2021 UK Open

Darts tournamentTemplate:SHORTDESC:Darts tournament
The **2021 Ladbrokes UK Open** was a darts tournament staged by the Professional Darts Corporation. 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 in Milton Keynes, England, between 5–7 March 2021, and was played behind closed doors due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Michael van Gerwen was the defending champion after defeating Gerwyn Price 11–9 in the 2020 final. However, he lost 11–5 to Luke Humphries in the semi-finals.

James Wade won his third UK Open title, and his first since 2011, with an 11–5 victory over Humphries in the final.

Lisa Ashton became the first female to win a match at the UK Open since 2005, defeating Aaron Beeney 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.

Sebastian Białecki, 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 Jim McEwan. Jitse Van der Wal then hit a nine-dart finish against Białecki in the second round.

## 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 COVID-19 pandemic, 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, Daniel Larsson, Darren Penhall, Wesley Harms, Michael Unterbuchner and Robert Marijanović withdrew before the draw was made.

Cristo Reyes and Florian Hempel withdrew after the draw took place, so their opponents Jitse Van der Wal (in round 1) and Ryan Joyce (in round 3) both got byes to their next respective rounds. Justin Pipe tested positive for COVID-19, meaning Luke Humphries received a bye to round 4.

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

1. Gerwyn Price
2. Michael van Gerwen
3. Peter Wright
4. Rob Cross
5. James Wade
6. Gary Anderson
7. Dave Chisnall
8. Michael Smith
9. Dimitri Van den Bergh
10. Nathan Aspinall
11. Daryl Gurney
12. Ian White
13. Glen Durrant
14. Krzysztof Ratajski
15. José de Sousa
16. Joe Cullen
17. Stephen Bunting
18. Jonny Clayton
19. Simon Whitlock
20. Mensur Suljović
21. Mervyn King
22. Danny Noppert
23. Jeffrey de Zwaan
24. Adrian Lewis
25. Chris Dobey
26. Vincent van der Voort
27. Jermaine Wattimena
28. Jamie Hughes
29. Gabriel Clemens
30. Dirk van Duijvenbode
31. Ricky Evans
32. Devon Petersen

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

33. Steve Beaton
34. Brendan Dolan
35. William O'Connor
36. Keegan Brown
37. Ryan Searle
38. Kim Huybrechts
39. Max Hopp
40. Darius Labanauskas
41. Luke Humphries
42. John Henderson
43. Ross Smith
44. Ryan Joyce
45. Darren Webster
46. Steve West
47. ~~Justin Pipe~~  *(Withdrew)*
48. Damon Heta
49. Luke Woodhouse
50. Ron Meulenkamp
51. Steve Lennon
52. Andy Boulton
53. Madars Razma
54. Jelle Klaasen
55. Mickey Mansell
56. Adam Hunt
57. Callan Rydz
58. Matthew Edgar
59. Ted Evetts
60. Josh Payne
61. Jason Lowe
62. James Wilson
63. Mark McGeeney
64. ~~Cristo Reyes~~  *(Withdrew)*

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

65. Maik Kuivenhoven
66. Jeff Smith
67. Scott Waites
68. Ryan Murray
69. Martijn Kleermaker
70. Wayne Jones
71. Karel Sedláček
72. Derk Telnekes
73. Nick Kenny
74. Andy Hamilton
75. Mike De Decker
76. Ryan Meikle
77. Lisa Ashton
78. Bradley Brooks
79. William Borland
80. Ciarán Teehan
81. Alan Tabern
82. Kai Fan Leung
83. Jesús Noguera
84. Raymond van Barneveld
85. Krzysztof Kciuk
86. Steve Brown
87. Peter Jacques
88. Martin Atkins
89. Steffen Siepmann
90. Gary Blades
91. Alan Soutar
92. Harald Leitinger
93. Eddie Lovely
94. Keane Barry
95. Jonathan Worsley
96. Aaron Beeney

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

97. John Brown
98. Gordon Mathers
99. John Michael
100. Jake Jones
101. Kirk Shepherd
102. Martin Schindler
103. Lewy Williams
104. Jack Main
105. Berry van Peer
106. Scott Mitchell
107. Ritchie Edhouse
108. Geert Nentjes
109. Geert De Vos
110. Martin Lukeman
111. Danny Baggish
112. Joe Murnan
113. Peter Hudson
114. Zoran Lerchbacher
115. Adam Gawlas
116. Boris Koltsov
117. Brett Claydon
118. Andrew Gilding
119. David Evans
120. Jason Heaver
121. ~~Florian Hempel~~  *(Withdrew)*
122. Niels Zonneveld

### 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.

1. Damian Mol
2. Kevin Doets
3. Dom Taylor
4. Joe Davis
5. Keelan Kay
6. Brian Raman
7. Rhys Griffin
8. Sebastian Białecki

### 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.

1. Matthew Dennant
2. Jim Williams
3. Rob Collins
4. Maikel Verberk
5. Jitse Van der Wal
6. Nathan Rafferty
7. Richie Burnett
8. Scott Taylor

### 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.

1. Chas Barstow
2. Gavin Carlin
3. Martin Thomas
4. Kevin McDine
5. Jim McEwan
6. Shane McGuirk
7. Matt Jackson
8. Sean Fisher

### 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.

1. Rusty-Jake Rodriguez
2. Luc Peters
3. Rowby-John Rodriguez
4. Lorenzo Pronk
5. Gino Vos
6. Michael Rasztovits
7. Ryan de Vreede
8. Lukas Wenig

## 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.

### Sunday 7 March

#### Semi-finals and Final

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## References

1. ↑ The UK Open to move to the Marshall Arena in Milton Keynes this March (26 January 2021).
2. ↑ Ladbrokes UK Open glory for nine-dart Van Gerwen. *PDC* (8 March 2020).
3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Ladbrokes UK Open Day One. Professional Darts Corporation.
4. ↑ Ever-present trio joined as history-makers by teenager. Professional Darts Corporation.
5. ↑ 2021 Ladbrokes UK Open to be played in Milton Keynes. *PDC* (26 January 2021).
6. ↑ 2021 Ladbrokes UK Open Preview. *PDC* (4 March 2021).
7. ↑ Pipe to miss Ladbrokes UK Open after positive Covid test. *PDC* (4 March 2021).
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