Lisa Ashton won the 2025 Women’s World Matchplay 

The Women’s World Matchplay is one of the most high-profile darts tournaments in the ladies’ game. First held in 2022, the Women’s World Matchplay is put on by the PDC (Professional Darts Corporation) every July at the iconic Winter Gardens in Blackpool.

The 2026 edition of the Women’s World Matchplay marks the fifth staging of the competition and will take place on Sunday July 26. Although still a relatively new addition to the darts calendar, the PDC Women’s World Matchplay has quickly become established as one of the premier tournaments in women’s darts.

The Women’s World Matchplay darts is held in Blackpool at the Empress Ballroom, which is part of the Winter Gardens complex. It is a historic venue in darts, having hosted the World Matchplay since its inception in 1994.

With over 30 years of history, the World Matchplay is one of the PDC’s flagship events and will feature the likes of Luke Littler, Luke Humphries and Michael van Gerwen this year. Find out more about the tournament with our ‘World Matchplay’ blog.

Lisa Ashton and Beau Greaves faced off in the semi-finals of the Women’s World Matchplay last year

The Women’s Darts World Matchplay format differs from the World Matchplay as it does not require the match to be won by two clear legs. The tournament is played from start to finish with the quarter-finals, semi-finals and final all completed in one action-packed session.

The tournament is likely to evolve in the future as the sport continues to grow and more female players emerge onto the scene. With the strength in depth of the women’s game improving each year, there is already calls for the competition to be expanded from eight to 16 players.

In 2026, the format of the quarter-finals will be extended, from the first to four legs to the first to five legs. The format for the semi-finals and final remains the same as previous editions.

Here is a breakdown of the Women’s World Matchplay’s current format:-

• Quarter-finals – first to 5 legs
• Semi-finals – first to 5 legs
• Final – first to 6 legs

The Women’s World Matchplay is one of the hardest competitions to qualify for with the field limited to just eight players. The top eight players on a one-year Order of Merit based on earnings won in PDC Women’s Series events over a 12-month period qualify for the tournament.

The lineup for the 2026 Women’s World Matchplay (prize money won in brackets):-

• Beau Greaves (£45,700)
• Lisa Ashton (£15,550)
• Fallon Sherrock (£13,150)
• Gemma Hayter (£9,800)
• Vicky Pruim (£8,250)
• Deta Hedman (£7,500)
• Rhian O’Sullivan (£6,300)
• Kirsi Viinikainen (£6,150)

(1) Beau Greaves v (8) Kirsi Viinikainen

(4) Gemma Hayter v (5) Vicky Pruim

(2) Lisa Ashton v (7) Rhian O’Sullivan

(3) Fallon Sherrock v (6) Deta Hedman

The Women’s World Matchplay is one of the most lucrative tournaments to win in the ladies’ game, with a winner’s prize of £15,000

The prize money for the Women’s World Matchplay stands at a total of £40,000 – with the tournament boosted by a £15,000 cash injection in 2026. In the first four editions of the event, there was a £25,000 prize pot, with £10,000 going to the champion and £5,000 to the runner-up, while semi-finalists took home £2,500 and the first-round losers £1,250.

This year, the winner of the Women’s World Matchplay will pocket £15,000, one of the biggest cash prizes in the women’s game.

Below is the Betfred Women’s World Matchplay prize money breakdown for 2026:-

• Winner - £15,000
• Runner-up - £8,000
• Semi-finalists - £4,500
• Quarter-finalists - £2,000

The qualifiers for the 2026 Women’s World Matchplay have now been confirmed and it is one of the strongest lineups yet, with PDC tour card holder Beau Greaves and reigning WDF women’s world champion Deta Hedman both in the field. Ahead of the tournament taking place in Blackpool on July 26, get the lowdown on all eight players competing at the Winter Gardens…

Widely regarded as the best female darts player on the planet, Beau Greaves returns to the Winter Gardens this summer as the number one seed and as a PDC tour card holder. Born in Doncaster, ‘Beau ‘n’ Arrow’ started playing in tournaments from an early age and cleaned up on the girls’ circuit before making the jump to the women’s events in 2019 at the age of just 15.

Greaves became the youngest women’s world champion in history, winning the WDF Women’s World Championship in 2022 at 18. She made her return to the PDC Women’s Series later that year and went on an incredible 70-match winning run to secure a debut at the PDC World Darts Championship. The England international continued to dominate the women’s game in 2023, picking up the Women’s World Matchplay on her debut and retaining the Women’s World Championship at the Lakeside.

