
There was an early Christmas present for everyone on Monday when we saw Wayne Mardle and Colin Lloyd make the draw for the 2021 World Darts Championship. The World Championships are the ultimate event on every player’s calendar with 32 seeded players along with 64 other qualifiers, split into 4 brackets.
The three times World Champion Michael van Gerwen will be returning to the Palace for his 15th appearance. MvG is looking to take home a 4th World title and will begin the tournament in the second round against the winner of Chas Barstow vs John Norman Jnr.
After 37 years at the top of the darting game, The Bronzed Adonis 'Steve Beaton' is looking to beat 'The Queen of the Palace' Fallon Sherrock in Round 1. Fallon gained her nickname during her fairy tale 2019 World Championship campaign, becoming the first woman ever to win a match in the tournament. If Beaton can 'Beat her', he will face the Belgian, Kim Huybrechts in the next round.
The Rockstar, Joe Cullen, has his eyes firmly set on breaking into the top 10 in the world. Cullen enters the event as the 13th seed and, leaving as the new champion could boost him into the top 5 in the world. Joe will play either Ted Evetts or Jim Williams in his tournament opener.
Daryl Gurney and Brendan Dolan are 2 of the 3 Northern Irish players attending this year’s show piece event. Brendan Dolan’s form looks to be peaking at the latter part of the year after beating 2021 World Champion Gerwyn Price at the Player Championship Finals in November. Brendan will jump straight into Round 2 with a match against Callan Rydz or Yuki Yamada. Fellow countryman Daryl Gurney will start his tournament journey against Ricky Evans or Nitin Kumar and with the return of fans to the most iconic venue in World Darts, Daryl’s walk on song, “Sweet Caroline” promises to be an absolute belter….
Bring it on, we cannot wait!
Following a three-day Christmas break, the third and fourth rounds will be held from December 27-30, with the quarter-finals, semi-finals and final being held from January 1-3.
Tickets for some sessions remain available through SeeTickets. Hospitality Packages are available through this link, and Hotel & Ticket Breaks are available through Sportsbreaks.com.
The tournament will be broadcast live on Sky Sports in the UK, through the PDC's worldwide broadcast partners including DAZN and RTL7, and on PDCTV (excluding UK and Netherlands based subscribers).
2021/22 William Hill World Darts Championship
Schedule of Play
Wednesday December 15 (1900 GMT)
3x First Round, 1x Second Round
Ritchie Edhouse v Lihao Wen (R1)
Ricky Evans v Nitin Kumar (R1)
Adrian Lewis v Matt Campbell (R1)
Gerwyn Price v Edhouse/Wen (R2)
Thursday December 16
Afternoon Session (1230 GMT)
3x First Round, 1x Second Round
Steve Lennon v Madars Razma (R1)
Scott Mitchell v Chris Landman (R1)
Chas Barstow v John Norman Jnr (R1)
Daryl Gurney v Evans/Kumar (R2)
Evening Session (1900 GMT)
3x First Round, 1x Second Round
William O’Connor v Danny Lauby (R1)
Ryan Meikle v Fabian Schmutzler (R1)
Ron Meulenkamp v Lisa Ashton (R1)
Gary Anderson v Lewis/Campbell (R2)
Friday December 17
Afternoon Session (1230 GMT)
3x First Round, 1x Second Round
Ryan Joyce v Roman Benecky (R1)
Keane Barry v Royden Lam (R1)
Jermaine Wattimena v Boris Koltsov (R1)
Krzysztof Ratajski v Lennon/Razma (R2)
Evening Session (1900 GMT)
3x First Round, 1x Second Round
Joe Murnan v Paul Lim (R1)
William Borland v Bradley Brooks (R1)
Ross Smith v Jeff Smith (R1)
Peter Wright v Meikle/Schmutzler (R2)
Saturday December 18
Afternoon Session (1230 GMT)
3x First Round, 1x Second Round
