Nathan Aspinall has little margin left in the 2026 World Matchplay seeding race, with the former Blackpool champion currently holding the final protected place before the cut-off.
The latest World Matchplay race table has Aspinall 16th on 516.25 ranking units, narrowly ahead of Jermaine Wattimena and Luke Woodhouse in the chasing pack. That position matters because the top 16 from the main Order of Merit are seeded for the Winter Gardens draw.
Aspinall’s Blackpool buffer narrows
Aspinall’s cushion is not huge. Wattimena sits next in line on 478.5, with Woodhouse on 470.25 and Martin Schindler on 445.25. Rob Cross, whose own position has already been covered by NineDartNews, remains 20th on 426.5.
The tension is sharpened by Aspinall’s pedigree at the event. He won the World Matchplay in 2023, and a seeded return would keep him away from the leading names in round one at Blackpool.
His 2026 form still carries genuine weight after a German Darts Grand Prix title in Munich, but the race is now less about reputation than ranking arithmetic. With the World Series spotlight sitting on New York this week, Aspinall’s Blackpool picture is being shaped from the outside: every movement around the cut line tightens the draw before July.
For Aspinall, the equation is blunt. Stay inside the top 16 and he arrives at the Winter Gardens with status and draw protection. Slip out, and one of the most dangerous unseeded names in the field becomes a problem for everyone, including himself.
