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 ...

UK Open The Cazoo UK Open is a ranking major darts tournament held annually at the Butlins Minehead Resort by the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) in England. Often referred to as the "FA Cup of darts", the UK Open replicates the abolition of seedin ...

was a

darts Darts or dart-throwing is a competitive sport in which two or more players bare-handedly throw small projectile point, sharp-pointed projectile, missiles known as dart (missile), darts at a round shooting target, target known as a #Dartboard, dar ...

tournament staged 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 ...

. It was the nineteenth year of the tournament where players compete in a single elimination tournament to be crowned champion. The tournament was held for the first time 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, between 5–7 March 2021, and was played behind closed doors due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

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 ...

was the defending champion after defeating

Gerwyn Price Gerwyn Stephen Price (born 7 March 1985) is a Welsh professional darts player and former professional rugby union and rugby league player. Nicknamed "The Iceman", he competes in events of the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC), where he is cu ...

11–9 in the 2020 final. However, he lost 11–5 to

Luke Humphries Luke Humphries (born 11 February 1995) is an English professional darts player who plays in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events. He won the 2019 PDC World Youth Championship. Career Humphries won five PDC Development Tour titles in 20 ...

in the semi-finals.

Lisa Ashton Lisa Ashton (born 27 August 1970) is an English professional darts player who currently plays in World Darts Federation (WDF) and Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events. She is a four-time BDO World Darts Women's Champion and has won over ...

became the first female to win a match at the UK Open since 2005, defeating

Aaron Beeney Aaron Beeney (born 1 January 1984) is an English professional darts player who competes in the Professional Darts Corporation events. Career Working in the prison service, Beeney represented English Prisons against Danish Prisons. He also has ...

6–2 in Round 2, and also set a new world record for the highest televised average by a female player, with an average of 100.34. , the first player born after the inaugural event in 2003 to play in the UK Open , hit a nine-dart finish in his opening round victory over . then hit a nine-dart finish against Białecki in the second round.

James Wade James Martin Wade (born 6 April 1983) is an English professional darts player, currently playing in the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC). He became the youngest player to win a major PDC title, when he won the 2007 World Matchplay at the ...

won his third UK Open title, and his first since

2011 File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrate ...

, with an 11–5 victory over

in the final.

Prize money

The prize fund remained at £450,000. With the withdrawal of seven tour card players the field is reduced to 153 players.

Format

There is a slight change in format for this year. Due to the

, no Rileys amateur qualifiers could be held. In 2021, the top eight of both the UK and European Qualifying School Order of Merits who have not yet qualified for the tournament filled those 16 spots. The 153 participants will enter the competition incrementally, with 50 players entering in the first round, with match winners joining the 32 players entering in the second and third rounds to leave the last 64 in the fourth round. *No players are seeded. *A random draw is held for each of the following rounds following the conclusion of the Third round. *All matches in the First, Second and Third rounds will be played over best of 11 legs. *All matches in the Fourth, Fifth, Sixth rounds and Quarter-finals will be played over best of 19 legs. *All matches in the Semi-finals and Final will be played over best of 21 legs. *Eight boards will be used for matches in the First, Second, Third and Fourth rounds. *Four boards will be used for matches in the Fifth round. *Two boards will be used for matches in the Sixth round. *One board will be used for all the matches in the Quarter-finals, Semi-Finals and Final.

Qualifiers

Boris Krčmar Boris Krčmar (born 13 September 1979) is a Croatian professional steel-tip and soft-tip darts player who currently plays in the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events. He dominated soft-tip darts for over decade and won more than 400 profe ...

, Daniel Larsson,

Darren Penhall Darren Penhall (born 18 November 1972) is an English-Australian professional darts Darts or dart-throwing is a competitive sport in which two or more players bare-handedly throw small sharp-pointed missiles known as darts at a round target k ...

Wesley Harms Wesley Harms (born 11 June 1984) is a Dutch former professional darts player. Career Harms won the BDO International Open in 2011, defeating Stephen Bunting in the final. Harms qualified for the 2012 BDO World Darts Championship as the 13th s ...

Michael Unterbuchner Michael Unterbuchner (born 23 May 1988) is a German darts player who plays in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events. He reached the semi-finals of the BDO World Championship on two of his three appearances. Career In 2017, Unterbuchner ...

and

Robert Marijanović Robert Marijanovic (born 6 May 1980) is a German darts player of Croatian heritage. Career Marijanović qualified for the 2013 PDC World Darts Championship after coming through the Eastern European qualifier. He was beaten 3–4 by Northern Ire ...

withdrew before the draw was made.

Cristo Reyes Cristo Reyes Torres (born 30 July 1987) is a Spanish darts player who plays in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events. Career In October 2014, Reyes bested a field of 154 players to win the Iberian Qualifier for the 2015 PDC World Champi ...

and Florian Hempel withdrew after the draw took place, so their opponents Jitse van der Wal (in round 1) and

Ryan Joyce Ryan Joyce (born 20 September 1985) is a professional English darts player who plays in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events. Career BDO In 2014 he reached the Last 48 of the World Masters. He took part in the 2016 BDO World Trophy, he ...

(in round 3) both got byes to their next respective rounds.

Justin Pipe Justin Pipe (born 9 November 1971) is an English former professional darts player who has played in the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events. He was a former top 10 player. Playing career Pipe was a boxer in his youth, and, as a staunc ...

tested positive for

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...

, meaning

received a bye to round 4.

Number 1–32 of the PDC Order of Merit (receiving byes into Fourth Round)

Number 33–64 of the PDC Order of Merit (receiving byes into Third Round)

Number 65–96 of the PDC Order of Merit (receiving byes into Second Round)

Number 97–128 of the PDC Order of Merit (starting in First Round)

PDC Development Tour Qualifiers (starting in First Round)

The top 8 ranked players from the 2020 Development Tour Order of Merit who didn't have a Tour Card for the 2021 season qualified for the first round.

PDC Challenge Tour Qualifiers (starting in First Round)

The top 8 ranked players from the 2020 Challenge Tour Order of Merit who didn't have a Tour Card for the 2021 season qualified for the first round.

PDC UK Qualifying School Qualifiers (starting in First Round)

The top 8 ranked players from the 2021 UK Qualifying School Order of Merit who didn't have a Tour Card for the 2021 season qualified for the first round.

PDC European Qualifying School Qualifiers (starting in First Round)

The top 8 ranked players from the 2021 European Qualifying School Order of Merit who didn't have a Tour Card for the 2021 season qualified for the first round.

Draw

Friday 5 March

First round (best of eleven legs)

With the withdrawal of the six Tour Card holders, six players received a bye to the second round.

Prize money

Format

Qualifiers

Number 1–32 of the PDC Order of Merit (receiving byes into Fourth Round)

Number 33–64 of the PDC Order of Merit (receiving byes into Third Round)

Number 65–96 of the PDC Order of Merit (receiving byes into Second Round)

Number 97–128 of the PDC Order of Merit (starting in First Round)

PDC Development Tour Qualifiers (starting in First Round)

PDC Challenge Tour Qualifiers (starting in First Round)

PDC UK Qualifying School Qualifiers (starting in First Round)

PDC European Qualifying School Qualifiers (starting in First Round)

Draw

Friday 5 March

First round (best of eleven legs)

Second round (best of eleven legs)

Third round (best of eleven legs)

Fourth round (best of nineteen legs)

Saturday 6 March

Fifth round (best of nineteen legs)

Sixth round (best of nineteen legs)

Sunday 7 March

Quarter-finals (best of nineteen legs)

Semi-finals and Final

References