In 2024, Greaves retained both titles, defeating Fallon Sherrock 6-3 in the final of the Women's World Matchplay with a 98 average, before completing a hat-trick of WDF Women's World Championship crowns with a victory over Sophie McKinlay in the final. In 2025, Greaves won two titles on the Challenge Tour, and three titles on the Development Tour, with the latter trio of titles helping her to finish second on the rankings and earn a two-year PDC tour card. An eye-catching 2025 campaign also saw ‘Beau ‘n’ Arrow’ defeat Luke Littler in the semi-finals of the PDC World Youth Championship, becoming the first female player to reach the final.

This year, the 22-year-old wrote her name into the record books again, defeating Michael Smith 8-7 in the final of Players Championship 11 to become the first woman to win a PDC ranking title. On the Women’s Series, Greaves recently went on a remarkable 114-match winning streak, which included 17 consecutive titles, before losing to Sherrock in March.

Greaves topped the Order of Merit to qualify for the 2026 Women’s World Matchplay with £45,700 in prize money, which included an astonishing 19 title wins over the 24 Women’s Series events.

Lisa Ashton has cemented her place as one of the all-time greats in the ladies’ game, having won four Women’s World Championship titles in the BDO. ‘The Lancashire Rose’ has racked up more than 100 tournament wins in her career, but one of her biggest triumphs came when there were tour cards rather than titles at stake. In 2020, the Bolton-based player made history as the first woman to win a PDC tour card at Q-School, which earned her two years of playing on the professional circuit.

One of the main highlights from Ashton’s two years on the PDC’s main tour came at the 2021 UK Open, when she broke the televised average for a female player, averaging 100.34 against Aaron Beeney. Ashton defeated Beeney 6-2 to become the first woman to win a match at the UK Open since 2005. Ashton dominated the early years of the PDC Women’s Series, finishing first, second and first on the Order of Merit in 2020, 2021 and 2022 to earn a trio of appearances at the PDC World Darts Championship.

After an eye-catching run to the semi-finals of the World Seniors Championship in 2024, Ashton followed that up by ending her bid for Women’s World Matchplay glory a year later. ‘The Lancashire Rose’ had lost in the semi-finals in each of the first three stagings of the tournament but went all the way at the Winter Gardens in 2025, defeating Robyn Byrne, Beau Greaves and Fallon Sherrock to claim the title.

That success in Blackpool earned Ashton returns to the Grand Slam of Darts and the PDC World Darts Championship for the first time in three years. Despite going winless in her latest visits to Wolverhampton and London, Ashton rediscovered the winning feeling on the Women’s Series this year, picking up a pair of tournament victories in Events 5 and 15. The latter of those wins saw her claim the scalp of Greaves, reeling off five straight legs to defeat the current PDC tour card holder 5-1.

One of the most instantly recognisable players in the world of darts, Fallon Sherrock wrote her name into the history books when she became the first woman to beat a man in the PDC World Darts Championship. In the 2019/20 tournament, historic wins against Ted Evetts and Mensur Suljovic earned Sherrock the nickname of ‘The Queen of the Palace’.

The Milton Keynes-based player broke more ground in 2021, reaching the final of the Nordic Darts Masters and the quarter-finals of the Grand Slam of Darts – both firsts for a female player. In 2022, Sherrock made more history when she won the inaugural Women’s World Matchplay, beating Aileen de Graaf in the final to be the first name on the trophy.

Sherrock’s title defence in Blackpool in 2023 ended in a 4-3 defeat to Lisa Ashton in the quarter-finals, but she returned to form at the back end of 2023 and won four Women’s Series titles on the spin. Another two tournament victories in early 2024 helped her qualify for the 2024 Women’s World Matchplay as the number two seed. Sherrock's third Winter Gardens campaign saw her beat two former world champions in Anastasia Dobromyslova (4-0) and Ashton (5-4) to reach the final, where she was beaten 6-3 by the defending champion Beau Greaves.

