Peter Wright will begin his defence of the Phil Taylor Trophy on the opening night of the 2022 Betfred World Matchplay, with the schedule of play confirmed for the summer's biggest darts tournament.
Wright will take on Latvian debutant Madars Razma in his first outing on the iconic Winter Gardens stage since winning the 2021 event in emphatic fashion.
A mouth-watering opening night in Blackpool will see a further three first round clashes take place, including 2020 champion Dimitri Van den Bergh in action against Callan Rydz and five-time televised title winner Jonny Clayton taking on Rowby-John Rodriguez.
Sunday's afternoon session sees 2018 champion Gary Anderson face Daryl Gurney, while 2019 runner-up Michael Smith plays Andrew Gilding and UK Open champion Danny Noppert meets Brendan Dolan.
Michael van Gerwen and Adrian Lewis meet in a clash of big names as part of a mouth-watering Sunday evening session which will also sees Luke Humphries face Nathan Aspinall, Joe Cullen up against Damon Heta and 2007 winner James Wade in action against Martin Lukeman.
The first round concludes on Monday, with the night's action headlined by world number two Gerwyn Price as the Welshman takes on German debutant Martin Schindler.
The second round will take place across Tuesday July 19 and Wednesday July 20, before the quarter-finals are staged across Thursday July 21 and Friday July 22.
Saturday July 23 will see the semi-finals take place, before the final is held on Sunday July 24 when the champion will lift the Phil Taylor Trophy and walk away with the £200,000 star prize.
This year's visit to the Winter Gardens also features the Betfred Women's World Matchplay, which will see eight players competing on Sunday July 24.
Click here for Betfred World Matchplay ticket information.
The tournament will be broadcast live on Sky Sports in the UK, through the PDC's worldwide broadcast partners including DAZN and Viaplay, and on PDCTV (excluding UK, Germany, Austria & Switzerland based subscribers).
2022 Betfred World Matchplay
Schedule of Play
Saturday July 16 (1900 BST)
4x First Round
Krzysztof Ratajski v Stephen Bunting
Dimitri Van den Bergh v Callan Rydz
Peter Wright v Madars Razma
Jonny Clayton v Rowby-John Rodriguez
Sunday July 17
Afternoon Session (1300 BST)
4x First Round
Dirk van Duijvenbode v Ryan Searle
Danny Noppert v Brendan Dolan
Gary Anderson v Daryl Gurney
Michael Smith v Andrew Gilding
Evening Session (1930 BST)
4x First Round
Joe Cullen v Damon Heta
James Wade v Martin Lukeman
Michael van Gerwen v Adrian Lewis
Luke Humphries v Nathan Aspinall
Monday July 18 (1900 BST)
4x First Round
Rob Cross v Chris Dobey
Jose de Sousa v Gabriel Clemens
Gerwyn Price v Martin Schindler
Dave Chisnall v Kim Huybrechts
Tuesday July 19 (1900 BST)
4x Second Round
Wednesday July 20 (1900 BST)
4x Second Round
Thursday July 21 (2000 BST)
2x Quarter-Finals
Friday July 22 (2000 BST)
2x Quarter-Finals
Saturday July 23 (2000 BST)
Semi-Finals
Sunday July 24
Afternoon Session (1300 BST)
Women's World Matchplay – Quarter-Finals, Semi-Finals & Final
Evening Session (2100 BST)
Final
Schedule subject to change. Schedule for second round onwards will be confirmed at PDC website and via @OfficialPDC social media channels once available.
Draw Bracket
(1) Peter Wright v Madars Razma
(16) Krzysztof Ratajski v Stephen Bunting
(8) Jonny Clayton v Rowby-John Rodriguez
(9) Dimitri Van den Bergh v Callan Rydz
(4) Michael van Gerwen v Adrian Lewis
(13) Joe Cullen v Damon Heta
(5) James Wade v Martin Lukeman
(12) Luke Humphries v Nathan Aspinall
(2) Gerwyn Price v Martin Schindler
(15) Dave Chisnall v Kim Huybrechts
(7) Jose de Sousa v Gabriel Clemens
(10) Rob Cross v Chris Dobey
(3) Michael Smith v Andrew Gilding
(14) Dirk van Duijvenbode v Ryan Searle
(6) Gary Anderson v Daryl Gurney
(11) Danny Noppert v Brendan Dolan