Peter Wright is the World Matchplay champion (Picture: Lawrence Lustig/PDC)

World Matchplay Darts 2021: Draw, schedule, results, betting odds and TV coverage details

By Sporting Life

Darts

Sun July 25, 2021 · 3y ago

The full results and round-up from the 2021 Betfred World Matchplay, which took place at the Winter Gardens in Blackpool from July 17-25.

The biggest darts event of the summer - and the year so far - has concluded at its spiritual home of Blackpool in front of fans after the pandemic forced it to be staged behind closed doors in Milton Keynes 12 months ago.

A star-studded field of 32 featuring the likes of Gerwyn Price, Michael van Gerwen, Peter Wright, Gary Anderson defending champion Dimitri Van den Bergh headed to the iconic Winter Gardens for the PDC's second-longest running major, which was first staged in 1994, to challenge for the Phil Taylor trophy and a top prize of £150,000.

In the end it was Wright who triumphed here for the first time in his career thanks to a 18-9 victory over Van den Bergh that completed a dominant week and saw him become just the fifth player to complete a World Championship-Matchplay double.

Here, you can look back at how the event unfolded with the results and daily round-ups while there's also details on stats, how the players qualified, prize money and a history section.

World Matchplay Darts: Round-by-round results

Seedings in brackets, Scroll down further for daily schedule

FINAL

(8) Dimitri Van den Bergh 9-18 Peter Wright (2)

CLICK HERE FOR WORLD MATCHPLAY FINAL REPORT

SEMI-FINALS

(8) Dimitri Van den Bergh 17-9 Krzysztof Ratajski (13)
(2) Peter Wright 17-10 Michael van Gerwen (3)

QUARTER FINALS

(1) Gerwyn Price 9-16 Dimitri Van den Bergh (8)
(13) Krzysztof Ratajski 16-8 Callan Rydz
(2) Peter Wright 16-7 Michael Smith (7)
(3) Michael van Gerwen 16-9 Nathan Aspinall (11)

SECOND ROUND

(1) Gerwyn Price 11-3 Jonny Clayton (16)
(8) Dimitri Van den Bergh 11-8 Dave Chisnall (9)
Luke Humphries 5-11 Krzysztof Ratajski (13)
(5) Rob Cross 8-11 Callan Rydz
(2) Peter Wright 11-5 Joe Cullen (15)
(7) Michael Smith 13-11 Jose de Sousa (10)
(3) Michael van Gerwen 11-8 Ian White
(6) Gary Anderson 9-11 Nathan Aspinall (11)

FIRST ROUND

(1) Gerwyn Price 10-4 Jermaine Wattimena *
(16) Jonny Clayton 10-7 Dirk van Duijvenbode
(8) Dimitri Van den Bergh 10-5 Devon Petersen
(9) Dave Chisnall 10-8 Vincent van der Voort
(4) James Wade 3-10 Luke Humphries
(13) Krzysztof Ratajski 10-4 Brendan Dolan
(5) Rob Cross 10-8 Ross Smith
(12) Glen Durrant 4-10 Callan Rydz
(2) Peter Wright 10-2 Danny Noppert
(15) Joe Cullen 10-8 Chris Dobey
(7) Michael Smith 10-7 Ryan Searle
(10) Jose de Sousa 10-2 Gabriel Clemens
(3) Michael van Gerwen 10-7 Damon Heta
(14) Daryl Gurney 7-10 Ian White
(6) Gary Anderson 10-5 Stephen Bunting
(11) Nathan Aspinall 10-6 Mervyn King

* Jermaine Wattimena replaced Mensur Suljovic who withdrew for medical reasons

World Matchplay Darts: Daily Schedule

Click here for Sky Bet odds
* Each game must be won by two clear legs, with up to a maximum of five additional legs being played before the sixth additional leg is sudden-death

Saturday July 17 (1900 BST)
First Round (best of 19 legs)
TV Channel: Sky Sports

Dave Chisnall 10-8 Vincent van der Voort
Jonny Clayton 10-7 Dirk van Duijvenbode
Gerwyn Price 10-4 Jermaine Wattimena
Dimitri Van den Bergh 10-5 Devon Petersen

CLICK HERE FOR SATURDAY'S REVIEW

Sunday July 18
Afternoon Session (1300 BST)
First Round (best of 19 legs)
TV Channel: Sky Sports

Krzysztof Ratajski 10-4 Brendan Dolan
Glen Durrant 4-10 Callan Rydz
Rob Cross 10-8 Ross Smith
James Wade 3-10 Luke Humphries

Evening Session (1930 BST)
First Round (best of 19 legs)
TV Channel: Sky Sports

Joe Cullen 10-8 Chris Dobey
Michael Smith 10-7 Ryan Searle
Peter Wright 10-2 Danny Noppert
Jose de Sousa 10-2 Gabriel Clemens

CLICK HERE FOR SUNDAY'S REVIEW

Monday July 19 (1900 BST)
First Round (best of 19 legs)
TV Channel: Sky Sports

Daryl Gurney 7-10 Ian White
Nathan Aspinall 10-6 Mervyn King
Michael van Gerwen 10-7 Damon Heta
Gary Anderson 10-5 Stephen Bunting

CLICK HERE FOR MONDAY'S REVIEW

Tuesday July 20 (1900 BST)
Second Round (best of 21 legs)
TV Channel: Sky Sports

Rob Cross 8-11 Callan Rydz
Luke Humphries 5-11 Krzysztof Ratajski
Gerwyn Price 11-3 Jonny Clayton
Dimitri Van den Bergh 11-8 Dave Chisnall

CLICK HERE FOR TUESDAY'S REVIEW

Wednesday July 21 (1900 BST)
Second Round (best of 21 legs)
TV Channel: Sky Sports