'The Queen of the Palace' qualified for a fourth Women's World Matchplay in 2025 after winning three titles, and reaching another four finals, on the Women's Series in a 12-month period. Sherrock returned to Blackpool last summer as the number three seed and looked on course to become a two-time Matchplay champion, after beating Gemma Hayter and Noa-Lynn van Leuven, both in last-leg deciders, to reach the final for a third time. However, it would be an agonising defeat in the decider for Sherrock, who missed 11 match darts in the final and was beaten 6-5 by Lisa Ashton.

Following that set back, the 31-year-old has gone on to reach a further seven finals on the Women’s Series over the last 12 months. Those runs helped her to finish second in the tour’s 2025 rankings, earning her a sixth appearance at the PDC World Darts Championship last December, as well as a spot in the Women’s World Matchplay for a fifth consecutive year.

England's Gemma Hayter has quickly become a force to be reckoned with on the PDC Women's Series in the last two years. Hayter first made her mark back in 2016 as part of the England women's team that won the British Internationals, before taking a long break from competitive darts.

Hayter ended a near 10-year lay off from the sport at the start of 2024 when she entered the PDC Women's Series for the first time, and made an instant impact with a run to the semi-finals in the first event of the season. Her rise continued as she won Events 10 and 19 later that year and finished seventh on the Women's Series Order of Merit for 2024.

The second of those titles gave the Gosport-based thrower a strong platform to qualify for the 2025 Women's World Matchplay, and she cemented her place in the eight-player field in Blackpool by reaching another two finals on the Women's Series in early 2025. Hayter’s Winter Gardens debut saw her lock horns with the 2022 champion Fallon Sherrock, in a match which saw her trail 3-0 before winning the next three legs to force a decider. A dramatic seventh leg saw Hayter miss a match dart to complete an incredible comeback, and Sherrock edged through to end the debutant’s maiden campaign in the Matchplay.

Hayter went on to finish fifth on the 2025 Women’s Series rankings, which earned her a debut in the PDC World Darts Championship in December. The former England international took a set off the highly-fancied Josh Rock in a 3-1 defeat in the first round at Alexandra Palace. So far in 2026, the 32-year-old has made another two finals on the Women’s Series, helping her to secure a second consecutive appearance in the Women’s World Matchplay this summer.

Vicky Pruim made history when she became the first Swedish player to win a title on the PDC Women’s Series last month. The 52-year-old beat Gemma Hayter 5-2 in the Event 12 final in Leicester to join the roll of honour, with another final this past weekend earning her a debut in the Women’s World Matchplay.

Born in Antwerp, Belgium, Pruim moved to Sweden in the early 2000s and gained Swedish nationality. In 2002, she made her debut in the BDO Women’s World Championship at the Lakeside, and has since competed in a further three Women’s World Championships in 2018, 2020 and, most recently in the WDF system in 2022. Before landing her maiden title in the PDC ranks, Pruim’s most notable success came at the 2017 WDF World Cup in Japan when she took home the gold medal in the women’s singles event.

Pruim has won numerous women’s titles over the years, including the 2000 England Open, 2001 Dutch Open and the 2024 Isle of Man Classic. The last of those victories saw her defeat Beau Greaves in the final and end a seven-year WDF title drought.

Now based in Chester, England, Pruim will become the first Swedish player to compete in the Women’s World Matchplay this summer. A haul of £8,250 from the last 24 Women’s Series events helped Pruim to finish fifth in the race for Blackpool, and she will take on Hayter on her Winter Gardens bow, with either Beau Greaves or Kirsi Viinikainen awaiting the winner in the semi-finals. Pruim is also in the hunt for a possible debut at Alexandra Palace in December, with her recent good form moving her into one of the provisional spots for the 2026/27 PDC World Darts Championship with two weekends (eight events) of the Women’s Series season left to go.

One of the pioneers in the women’s game, Deta Hedman OBE will make her debut in the Women’s World Matchplay this summer. The 66-year-old has won a staggering 250+ titles during her career, but arguably her greatest triumph came last December when ‘The Heart of Darts’ got her hands on the WDF Women’s World Championship trophy at Lakeside for the first time.

After finishing runner-up in three BDO Women’s World Championships in 2012, 2014 and 2016, Hedman would finally end her search for an elusive Lakeside title at the end of last year, defeating Lerena Rietbergen 4-1 in sets in the final. That memorable victory capped an unforgettable 2025 for Hedman, who in June last year was awarded an OBE for her services to darts and charity.

