The 2011 Ladbrokes.com World Darts Championship was the 18th

World Championship A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...

organised 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 ...

since it separated from the

British Darts Organisation The British Darts Organisation (BDO) was a darts organisation founded on 7 January 1973 by Olly Croft. Made up of 66 member counties, it oversaw professional, semi-professional and amateur darts competitions in Britain. The BDO was a founder ...

. The event took place at the

Alexandra Palace Alexandra Palace is a Grade II listed entertainment and sports venue in London, situated between Wood Green and Muswell Hill in the London Borough of Haringey. It is built on the site of Tottenham Wood and the later Tottenham Wood Farm. Origi ...

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

from 16 December 2010 and 3 January 2011. A total of 72 players took part, 16 of whom began at the preliminary round stage, with the eight winners joining the remaining 56 players in the first round proper. Phil Taylor was the defending champion, having won the 2010 tournament. He was knocked out of the tournament at the quarter final stage by Mark Webster, who in turn was defeated by

Adrian Lewis Adrian Lewis (born 21 January 1985) is an English professional darts player currently playing in the PDC. He is a two-time PDC World Darts Champion, winning in 2011 and 2012. He is nicknamed Jackpot, as he won a jackpot gambling in Las Vegas ...

in the semi-finals. Lewis went on to win the tournament, beating Gary Anderson 7–5 in the final to become only the fifth different PDC World Champion and the first to have won it without having won the rival BDO World Championship. The final between

and Gary Anderson was notable for being the last match that

Sid Waddell Sid Waddell (10 August 1940 – 11 August 2012) was an English sports commentator and television personality. He was nicknamed the 'Voice of Darts' due to his fame as a darts commentator, and worked for Granada, Yorkshire, BBC and Sky Sports. Du ...

commentated on at the

PDC World Darts Championship The PDC World Darts Championship, known for sponsorship purposes as the Cazoo World Darts Championship, organised by the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC), is a World Professional Darts Championship held annually in the sport of darts. The PD ...

before his passing in 2012. It was also notable for the first ever

nine-dart finish A nine-dart finish, also known as a nine-darter, is a perfect leg or single game in the sport of darts. The object of the game is to score a set number of points, most commonly 501; in order to win, a player must reach the target total exactly an ...

in a world championship final, hit by Lewis in the third leg of the match. 4-time PDC World Championship semi-finalist

Wayne Mardle Wayne Elliot Mardle (born 10 May 1973) is an English former professional darts player who played in events of the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) and British Darts Organisation (BDO). He was runner-up in three PDC majors, losing to Phil ...

was a notable absentee, missing out on his first World Championship since

1999 File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school shootin ...

. The 3-time PDC World Championship finalist

Peter Manley Peter David Manley (born 7 March 1962) is an English former professional darts player who played in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events from July 1996 until 2017. He won one major title, the Las Vegas Desert Classic, in 2003, and twi ...

was also another notable absentee, having missed out since

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The '' Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for frozen water, in soil in permanently ...

Format and qualifiers

The televised stages featured 72 players from a minimum of 22 countries. The top 32 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 ...

on 29 November 2010 were seeded for the tournament. They were joined by the 16 highest non qualified players in the Players Championship Order of Merit from events played on the

PDC Pro Tour The PDC Pro Tour is a series of non-televised darts tournaments organised by the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC). They comprise Professional Dart Players Association (PDPA) Players Championships and European Tour events. Only four players ...