Michael Smith 13-11 Jose De Sousa
Gary Anderson 9-11 Nathan Aspinall
Michael Van Gerwen 11-8 Ian White
Peter Wright 11-5 Joe Cullen

CLICK HERE FOR WEDNESDAY'S REVIEW

Thursday July 22 (1900 BST)
Quarter-Finals (Best of 31 legs)
TV Channel: Sky Sports

Krzysztof Ratajski 16-8 Callan Rydz
Gerwyn Price 9-16 Dimitri Van den Bergh

CLICK HERE FOR THURSDAY'S REVIEW

Friday July 23 (1900 BST)
Quarter-Finals (Best of 31 legs)
TV Channel: Sky Sports

Peter Wright 16-7 Michael Smith
Michael Van Gerwen 16-9 Nathan Aspinall

CLICK HERE FOR FRIDAY'S REVIEW

Saturday July 24 (1900 BST)
Semi-Finals (best of 33 legs)
TV Channel: Sky Sports

Dimitri Van den Bergh 17-9 Krzysztof Ratajski
Peter Wright 17-10 Michael van Gerwen

CLICK HERE FOR SATURDAY'S REVIEW

Sunday July 25 (2030 BST)
Final (best of 35 legs)
TV Channel: Sky Sports

Dimitri Van den Bergh 9-18 Peter Wright

CLICK HERE FOR WORLD MATCHPLAY FINAL REPORT

Sky Bet's World Matchplay Pre-Tournament Odds

Michael van Gerwen is favourite to win his third World Matchplay - and first since 2016 - despite not winning a title all season but his starting price of 9/2 is the biggest he's been since the days before his dominance began.

World champion Gerwyn Price can be backed at 5/1 while Jose de Sousa and Peter Wright are next in the betting at 7/1 and 8/1 respectively ahead of last year's winner, Dimitri Van den Bergh, at 11/1.

Click here for a full list of Sky Bet's odds

CLICK HERE FOR OUTRIGHT WORLD MATCHPLAY BETTING TIPS

Where can I watch the World Matchplay on television?

The tournament will be broadcast live on Sky Sports in the UK, on PDCTV for Rest of the World Subscribers and through the PDC's worldwide broadcast partners including DAZN and RTL7.

Can I still buy tickets for the World Matchplay?

Existing ticket bookings for the 2020 Betfred World Matchplay have been transferred to the equivalent session of the 2021 event. Alternatively, fans can request a refund of their ticket base price from their point of purchase.

All remaining standard tickets for the 2021 Betfred World Matchplay are now on sale through SeeTickets.

Click here to purchase tickets

World Matchplay Format

First Round - Best of 19 legs
Second Round - Best of 21 legs
Quarter-Finals - Best of 31 legs
Semi-Finals - Best of 33 legs
Final - Best of 35 legs

The World Matchplay is played in a legs format. Each game must be won by two clear legs, with up to a maximum of five additional legs being played before the sixth additional leg is sudden-death. For example, should a First Round game (best of 19 legs) reach 12-12, then the 25th leg would be the final and deciding leg.

Prize Fund

Winner - £150,000
Runner-Up - £70,000
Semi-Finalists - £50,000
Quarter-Finalists - £25,000
Second Round Losers - £15,000
First Round Losers - £10,000
Total - £700,000

How the players qualified

The 16 seeded players are the top 16 from the main PDC Order Of Merit.

Gerwyn Price
Peter Wright
Michael van Gerwen
James Wade
Rob Cross
Gary Anderson
Michael Smith
Dimitri Van den Bergh
Dave Chisnall
José de Sousa
Nathan Aspinall
Glen Durrant
Krzysztof Ratajski
Daryl Gurney
Joe Cullen
Jonny Clayton

The unseeded players are the top 16 on the one-year ProTour Order of Merit who hadn't already qualified via the above list.

Brendan Dolan
Devon Petersen
Damon Heta
Danny Noppert
Dirk van Duijvenbode
Ross Smith
Mensur Suljovic *
Stephen Bunting
Mervyn King
Luke Humphries
Gabriel Clemens
Vincent van der Voort
Ryan Searle
Ian White
Callan Rydz
Chris Dobey

* Mensur Suljovic withdrew due to medical reasons and was replaced by Jermaine Wattimena

World Matchplay History

Since the World Matchplay was first held back in 1994, when Larry Butler beat Dennis Priestley, there has only been eight different winners of this PDC major.

Unsurprisingly the most dominant player in its 21-year history is Phil Taylor with 16 titles - the last of which coming on his farewell appearance in 2017 - while Michael van Gerwen and Rod Harrington are the only other players to have lifted the trophy more than once.

The Power hit the first ever nine-dart finish to be broadcast live on UK television during the 2002 World Matchplay while he repeated the feat during the 2014 edition on his way to a seventh-straight Blackpool title.

The previous year he'd managed an astonishing three-dart average of 111.23 during his final victory over Adrian Lewis.

Taylor's seven-year winning streak from 2008 to 2014 was ended in 2015 when Michael van Gerwen emerged triumphed with a 18-12 victory over James Wade before winning it again 12 months later.

The Dutchman was favourite to defend his crown for a third time but Taylor had other ideas as he knocked him out en route to winning an emotional 16th title before his retirement.

The final of 2018 ended up being one of the most dramatic in the tournament's history, with Gary Anderson clinching the title for the first time thanks to a 21-18 victory over Mensur Suljovic having earlier hit a nine-dart finish against Joe Cullen.

Rob Cross and Dimitri Van den Bergh are the most recent players to get their names on the trophy.

Past Finals

Final scores in legs