Watch all nine days of the World Matchplay, from Blackpool's iconic Winter Gardens, starting on Saturday, July 17 and reaching its dramatic conclusion on Sunday, July 25 when the Phil Taylor Trophy will be awarded to the winner
Thursday 15 July 2021 12:23, UK
As the World Matchplay makes its return to Blackpool after a year away, former champion Colin Lloyd offers his predictions and picks out his players to watch at the Winter Gardens showpiece.
You can't ignore Gerwyn Price, the's the world champ, the world number one and when he gets on the dart board it doesn't matter if he's had a little bit of a lull in form or we haven't seen him much because he couldn't compete in the Premier League, he's still a mean competitor and it's another big title up for grabs so Gerwyn Price is a danger man for me.
MVG is a former champ of not only the Matchplay but I think every title the PDC ranks. He hasn't won a tournament this year but I don't think he'll worry about that. One thing Michael doesn't do or tends to try not to do is put pressure on himself. He turns up, he knows he's a danger to the other players and he'll go up there with that same attitude. If he's good enough on the day he knows he can dismantle people.
He's in a rich vein of form. Is he going to have a lull at some point or another? I hope he doesn't because he's a joy to watch, he's a Premier League champ, a Masters champ, a World Cup champ, he's like a complete player. He scores very well, he takes out big shots and he doesn't fear anybody. He just goes up there and plays darts.
The former world champ. Like I said earlier he told us in the last podcast he's going to win this event and he's going to win the World Championship. We think he's settled down with his darts, we think he has. He's got these new gold diamond darts now and they certainly served him well in the last event with him beating MVG 8-2 in the final so Peter Wright is going to be there or thereabouts I think.
Jose de Sousa our current Grand Slam champ. He knows how to win and just loves playing darts. I think he's somebody who won't be fazed by the crowd, I think he'll enjoy having the crowd there. I think they have already taken to him, if you look at social media they absolutely love him. The thing I don't want to see him do is if he makes a miscalculation at a wrong time. We're letting him get away with it and he laughs if off which is fair enough and the crowd laugh it off and love it, but he's going to do it at some point where it's going to cost him a match where he's going to be in that sort of position to take control, he'll miscount and that could ultimately cost him the match.
They are my five danger men but five other players I will be interested in and watching is Ryan Searle, Dirk van Duijvenbode, Brendan Dolan, Nathan Aspinall and my good pal Gary Anderson, because we all know he's a multiple major champion and if he turns up and is in good form and good spirits we know full well what he can do and he can put on a show and throw some devastating stuff.
A surprise package for me I think is possibly Ryan Searle. I like Ryan, it's not that I've got a soft spot for him but I just think he's a really good player. He goes up there and just plays his darts, he's a bit like Jose, he loves playing darts. He goes up there and when he starts hitting it he doesn't large it, he doesn't do anything, just total focus and just thinks 'right I've just got to get to 10 legs', boom boom boom, 10 legs. Second round, 'I've got to get to 13 legs', boom boom boom, 13 legs.
There's no fuss. He doesn't exert too much energy. It's going to be hot in there, it's a very pressurised situation, he conserves his energy and just expels it in the right way. I'm looking forward to Ryan and I think he might have a run. That's not to be detrimental to Michael Smith, but Michael Smith is going to have to be seriously on his game I think to get past him.
I think Duzza (Glen Durrant). Unless Glen has gone away and sorted out some demons in his head and with his throw Glen could struggle a bit. But again, he's another one. You look at the list, he's a multiple champion in majors and open events, he could turn up completely relaxed thinking to himself 'you know what, I'm not playing very well, I'm just going to go up there and enjoy it' and sometimes when you do that something clicks and you can just go up there and be that player that he was two or three years ago and just hit everything.
The only way I don't see him struggling a little bit is if young Callan Rydz lets the occasion get to him. They're all tough events so it doesn't matter where you play, but the Winter Gardens there is just an aura about the place. Phil Taylor used to love playing there, I used to love playing there. There's just a certain something special about the place and you can't get sucked into that holiday atmosphere, you're there to work, you're there to do a job. For me if he's not on his game Glen could get beat.
There's also going to be a bit of pressure on Rob Cross the former champion. Rob is solid enough though and is level-headed enough to say 'I've done it before, I'm just going to go up there and play my darts'. But he's walking into somebody again who is making his debut in Ross Smith, I think Ross is such a level-headed lad and one heck of a dart player and he'll get in the zone as quickly as possible and start doing the job.
I've been sucked into his hype. I'm going to go with Peter Wright. I've bought in. I like the fact that he's only had these gold darts like a couple of weeks and anybody who can beat Michael van Gerwen 8-2 when Michael is averaging between 105 and 106, possibly higher, they are throwing some seriously good stuff. We know that Peter is somebody that focuses and takes his darts very very seriously, especially when it's the second biggest tournament on the calendar.
Darts is back on your Sky Sports screens this month, with nine days of coverage from the iconic Winter Gardens and the World Matchplay - the action gets under way on Saturday July 17.