. These 48 players were joined by two PDPA qualifiers (which were determined at a PDPA Qualifying event held in

Derby Derby ( ) is a city and unitary authority area in Derbyshire, England. It lies on the banks of the River Derwent in the south of Derbyshire, which is in the East Midlands Region. It was traditionally the county town of Derbyshire. Derby gai ...

on November 29, 2010), and 22 international players: the 4 highest names in the European Order of Merit not already qualified, the 2 highest names in the North American Order of Merit not already qualified and 16 further international qualifiers determined by the PDC and PDPA. Some of the international players, such as the 4 from the European Order of Merit, and the top American and Australian players were entered straight into the first round, while others, having won qualifying events in their countries, were entered into the preliminary round. Order of Merit Pro Tour # Steve Farmer #

Richie Burnett Richard Mark "Richie" Burnett (born 7 February 1967), nicknamed Prince of Wales, is a Welsh professional darts player who plays in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events. He is a former World No. 1 who won the 1995 Embassy World Darts Cha ...

# Steve Brown #

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 ...

Tony Eccles Tony Eccles (born 8 January 1970) is an English former professional darts player. Nicknamed The Viper, he played in both the British Darts Organisation (BDO) and the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC). He reached the quarter-finals of the BD ...

# Dennis Smith #

Nigel Heydon Nigel Heydon (born 22 July 1970) is an English professional darts player who plays in British Darts Organisation (BDO) events. Career Heydon qualified for the 2007 UK Open as an amateur qualifier, losing in the first round to John Burton. He ...

Brendan Dolan Brendan Gabriel Dolan (born 2 August 1973) is a Northern Irish professional darts player from County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland, who plays in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events. He is best known for becoming the first player to hit a ...

Steve Hine Stephen "Steve" Hine (born 20 April 1969 from Coventry) is an English professional darts player who plays in World Darts Federation events. He works as a baker and consequently he is nicknamed The Muffin Man. He is well known for bringing muff ...

Steve Maish Stephen Maish (born 22 November 1963 in Southend, Essex) is a retired English professional darts player who competed in Professional Darts Corporation events. He used the nickname Mr Magic for his matches. Career Maish made his televised deb ...

Kevin McDine Kevin McDine (born 23 May 1985 in Wallsend) is an English professional darts player currently residing in Wallsend. Career In November 2004 he reached the last 16 of the JR & Vauxhall Holiday Park 128 Plus Classic. He improved on that perfor ...

# Mark Hylton # Chris Thompson # Peter Wright # Steve Evans # Joe Cullen #

Kirk Shepherd Kirk Shepherd (born 5 October 1986) is an English former professional darts player who competed in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) tournaments. He was the youngest player ever to reach the final of the World Professional Darts Championship ...

European Order of Merit
''First Round Qualifiers'' *

Antonio Alcinas Antonio Alcinas Estelrich (born 7 April 1979) is a Spanish darts player playing in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events. Career Alcinas started competing in PDC Europe events in 2010. After reaching the quarter-finals of a Players Champ ...

Andree Welge Andree Welge (born 6 May 1972) is a German professional darts player who competed in events of the World Darts Federation (WDF). Career Welge made his World Championship debut in the 2002 BDO World Darts Championship where he lost in the first ...

Bernd Roith Bernd Roith (born 30 December 1959) is a German darts player who plays in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events. Career Roith is a chef by profession. He qualified for the 2010 European Championship via the PDC European Order of Merit. ...

Mensur Suljović Mensur Suljović (Serbian Cyrillic: Менсур Суљовић; born 5 March 1972) is an Austrian professional darts player. He plays in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events, having previously played in the British Darts Organisation (BD ...

PDPA Qualifiers
''First Round Qualifier'' *

Alex Roy Alexander Roy (born November 23, 1971) is an American writer, podcaster, TV host and rally race driver who has set various endurance driving records, including the US " Cannonball Run" transcontinental driving record, which he and Dave Maher bro ...

''Preliminary Round Qualifier'' *

Matt Padgett Matthew Padgett (born 27 March 1982) is an English professional darts player who competes in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) tournaments. Career A bowling alley technician by trade, Padgett joined the PDC in 2010. In June 2010, he qual ...

International Qualifiers
''First Round Qualifiers'' *

Darin Young Darin may refer to Places *Darin, Anbarabad, a village in Kerman Province, Iran *Darin, Jebalbarez-e Jonubi, a village in Kerman Province, Iran *Darin, Sistan and Baluchestan, a village in Sistan and Baluchestan Province, Iran *Darin, Yazd, a villa ...

