Lisa Ashton’s Women’s World Matchplay defence has been handed an immediate pressure point after the PDC confirmed she will open against Rhian O’Sullivan at Blackpool’s Winter Gardens.
The 2025 champion returns to the Empress Ballroom as the number two seed, with the fifth edition of the women’s Blackpool event scheduled for Sunday, July 26. The eight-player field is drawn from the rolling PDC Women’s Series rankings, and Ashton’s £15,550 total leaves her behind only Beau Greaves.
Ashton Draw Gives Blackpool Early Edge
O’Sullivan is not a soft landing. The Welsh thrower is set for her third Women’s World Matchplay appearance and arrives in the seventh seeding slot after banking £6,300 across the qualifying period.
The winner of Ashton’s quarter will sit in the same half as Fallon Sherrock or Deta Hedman, giving the defending champion a route loaded with experience before any possible final against top seed Greaves.
- Event: Betfred Women’s World Matchplay
- Date: Sunday, July 26
- Venue: Winter Gardens, Blackpool
- Prize fund: £40,000
- Winner: £15,000 plus Grand Slam and World Championship places
The PDC confirmed the full draw after Women’s Series Event 16, with Greaves facing Kirsi Viinikainen and Gemma Hayter meeting Vicky Pruim in the other quarter-finals.
For Ashton, the commercial and competitive stakes are cleaner than last year: a bigger top prize, a direct route into two major televised stages, and a first defence of the title that finally put a PDC crown alongside her wider career haul.
