PDC World Darts Championship: Preview
The best darts players from all over the world will once again meet at the Alexandra Palace in London to decide who will be this year’s titleholder, thus succeeding Michael Smith. It is already the 31st edition. Find out here how the championship works and who can participate.
Championship
The Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) has been organizing the PDC World Darts Championship, also known as the Paddy Power World Darts Championship, since 1994.
It is part of the Triple Crown, the three most prestigious tournaments in the PDC. The program consists of seven rounds: the four first rounds, the quarter-finals, semi-finals and finally the final. The Alexandra Palace in London has been the home of the World Darts Championship since 2008. You may also know it from the Masters tournament for snooker.
The tournament has the largest prize pool of all darts tournaments in the world. In 2020 it amounted to around 2.5 million pounds, of which 500,000 went to the final winner. Because the championship traditionally starts in December and ends in January, no games are played during Christmas so that the darts players can celebrate the holidays.
The most successful PDC player is Phil Taylor. He has been in the final every year from 1994 to 2007, winning the tournament eleven times in that period. He won again in 2009 and 2010, and in 2013 he won for the fourteenth time. Two women will also participate this year: Fallon Sherrock, who surprised everyone in 2020 by beating Ted Evetts and Mensur Suljovic, and Mikuru Suzuki, who was eliminated in the first round in 2020.
Participants
96 players from all over the world compete for the title in this championship. The top 32 of the PDC Order of Merit qualified directly and will only play for the first time in the second round. However, the 32 best players on the ProTour Oder of Merit qualified directly. The remaining 32 places will be filled by winners of a number of global qualifying tournaments. In this way, the PDC keeps the field of participants diverse, with many different nationalities.
The Dutch Michael van Gerwen has already won the tournament three times. He defeated the competition in 2014, 2017 and 2019. Last year Michael Smith proved to be too strong, he won 7-4. The two then played what was dubbed by commentators and supporters as the ‘best leg ever’. After van Gerwen first missed double twelve for a nine-darter, Smith then succeeded.
Michael Smith is now the reigning and defending champion. Thanks to his good performances, he is currently in first place in the PDC Order of Merit. But in the last tournaments he has not shown his best: both at the Hungarian Darts Trophy against Mike De Decker and at the Players Championship Finals against the debuting Richard Veenstra, he quickly had to pack his bags again. If he manages to regain his form, the ‘Bully Boy’ can become title holder for the second time in a row.
Another pick for the favorites is Luke Humphries. The current number 3 in the world has made a strong impression lately. At the Grand Slam of Darts in November he dominated Rob Cross, who had to catch up from the start. Humphries’ level was also reflected in the final results: he won the game 16-8. Earlier this year, the 29-year-old Englishman also won the World Grand Prix against Gerwyn Price, scoring 5-2.
The same Price is currently in 5th place on the PDC Order of Merit, with only Peter Wright between them. Like Smith, Price is looking for the second world title of his career, but he too has had some setbacks lately. He became the losing finalist in both the Premier League and the World Grand Prix.
Wright was already able to book a big victory when he became European champion in October. In the Westfalenhalle in Dortmund he defeated the Englishman James Wade 11-6. With this he turned his mediocre season into a good season.
Our compatriot Dimitri van den Bergh was also able to qualify directly for the championship. Last year the Belgian reached a historic semi-final, giving him a hopeful start to his year. But ‘Dancing Dimi’ almost did not get further than the third round. At the important UK Open in March he reached the semi-finals, but then struggled with the arrows. At the World Cup for national teams, he and teammate Kim Huybrechts also reached the semi-finals, but that was overshadowed by a painful argument between the two Belgian Arrows. Dimi currently ranks 15 on the PDC Order of Merit.
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