Gerwyn Price beating Michael Smith. A touted player, Smith dropped the first five legs.

Every time he missed, Price made him pay. He hit a maximum in the 12th to move 9-3 in front. That left the 30-year-old Welshman to seal a hugely impressive 10-4 win.

Price will now meet Adrian Lewis in Round 2, while Michael van Gerwen awaits James Lewis, according to Sky Sports.

All scoring information via PDC.TV.

Day 1: Big Guns Start with a Bang

lawrence lustig/Associated Press

The 2015 World Matchplay opened up with four mouth-watering games, as Simon Whitlock took on Jelle Klaasen, Peter Wright and Kim Huybrechts met, Michael van Gerwen did battle with Benito van de Pas and Adrian Lewis and Joe Murnan closed out the evening.

The Matchplay has served up some truly incredible, giant-killing results down the years, but everything went with the script on Saturday, as the favourites proved worthy of their tags.

Whitlock and Klaasen were the first men at the oche, but the Dutchman quite simply wasn’t at the races in the early exchanges.

The Aussie burst into a 5-0 lead thanks to some sharp double shooting, and he held on to such dominance for the duration of the match.

Klaasen came alive at times and posted two impressive 14-dart legs to get on the board, but Whitlock was just too strong.

He made hard work of the final leg by missing three clear darts at double six but eventually took it out to book his place in the second round.

It was a similar story for Wright in his game with Huybrechts, as Snakebite moved into a 6-0 lead right off the bat.

The Belgian had hit chances to win legs with shots at the bull, but such was Wright’s scoring power that he was there to pick up the pieces with every miss.

Huybrechts did fight back to 6-3, but an 11-darter from Wright in Leg 10 effectively tied up the match.

Wright eventually went on to win 10-5 and book a match against either Mervyn King or Andrew Gilding in Round 2.

He thoroughly deserved the victory, too, with an outstanding average of 108.1, which was too hot for his Belgian counterpart, as PDC Darts revealed:

"

MATCH STATS: Outstanding averages from @snakebitewright in Blackpool! http://t.co/9cGXvNrxY1 #WorldMatchplay pic.twitter.com/IWUX1dwNNm

— PDC Darts (@OfficialPDC) July 18, 2015"

Van Gerwen made even lighter work of his first-round match, showing no mercy to Van de Pas by surging into a 9-1 lead in double-quick time.

Van de Pas finally woke up in Leg 11 and rattled off three straight legs to give Van Gerwen something to think about.

However, the 2014 world champion wasn’t to be deterred, as he took out a straight ton to progress 10-4.

Following the match, Van Gerwen reflected on a routine day at the office with the PDC, saying he was just the better player on the day:

"

WATCH: Hear from @MvG180 after he got his @BetVictor World Matchplay off to a winning start! #WorldMatchplay https://t.co/0wb4cbOZ3m

— PDC Darts (@OfficialPDC) July 18, 2015"

Next up was Lewis, who’s undoubtedly amongst the bookmakers’ favourites to land the World Matchplay title this week. However, he made hard work of his first-round match against Murnan.

Despite going 7-2 up and playing well, Lewis suddenly started to look a little shaky, and the momentum quickly switched.

Murnan was suddenly playing like Lewis in his pomp, scoring heavily and punishing on the doubles.

Just a blink later from 7-2 and it was 7-6, with the two-time world champion visibly looking nervous on the Blackpool stage.

Lewis then just about managed to steady the ship, though, and despite missing a dart at tops to win the match at 9-6, he went on to win 10-7.

Sunday sees some big names take to the Winter Gardens stage across two sessions, with world champion Gary Anderson in action against Steve Beaton in the pick of the evening's fixtures.

The Matchplay’s fast and furious format always keeps the crowd on the edge of their seats, and if Day 1 is a taster of what’s in store for the next week, we’re certainly in for a treat.