The 2021

Ladbrokes Ladbrokes Coral is a British gambling company founded in 1886. Its product offering includes sports betting, online casino, online poker, and online bingo. The business is split into two divisions, UK and International. UK operations are c ...

Masters was the ninth staging of the non-ranking Masters darts tournament, held by the

Professional Darts Corporation The Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) is a professional darts organisation in the United Kingdom, established in 1992 when a group of leading players split from the British Darts Organisation (BDO) to form what was initially called the World ...

(PDC). It was held from 29 to 31 January 2021, behind closed doors at the

Marshall Arena The Marshall Arena (formerly known as Arena MK, also Milton Keynes Arena) is a multi-purpose arena in Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, England, located beside Stadium MK. The multi-use event space is positioned over three floors and anticipates m ...

Milton Keynes Milton Keynes ( ) is a city and the largest settlement in Buckinghamshire, England, about north-west of London. At the 2021 Census, the population of its urban area was over . The River Great Ouse forms its northern boundary; a tributary ...

, England. Peter Wright was the defending champion, after beating Michael Smith 11–10 in the 2020 final, but he lost 11–10 to

Jonny Clayton Jonny Clayton (born 4 October 1974) is a Welsh professional darts player who plays in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events. Nicknamed The Ferret, he was half of the Welsh team that won the 2020 PDC World Cup of Darts before winning his ...

in the semi-finals. In its first major change since its inception in 2013, the field was increased from 16 to 24 players, with the top 8 players entering at the second round.

won his first individual televised title, beating Mervyn King 11–8 in the final, and by winning the tournament, he also secured his place in the 2021 Premier League, which he won. Clayton's winning run included a victory over

Michael van Gerwen Michael van Gerwen (; born 25 April 1989) is a Dutch professional darts player. He is currently ranked number 3 in the world, having been number 1 from 2014 to 2021. He is also a three-time PDC World Champion, having won the title in 2014, 2 ...

, which ended the so-called "van Gerwen curse", whereby any player who knocked out van Gerwen in a PDC major would subsequently lose in the next round. The final itself was notable, as if the usual format of 16 players had been maintained, neither of the two finalists would have qualified for the tournament.

Qualifiers

The Masters featured the top 24 players in the

PDC Order of Merit The PDC Order of Merit is a world ranking system used by one of the darts organisations, the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC). Following the 2007 PDC World Darts Championship it superseded a world ranking system based on points being awarded fo ...

after the 2021 PDC World Darts Championship, with the top 8 automatically qualifying for the second round.

Dimitri Van den Bergh Dimitri Van den Bergh (born 8 July 1994) is a Belgian professional darts player who currently competes in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events. He is a two-time World Youth Champion and the 2020 World Matchplay champion, after beating Gar ...

Glen Durrant Glen Durrant (born 24 November 1970), nicknamed "Duzza", is an English former professional darts player who played in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events. He previously won the BDO World Darts Championship three times consecutively fr ...

Krzysztof Ratajski Krzysztof Ratajski (Polish pronunciation: ; born 1 January 1977) is a Polish professional darts player who plays in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events. His biggest achievement to date was winning the 2017 World Masters. Ratajski also pla ...

José de Sousa José Augusto Oliveira de Sousa (born 12 February 1974) is a Portuguese professional darts player. He is based in Tarragona and represented Spain at the 2011 WDF World Cup, but played for the Portuguese team afterwards at the PDC. He won his ...

Jeffrey de Zwaan Jeffrey de Zwaan (born 26 March 1996) is a Dutch professional darts player who plays in events of the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC). Career De Zwaan progressed through to the last 16 of the 2014 World Masters, where he lost 3–0 to Glen ...

and

Chris Dobey Chris Dobey (born 31 May 1990) is an English professional darts player currently playing in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events. Career His first major TV appearance came in the 2015 UK Open where he lost 5–1 in the first round to Na ...

made their debuts in the event. The following 24 players took part in the tournament:

Prize money

The prize money was £220,000 in total, an increase of £20,000 from 2020 to incorporate the extra 8 players.

Draw

References

{{2021 in PDC darts Masters

Masters (darts) The Masters (also known as the Cazoo Masters for sponsorship purposes) is a non-ranking PDC darts tournament which features the top 24 darts players according to the PDC Order of Merit as of 2021. History The inaugural tournament, held in 2013, ...

Masters (darts)

Sport in Milton Keynes 2020s in Buckinghamshire