The Jamaican-born thrower moved to the UK in 1973 and was then introduced to the sport by her older brother, before soon playing competitively herself in the Essex Super League. Before winning her maiden Lakeside title, Hedman’s previous best success came at the 1994 World Masters, a tournament which at the time was seen as the most prestigious in the ladies’ game, with the BDO not introducing a World Championship for female players until 2001.

Hedman returned to darts after a five-year hiatus in 2002, competing in the PDC ranks, and made history as the first woman to beat a man in a major televised tournament when she beat Aaron Turner and Norman Fletcher in the early rounds of the 2005 UK Open. Another retirement, due to work commitments, followed shortly after before Hedman’s next darting chapter saw her competing in the women’s events again in 2009.

In 2020, ‘The Heart of Darts’ made her debut in the PDC World Darts Championship at the age of 61. A possible first appearance in the Women’s World Matchplay gathered momentum last month when Hedman won her first Women’s Series title in six years, beating Kirsi Viinikainen 5-3 in the Event 11 final. That victory gave Hedman some breathing space, as she skipped the last weekend of events before the Blackpool cut off, instead representing England in the Six Nations. It was a profitable weekend for Hedman, who won the women’s singles and helped her country to lift the women’s team title, while elsewhere her spot in the Women’s World Matchplay was also confirmed.

Rhian O’Sullivan is back in the Women’s World Matchplay after a two-year absence, qualifying as the seventh seed for the 2026 edition of the tournament. The two-time BDO Women’s World Championship runner-up made back-to-back appearances in the Winter Gardens showpiece in 2023 and 2024, where she lost out in the quarter-finals on both occasions to Robyn Byrne and Lisa Ashton.

The 45-year-old from Swansea, Wales confirmed her spot in the eight-player field this time round with some impressive performances this year. Although she has not added to her one-title tally on the Women’s Series, O’Sullivan’s consistency has seen her reach another final and another two semi-finals in 2026 to clinch a third appearance in the Women’s World Matchplay.

O’Sullivan’s greatest triumph so far arguably came last year when she won the Dutch Open women’s singles title, beating Beau Greaves 4-3 in the semi-finals and then Lerena Rietbergen 5-2 in the final. The Welsh captain first made her mark on the world stage more than 15 years ago, reaching a pair of Lakeside finals in consecutive years in 2010 and 2011. O’Sullivan was beaten by the legendary Trina Gulliver in both finals, and has since gone on to reach a further three semi-finals at Lakeside in 2022, 2023 and 2025.

In 2023, O’Sullivan wrote her name into the history books when she became the first Welsh player to win a title on the Women’s Series. A 5-3 victory over Beau Greaves helped her to win the Event 6 title and went some way to clinching her debut at the Winter Gardens that year. After missing the cut for last year’s event, O’Sullivan returns to the Blackpool lineup this summer looking to pick up her first victory on one of the most iconic stages in the world of darts.

Kirsi Viinikainen makes her second consecutive appearance in the Women’s World Matchplay this year, but her place in the Blackpool field was not confirmed until the very last dart of the final Women’s Series event before the cut off. In the Event 16 final, Angela Kirkwood missed five match darts in the deciding leg against Eleanor Cairns, who hit tops to claim her maiden title on the circuit. A win for Kirkwood would have seen her move into the spots at the final hour, with a reprieved Viinikainen holding onto the last place in this year’s lineup.

Last year, Viinikainen made history as the first player from Finland to compete in the Women’s World Matchplay. The 52-year-old also qualified as the eighth seed for the 2025 event, holding off fierce competition from the likes of Aileen de Graaf and Rhian O’Sullivan to take the final spot in the field.

The Finn has been testing her skills on the PDC Women's Series since 2023, with her big breakthrough in the PDC coming in March last year when she won Event 5 - becoming the first Scandinavian player to join the roll of honour since the Women's Series first began in 2020.

In November 2024, Viinikainen made her debut in the WDF Women's World Championship. She dropped just one leg in a straight sets win against Amanda Loch in the first round, before her Lakeside debut ended in a 2-0 defeat to Beau Greaves - a match most notable for Viinikainen going seven darts into a perfect nine-dart leg.

The fifth staging of the Women’s World Matchplay is just around the corner as eight of the top female players get ready to battle it out for the trophy. The 2026 Women’s World Matchplay takes place on Sunday, July 26 at the Winter Gardens, in Blackpool, and will be broadcast live on Sky Sports in the UK and Ireland.

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Pictures: PDC