Ritchie Edhouse is sitting on the most uncomfortable seat in the World Matchplay race, with Michael Smith left outside the Blackpool line before the final qualifying push.
The latest World Matchplay race table, updated after ET9, has Edhouse 32nd on £308,750. Smith is 33rd on £301,500, leaving a £7,250 gap before the July 8 cut-off.
Smith’s Blackpool margin is now brutally clear
That is the pressure point. Edhouse does not have a cushion big enough to relax, but Smith no longer has the luxury of treating the race as background noise.
The 2026 World Matchplay runs from July 18-26, according to the published PDC schedule, and the final places are now being decided by narrow ranking swings rather than reputation. For Smith, the arithmetic is harsher than the name value, especially with every ProTour pound capable of changing the bottom of the projected field.
NineDartNews has already tracked Smith’s Matchplay gap, but Edhouse’s position changes the frame. The former European champion is now the direct line Smith must force open.
If Edhouse adds even modest money before the deadline, Smith’s task hardens quickly. If he stalls, one deep run from Bully Boy can still flip the final Blackpool place in a race now stripped down to its raw numbers.