Shane Tichowitsch Shane Tichowitsch (born 9 January 1967) is a former professional Australian darts player. Career He qualified for the 2011 PDC World Darts Championship. He is a semi-professional darts player and has been as high as 93 in the world. He qualif ...

*
Rob Modra Rob Modra is an 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 known as a dartboard. Points can b ...
''Preliminary Round Qualifiers'' *

Gary Mawson Gary Mawson (born May 17, 1963) is a Canadian-born American professional darts player. He currently resides in Fort Myers, Florida, United States. Mawson played darts for the USA in 2004 and the years immediately following, having previously pl ...

Jyhan Artut Jyhan Artut (born 9 October 1976) is a German professional darts player who competes in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events. Career Artut defeated Wayne Mardle 3–0 in the 2010 PDC World Darts Championship in the first round. He was ...

Dietmar Burger Dietmar Burger (born 19 July 1968) is an Austrian professional darts player who plays in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events. Career Burger won the Czech Open back-to-back in 2005 and 2006 and then won the Finnish Open in 2007, an ev ...

Magnus Caris Magnus Caris (born 15 November 1968) is a Swedish former professional darts player who competed in British Darts Organisation (BDO) and Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events. BDO career Caris made seven BDO World Darts Championship appear ...

* Juanito Gionson *

Morihiro Hashimoto (10 February 1977 – 13 March 2017) was a Japanese darts player, nicknamed The Ogre. Career Hashimoto first appeared in the PDC circuit competing in the 2009 Las Vegas Desert Classic qualifiers, as well as a Players Championship. He attempt ...

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 ...

Per Laursen Per Laursen (born 16 April 1966) is a Danish professional darts player who plays in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) and British Darts Organisation (BDO) tournaments. BDO career Laursen reached the final of the WDF World Cup in both singl ...

* Scott MacKenzie *

Norman Madhoo Norman Madhoo (born April 9, 1964) is a Guyanese professional darts player. He is a three-time winner of the Caribbean and South American Masters, claiming the titles in 2003, 2009 and 2010. Madhoo first qualified for the PDC World Darts Champio ...

Mickey Mansell Michael "Mickey" Mansell (born 31 August 1973) is a Northern Irish darts player who plays in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events. Career In October 2010, Mansell reached the semi-finals of a Players Championship in Dublin. A week lat ...

Devon Petersen Devon Petersen (born 4 June 1986) is a South African professional darts player and a pundit for Sky Sports. He has qualified for the PDC World Championship on seven occasions with his best result coming in 2014, 2019 and 2021 when he reached th ...

Preston Ridd Preston Ridd (born 28 October 1953 from Christchurch) is a former New Zealand professional darts player. He won the New Zealand Open three times and the New Zealand Masters once. Career He qualified for the 2011 PDC World Darts Championship as ...

Roland Scholten Roland Scholten (born 11 January 1965) is a Dutch former professional darts player who played in events of the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) and British Darts Organisation (BDO). Nicknamed The Tripod and The Flying Dutchman, Scholten turne ...

Veijo Viinikka Veijo Viinikka (born 27 March 1966) is a Finnish professional darts player. He competed in the 2011 PDC World Darts Championship, losing 4–2 to Roland Scholten in the preliminary round. He made his European Tour debut for German Darts Champi ...

Rob Modra Rob Modra is an 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 known as a dartboard. Points can b ...

was unable to get a visa, so therefore, he was replaced by

, the next highest ranked player in the Players Championship Order of Merit.

Prize money

The 2011 World Championship featured a prize fund of £1,000,000 – the same as in the previous year. The Third Place Playoff did not take place this year. The prize money is allocated as follows:

Schedule

Preliminary round

The preliminary round was played from Dec 16 to Dec 23 with one match per day. The format was best of 7 legs.

