Lisa Ashton and Fallon Sherrock will headline July’s historic Betfred Women’s World Matchplay, with the eight-player line-up for next month’s event now confirmed.
The inaugural staging of the £25,000 event, the first fully-televised women’s tournament staged by the PDC, will be held on Sunday July 24 in Blackpool.
The game’s leading female stars will battle it out for the £10,000 top prize on a blockbuster afternoon at the Winter Gardens, with five different nations represented in the knockout tournament.
The field is comprised of the top eight players from the PDC Women’s Series Order of Merit following Event 12, and Ashton heads to Blackpool as the top seed.
The former PDC Tour Card holder has dominated the Women’s Series circuit in 2022, featuring in eight finals and winning seven titles, including a brace of wins in Barnsley this weekend.
Ashton will open her Matchplay campaign against Chloe O’Brien, after the Scottish teenager secured last-gasp qualification with a run to the quarter-finals in Sunday’s final event before the cut-off.
Sherrock, who clinched her third Women’s Series title of the season with victory at Event 11, meets emerging Irish star Katie Sheldon in another intriguing showdown.
The 18-year-old defeated Sherrock to reach her first Women’s Series final at Event Eight, having also produced a string of impressive displays on the Development Tour over recent months.
Lorraine Winstanley claimed her maiden Women’s Series title in Event Ten on Saturday, and the third seed will play Wales’ Rhian Griffiths on her PDC televised debut.
The other quarter-final clash pits four-time TV title winner Aileen de Graaf against Laura Turner, who will be swapping the commentary box for the big stage in Blackpool.
Mikuru Suzuki was one of several high-profile names to miss out on qualification in Barnsley, while ten-time Lakeside Champion Trina Gulliver was ruled out of this weekend’s action through illness, which curtailed her dreams of a Winter Gardens debut.
The winner of the Betfred Women’s World Matchplay will claim a spot at this year’s Cazoo Grand Slam of Darts, as Ashton and last year’s quarter-finalist Sherrock eye a return to that event in November.
Click here to purchase Betfred Women’s World Matchplay tickets.
2022 Betfred Women’s World Matchplay
Sunday July 24
Draw Bracket
(1) Lisa Ashton v (8) Chloe O’Brien
(4) Aileen de Graaf v (5) Laura Turner
(2) Fallon Sherrock v (7) Katie Sheldon
(3) Lorraine Winstanley v (6) Rhian Griffiths
Prize Money
Winner: £10,000
Runner-Up: £5,000
Semi-Finalists: £2,500
Quarter-Finalists: £1,250
Total: £25,000
—–ENDS—–
Images: PDC
