The 2007 Stan James World Matchplay was the 14th annual staging of the World Matchplay darts tournament by the

Professional Darts Corporation The Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) is a professional darts organisation in the United Kingdom, established in 1992 when a group of leading players split from the British Darts Organisation (BDO) to form what was initially called the World ...

. It was held at its traditional home, the Winter Gardens,

Blackpool Blackpool is a seaside resort in Lancashire, England. Located on the North West England, northwest coast of England, it is the main settlement within the Borough of Blackpool, borough also called Blackpool. The town is by the Irish Sea, betw ...

, between 22–28 July 2007.

James Wade James Martin Wade (born 6 April 1983) is an English professional darts player, currently playing in the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC). He became the youngest player to win a major PDC title, when he won the 2007 World Matchplay at the ...

won his first major title, defeating

Terry Jenkins Terry Jenkins (born 26 September 1963) is an English former professional darts player who was nicknamed The Bull, having previously used the name "Tucker" for his matches. He reached number three in the world rankings and was a runner-up in nin ...

18–7 in the final. Defending and eight times champion, Phil Taylor suffered a semi-final defeat to Jenkins, meaning that he had surrendered both the World Championship and World Matchplay titles for the first time since the PDC began in 1994.

Raymond van Barneveld Raymond van Barneveld (born 20 April 1967) is a Dutch professional darts player. Nicknamed Barney, although originally known as The Man, he is one of the most successful darts players in history. Van Barneveld is a five-time World Darts Champ ...

, who went into this event having won the first three Sky TV majors of the year (

World Championship A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...

UK Open The Cazoo UK Open is a ranking major darts tournament held annually at the Butlins Minehead Resort by the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) in England. Often referred to as the "FA Cup of darts", the UK Open replicates the abolition of seedin ...

and

Las Vegas Desert Classic The Las Vegas Desert Classic was a darts tournament, organized by the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) and was held each year in July from 2002 until 2009. Its original venue was the MGM Grand Casino and Hotel, Las Vegas, Nevada from 2002 to ...

) saw his hopes of the clean-sweep evaporate with a quarter-final defeat to

Adrian Lewis Adrian Lewis (born 21 January 1985) is an English professional darts player currently playing in the PDC. He is a two-time PDC World Darts Champion, winning in 2011 and 2012. He is nicknamed Jackpot, as he won a jackpot gambling in Las Vegas ...

. Barneveld was making his debut in the event having failed to qualify in 2006. Both Lewis and Jenkins suffered hangovers from their victories over the two favourites as they lost their next matches - with

capitalising. He beat Lewis in the semi-final and Jenkins in the final. Wade became the youngest winner of a PDC televised title at the age of 24 and also rose to number three in the world rankings.

Prize fund

Qualification

PDC Top 16

# Phil Taylor ''(Semi-finals)'' #

''(Quarter-finals)'' #

Colin Lloyd Colin Edward Lloyd (born 7 August 1973), nicknamed Jaws, is an English retired professional darts player. He is a former world number one ranked player and has won two major television titles in the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) – the ...

''(First round)'' #

Peter Manley Peter David Manley (born 7 March 1962) is an English former professional darts player who played in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events from July 1996 until 2017. He won one major title, the Las Vegas Desert Classic, in 2003, and twi ...

''(First round)'' #

''(Runner-Up)'' #

Dennis Priestley Dennis Priestley (born 16 July 1950) is an English former professional darts player. He has won two world championships, and was the first player to win both the BDO and WDC (now PDC) world championships, in 1991 and 1994 respectively. He is ...

''(Second round)'' #

''(Semi-finals)'' #

Wayne Mardle Wayne Elliot Mardle (born 10 May 1973) is an English former professional darts player who played in events of the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) and British Darts Organisation (BDO). He was runner-up in three PDC majors, losing to Phil ...

''(Second round)'' #

Roland Scholten Roland Scholten (born 11 January 1965) is a Dutch former professional darts player who played in events of the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) and British Darts Organisation (BDO). Nicknamed The Tripod and The Flying Dutchman, Scholten turne ...

''(Quarter-finals)'' #

Andy Hamilton Andrew Neil Hamilton (born 28 May 1954) is a British comedian, game show panellist, television director, comedy screenwriter, radio dramatist, novelist and actor. Early life and education Hamilton was born in Fulham, southwest London. He ...

''(Second round)'' #

(Winner) #

John Part John Part (born June 29, 1966) is a Canadian former professional darts player and current commentator. Nicknamed Darth Maple, he is a three-times World Champion, having won the 1994 BDO World Darts Championship on his world championship debut, a ...

