Ryan Joyce clinched the final spot in the field for the World Matchplay and will face Stephen Bunting in a rematch of last year’s first round at the Winter Gardens.
‘Relentless’ sealed a third appearance in the Blackpool showpiece event after finishing as the 16th and last qualifier via the ProTour rankings last week.
Joyce joins Mike De Decker and Wessel Nijman as the three Team Mission representatives in the 32-player field for this year’s World Matchplay, which starts on Saturday night.
Nijman makes his Winter Gardens debut against the 2023 World Matchplay champion Nathan Aspinall on the opening night, while Sunday’s first-round action sees De Decker take on Dave Chisnall and Joyce renew his rivalry with Bunting.
In the Women’s World Matchplay on July 27, Robyn Byrne marks her return to the line up with a quarter-final clash against Lisa Ashton.
DRAW BRACKET 📋
— PDC Darts (@OfficialPDC) July 10, 2025
Confirmation of the draw bracket for this year's @Betfred World Matchplay! 👇
So many incredible ties in prospect at Blackpool's Winter Gardens! 😍
📝 https://t.co/NcrGWJHxhW pic.twitter.com/DQLydVmIgs
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A busy week on the ProTour saw Team Mission well represented in a Players Championship double header in Leicester and the Baltic Sea Darts Open in Kiel.
Madars Razma was the top performer in Players Championship 20 with a run to the last 16, while the next day James Hurrell broke new ground with a first ProTour semi-final in Players Championship 21. In the same event, recent signing Ryan Meikle enjoyed his best run of the season so far as he reached the last 16.
NEW GROUND FOR HURRELL!
— PDC Darts (@OfficialPDC) July 9, 2025
It's a first ProTour Semi-Final for James Hurrell as he beats Kevin Doets 6-4 to reach the last four.
At 5-0 up, things got nervy but he gets over the line in the end.
📺 https://t.co/YyBPPwoMK8#PC21 pic.twitter.com/elvnjy5WlZ
On Friday, 18-year-old Yorick Hofkens made a big impression on his European Tour debut, pushing Cameron Menzies all the way to a last-leg decider in their first-round tussle at the Baltic Sea Darts Open.
The German teenager (pictured below) took out a pair of 100+ finishes and hit 63 per cent of his doubles in a 6-5 defeat to Menzies.
Wessel Nijman went the furthest of the Team Mission players, recording wins over Martin Kramer and Damon Heta (both 6-3), before narrowly losing out 6-5 to the eventual champion Gerwyn Price in the last 16.
Mike De Decker knocked out Mensur Suljovic in his opener on Friday, before losing 6-3 to Danny Noppert in the last 32, while Martin Lukeman and Meikle both exited at the first hurdle.
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Oskar Lukasiak boosted his hopes of an Ally Pally debut in December after reaching the final of Pro Tour 10 on the PDC Nordic & Baltic Tour.
The Swede, who won Pro Tour 1 and lost in the final of Pro Tour 6, reached his third final of the season during the recent double header in Denmark, losing out 6-5 to Andreas Harrysson in the deciding clash of Pro Tour 10.
Viktor Tingstrom caught the eye on his first PDCNB appearance of the season, reaching the quarter-finals of Pro Tour 9 and the semi-finals of Pro Tour 10.
‘Belkin Boy’ lost 6-2 to the eventual champion Daniel Larsson in Pro Tour 9, while the next day his run ended in a 6-4 defeat in an all-Mission semi-final against Lukasiak.
With only two Nordic and Baltic Pro Tour events left, this is the top 10 in the Nordic and Baltic rankings.
— PDC Nordic & Baltic (@PDCNordic) July 7, 2025
Who will join Andreas Harrysson in London in December? 👀 pic.twitter.com/HRm47j9D7n
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Llew Bevan lost out in the final of the Welsh Individual Championships Grand Final on Sunday.
The 25-year-old defeated PDC tour card holder Nick Kenny 5-1 in the semi-finals, before losing a closely-fought final 6-4 to Mark Challenger.
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Daniel Stephenson secured his place in the England B team for the JDC World Cup of Darts after winning through the play-offs earlier this month.
The 17-year-old dropped just six legs across his 10 matches and wrapped up his spot in the team with a 5-1 victory over Elijah Bale in the deciding contest.
Jack Caulfield made the semi-finals of Event 1 of the JDC European Open this past weekend. The Irish teenager also appeared in the last 16 of the other three events to finish seventh on the ranking table.
Picture: PDC