2021 World Matchplay

Darts tournamentTemplate:SHORTDESC:Darts tournament
The **2021 Betfred World Matchplay** was the 28th annual staging of the World Matchplay, organised by the Professional Darts Corporation. The tournament returned to the Winter Gardens, from 17–25 July 2021, with the 2020 staging of the event having been moved to the Marshall Arena, Milton Keynes due to the disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Dimitri Van den Bergh was the defending champion, after beating Gary Anderson 18–10 in the 2020 final. However he was defeated by Peter Wright 18–9 in the final. Wright won his first World Matchplay, and became the fifth player to win both the PDC World Championship and the World Matchplay.

## Prize money

The prize fund remained at £700,000, with the winner's earnings being £150,000.

 **First round** | (16) | £10,000

## Format

All games have to be won by two clear legs, with a game being extended if necessary for a maximum of six extra legs before a tie-break leg is required. For example, in a first to 10 legs first round match, if the score reaches 12–12 then the 25th leg will be the decider.

The first round is played first to 10 legs, second round first to 11 legs, quarter-finals first to 16 legs, semi-finals first to 17 legs and final first to 18 legs.

## Qualification

The top 16 players on the PDC Order of Merit at the cut-off point on 10 July were seeded for the tournament. The top 16 players on the ProTour Order of Merit, not to have already qualified on the cut-off date were unseeded. The ProTour Order of Merit took all events from the 2020 Players Championship 14 on 11 September 2020 up until 2021 Players Championship 20 on 9 July 2021.

Mensur Suljović originally qualified through the ProTour Order of Merit, but withdrew due to medical reasons. Jermaine Wattimena replaced him.

The following players qualified for the tournament:

2. **Peter Wright**  **(Champion)**
3. Michael van Gerwen  *(Semi-finals)*
4. James Wade  *(First round)*
5. Rob Cross  *(Second round)*
6. Gary Anderson  *(Second round)*
7. Michael Smith  *(Quarter-finals)*
8. Dimitri Van den Bergh  *(Runner-up)*
9. Dave Chisnall  *(Second round)*
10. José de Sousa  *(Second round)*
11. Nathan Aspinall  *(Quarter-finals)*
12. Glen Durrant  *(First round)*
13. Krzysztof Ratajski  *(Semi-finals)*
14. Daryl Gurney  *(First round)*
15. Joe Cullen  *(Second round)*
16. Jonny Clayton  *(Second round)*
2. Devon Petersen  *(First round)*
3. Damon Heta  *(First round)*
4. Danny Noppert  *(First round)*
5. Dirk van Duijvenbode  *(First round)*
6. Ross Smith  *(First round)*
7. ~~Mensur Suljović  *(Withdrew)*~~
8. Stephen Bunting  *(First round)*
9. Mervyn King  *(First round)*
10. Luke Humphries  *(Second round)*
11. Gabriel Clemens  *(First round)*
12. Vincent van der Voort  *(First round)*
13. Ryan Searle  *(First round)*
14. Ian White  *(Second round)*
15. Callan Rydz  *(Quarter-finals)*
16. Chris Dobey  *(First round)*
17. Jermaine Wattimena  *(First round)*

## Draw

### Top averages

This table shows the highest averages achieved by players throughout the tournament.

## Representation

This table shows the number of players by country in the 2021 World Matchplay. A total of 11 nationalities are represented.

## References

1. ↑ Dimitri van den Bergh wins 2020 Betfred World Matchplay. *PDC.tv* (26 July 2020). Retrieved on August 14, 2020.
2. ↑ Wright outplays Van den Bergh to claim first World Matchplay title. *PDC.tv* (25 July 2021). Retrieved on July 25, 2021.
3. ↑ PDC Order of Merit Rules. PDC. Retrieved on June 6, 2020.
4. ↑ Further eight Players Championships confirmed for June & July. *PDC.tv* (29 April 2021). Retrieved on May 13, 2021.
5. ↑ Suljovic replaced by Wattimena for Betfred World Matchplay. *PDC.tv* (12 July 2021). Retrieved on July 12, 2021.