Jamie Hughes v Raymond Smith (R1)
Callan Rydz v Yuki Yamada (R1)
Darius Labanauskas v Charles Losper (R1)
Ian White v Mitchell/Landman (R2)
Evening Session (1900 GMT)
3x First Round, 1x Second Round
Adam Hunt v Boris Krcmar (R1)
Ted Evetts v Jim Williams (R1)
Rowby-John Rodriguez v Nick Kenny (R1)
Michael van Gerwen v Barstow/Norman Jnr (R2)
Sunday December 19
Afternoon Session (1230 GMT)
3x First Round, 1x Second Round
Maik Kuivenhoven v Ky Smith (R1)
Jason Heaver v Juan Francisco Rodriguez (R1)
Alan Soutar v Diogo Portela (R1)
Stephen Bunting v Ross Smith/J Smith (R2)
Evening Session (1900 GMT)
3x First Round, 1x Second Round
Martijn Kleermaker v John Michael (R1)
Florian Hempel v Martin Schindler (R1)
Steve Beaton v Fallon Sherrock (R1)
Jonny Clayton v Barry/Lam (R2)
Monday December 20 (1900 GMT)
3x First Round, 1x Second Round
Luke Woodhouse v James Wilson (R1)
Rusty-Jake Rodriguez v Ben Robb (R1)
Raymond van Barneveld v Lourence Ilagan (R1)
James Wade v Kuivenhoven/K Smith (R2)
Tuesday December 21
Afternoon Session (1230 GMT)
2x First Round, 2x Second Round
Lewy Williams v Toyokazu Shibata (R1)
Jason Lowe v Daniel Larsson (R1)
Mervyn King v Joyce/Benecky (R2)
Dave Chisnall v Labanauskas/Losper (R2)
Evening Session (1900 GMT)
4x Second Round
Vincent van der Voort v Hunt/Krcmar (R2)
Michael Smith v Meulenkamp/Ashton (R2)
Dimitri Van den Bergh v Hempel/Schindler (R2)
Devon Petersen v Hughes/Raymond Smith (R2)
Wednesday December 22
Afternoon Session (1230 GMT)
4x Second Round
Ryan Searle v Borland/Brooks (R2)
Glen Durrant v O’Connor/Lauby (R2)
Luke Humphries v Rowby-John Rodriguez/Kenny (R2)
Joe Cullen v Evetts/J Williams (R2)
Evening Session (1900 GMT)
4x Second Round
Nathan Aspinall v Murnan/Lim (R2)
Dirk van Duijvenbode v Wattimena/Koltsov (R2)
Kim Huybrechts v Beaton/Sherrock (R2)
Simon Whitlock v Kleermaker/Michael (R2)
Thursday December 23
Afternoon Session (1230 GMT)
4x Second Round
Damon Heta v Woodhouse/Wilson (R2)
Brendan Dolan v Rydz/Yamada (R2)
Mensur Suljovic v Soutar/Portela (R2)
Jose de Sousa v Lowe/Larsson (R2)
Evening Session (1900 GMT)
4x Second Round
Danny Noppert v Heaver/Jose Francisco Rodriguez (R2)
Gabriel Clemens v L Williams/Shibata (R2)
Rob Cross v Van Barneveld/Ilagan (R2)
Chris Dobey v Rusty-Jake Rodriguez/Robb (R2)
Monday December 27
Afternoon Session (1230 GMT)
3x Third Round
Evening Session (1900 GMT)
3x Third Round
Tuesday December 28
Afternoon Session (1230 GMT)
3x Third Round
Evening Session (1900 GMT)
3x Third Round
Wednesday December 29
Afternoon Session (1230 GMT)
3x Third Round
Evening Session (1900 GMT)
1x Third Round, 2x Fourth Round
Thursday December 30
Afternoon Session (1230 GMT)
3x Fourth Round
Evening Session (1900 GMT)
3x Fourth Round
Saturday January 1
Afternoon Session (1230 GMT)
2x Quarter-Finals
Evening Session (1930 GMT)
2x Quarter-Finals
Sunday January 2 (1930 GMT)
2x Semi-Finals
Monday January 3 (2000 GMT)
Final
*Schedule subject to change
Format
First Round - Best of five sets
Second Round - Best of five sets
Third Round - Best of seven sets
Fourth Round - Best of seven sets
Quarter-Finals - Best of nine sets
Semi-Finals - Best of 11 sets
Final - Best of 13 sets
Tie-Breaks
First Round matches will not have a tie-break; if the fifth set reaches two-all in legs, then the fifth leg will be sudden-death.
From the Second Round onwards, there will be a tie-break rule employed in all matches; where a deciding set must be won by two clear legs. If the score in the final set reaches 5-5 then a sudden-death leg will be played.
There would be no throw for the bull in any sudden-death legs.