Last 64

The winner of the eight Preliminary Round matches joined 56 other players in the First Round. The First Round draw took place on Tuesday 30 November live in the studio of Sky Sports News, and was conducted by 1983 World champion Keith Deller and Sky Sports darts' analyst and former World Matchplay champion, Rod Harrington.

Final

Statistics

Representation from different countries

This table shows the number of players by country in the World Championship, the total number including the preliminary round.

Television coverage

Sky Sports Sky Sports is a group of British subscription sports channels operated by the satellite pay television company Sky Group (a division of Comcast), and is the dominant subscription television sports brand in the United Kingdom and Ireland. It ...

broadcast all 72 matches live in high-definition in the United Kingdom. Dave Clark presented the coverage with analysis from

Rod Harrington Rodney Harrington (born 30 December 1957) is an English former professional darts player and former commentator. He used the nickname "The Prince of Style" for his matches, often wearing a suit and waistcoat for his games. Harrington enjoyed so ...

and

Eric Bristow Eric John Bristow, (25 April 1957 – 5 April 2018), nicknamed "The Crafty Cockney", was an English professional darts player. He was ranked World No. 1 by the World Darts Federation a record five times, in 1980, 1981 and 1983–1985. He was ...

. They also commentated on matches along with

(in his final PDC World Darts Championship commentating appearance), John Gwynne, Nigel Pearson, Rod Studd and

Stuart Pyke Stuart Pyke (born 8 July 1961) is a British-born sports journalist and broadcaster. Stuart was born in St Helens, Lancashire, and is married to Christine. He has two children; Daniel and Rachael and two stepdaughters Emma and Victoria. He is no ...

. This was the first PDC World Championship where

Dave Lanning Dave Lanning (24 March 1938 – 29 October 2016) was an English sports commentator and journalist, best known for his coverage of Professional Darts. He was brought up in Poole and educated at Poole Grammar School. Broadcasting career He was o ...

wasn't commentating having retired prior to the tournament. Due to the ill health of Harrington,

replaced him post-Christmas and featured both commentating and co-presenting alongside Clark. Former England cricketer

Andrew Flintoff Andrew "Freddie" Flintoff (born 6 December 1977) is an English television and radio presenter and former international cricketer. Flintoff played all forms of the game and was one of the sport's leading all-rounders, a fast bowler, middle-orde ...

was also a guest commentator twice during tournament. Interviews were handled by either Clark, Bristow or Studd. In the Netherlands

SBS6 SBS6 is a Dutch free-to-cable commercial TV channel and is a part of Talpa TV, formerly known as SBS Broadcasting B.V. and now owned by Talpa Network. Other channels of the group in the Netherlands are Net5, Veronica, and SBS9. History SBS st ...

broadcast all matches live through a live stream on the SBS6 website and

Sport1 Sport1 may refer to the following TV channels: * Sport1 (Eastern Europe) * Sport1 (Germany) * Sport1 (Lithuania) * Sport1 (Netherlands) Sport1 may refer to the following TV channels: * Sport1 (Eastern Europe) * Sport1 (Germany) * Sport1 (Lithuani ...

broadcast all the matches on television, both with commentary provided by Jacques Nieuwlaat and Leo Oldenburger. In Germany it was broadcast live on Sport1 with co-commentary provided by

, and in Australia it was broadcast live on

Fox Sports Fox Sports is the brand name for a number of sports channels, broadcast divisions, programming, and other media around the world. The ''Fox Sports'' name has since been used for other sports media assets. These assets are held mainly by the Fo ...

References

External links

The official site of the Ladbrokes.com PDC World Darts Championship

Results and Schedule

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pdc World Darts Championship 2011

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 ...

2010 in darts 2011 in darts

2011 in British sport December 2010 sports events in the United Kingdom International sports competitions in London Alexandra Palace January 2011 events in the United Kingdom