''(Second round)'' #

Ronnie Baxter Ronnie Baxter (born 5 February 1961) is an English former professional darts player who competed in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events. He used the nickname "The Rocket" for his matches. Baxter was known for his fast robotic throwing a ...

''(Quarter-finals)'' #

Andy Jenkins Andrew Jenkins (born 11 March 1971) is an English professional darts player who competes in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events. He was nicknamed "Rocky" due to his rough personality. Jenkins has reached high rankings in the PDC, but ha ...

''(Second round)'' #

Barrie Bates Barrie Bates (born 17 October 1969) is a former Welsh darts player who played on the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) circuit. His original nickname was Batesy, but since 2007, he was known as Champagne. Career Bates made his PDC televised ...

''(Second round)'' #

Kevin Painter Kevin Painter (born 12 July 1967) is an English retired darts player, known as "The Artist". He is arguably most famous for finishing as the runner-up to Phil Taylor in the 2004 PDC World Championship final, now widely credited as one of the ...

''(Second round)''

PDPA Players Championship qualifiers

# Chris Mason ''(First round)'' #

Mark Dudbridge Mark "Flash" Dudbridge (born 11 January 1973) is an English professional darts player. He appeared in the 2005 Premier League Darts after reaching the final of the 2005 PDC World Darts Championship. He also is a former World Master and has r ...

''(First round)'' # Mark Walsh ''(First round)'' #

Colin Osborne Colin Osborne (born 19 June 1975) is an English professional darts player who plays in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events. In 2009, he won the Championship League and reached the final of the UK Open. Darts career Osborne has won tw ...

''(First round)'' #

Denis Ovens Denis Ovens (born 1 July 1957 in Enfield) is an English retired professional darts player. He is nicknamed ''The Heat'' and is now based in Stevenage. Ovens is widely regarded as one of the most consistent players in the circuit, though he ha ...

''(First round)'' # Wayne Jones ''(First round)'' #

Alan Tabern "The Saint" Alan Tabern (born 29 September 1966) is an English darts player who plays in events of the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC). Darts career A left-hander, Tabern made his PDC World Championship debut in 2006 with a surprising ...

''(First round)'' #

Wes Newton Wesley Newton (born 27 August 1977) is an English professional darts player. Darts career Newton's first PDC major was the 2003 UK Open where he lost 8–6 to Mark Thomson in the last 32. He was beaten in the semi-finals of the Eastbourne Op ...

''(First round)'' # Andy Smith ''(First round)'' #

Alan Warriner-Little Alan Warriner-Little (born Warriner; 24 March 1962) is an English former professional darts player. Nicknamed The Iceman, he is a former World Grand Prix champion and a former runner-up at the World Professional Darts Championship. Darts care ...

''(First round)'' #

Mick McGowan Michael McGowan (born 1 February 1973) is an Irish professional darts player who last played in events for the British Darts Organisation (BDO). Career McGowan last played on the PDC pro tour in the Killarney Pro Tour 1 in October 2013 and his ...

''(First round)'' # Mervyn King ''(Quarter-finals)'' #

Michael van Gerwen Michael van Gerwen (; born 25 April 1989) is a Dutch professional darts player. He is currently ranked number 3 in the world, having been number 1 from 2014 to 2021. He is also a three-time PDC World Champion, having won the title in 2014, 2 ...

''(Second round)'' #

Adrian Gray Adrian Gray (born 28 February 1981) is an English darts player who plays in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events. Career Gray made his televised debut at the 2003 UK Open. He only began playing darts at the age of 18, and within thr ...

''(First round)'' #

Steve Beaton Steve Beaton (born 5 April 1964) is an English professional darts player who plays in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events. He won the BDO World Darts Championship in 1996 and is a former World No. 1. Background Beaton was born in Co ...

''(First round)'' # Bob Anderson ''(First round)''

Draw

Television coverage

Sky Sports Sky Sports is a group of British subscription sports channels operated by the satellite pay television company Sky Group (a division of Comcast), and is the dominant subscription television sports brand in the United Kingdom and Ireland. It ...

broadcast the event live in the UK & Ireland for the 14th year running. The final between Wade & Jenkins achieved viewing figures of 183,000 - although that was surpassed by the quarter-finals on Thursday (188,000) and the semi-finals on Friday received the highest viewing figures with 240,000 (the third highest-rated programme on Sky Sports 1 for that week) BARB viewing summary

References

Results and reports from tournament {{DEFAULTSORT:2007 World Matchplay (Darts) World Matchplay (darts) World Matchplay Darts