The 2011 Skybet World Matchplay was the 18th annual staging of the World Matchplay, 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 Wor ...

. The tournament took place from 16–24 July 2011. It was sponsored by Skybet (who had previously sponsored the UK Open and the World Grand Prix) who took over from Stan James after 10 years. Phil Taylor successfully defended his title, defeating

James Wade James Martin Wade (born 6 April 1983) is an English professional darts player who competes in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events, where he is currently ranked world number nine; he reached a peak ranking of world number two in 2010. ...

18–8 in the final to win his twelfth World Matchplay crown and his fourth in successive years. In the quarter-final,

Andy Hamilton Andrew Neil Hamilton (born 28 May 1954) is a British comedian, game show panellist, television director, comedy screenwriter, radio dramatist, novelist and actor. Early life and education Hamilton was born in Fulham, West London. He was educa ...

produced a remarkable comeback. Trailing 8–15 to

Simon Whitlock Simon Whitlock (born 3 March 1969) is an Australian professional darts player who competes in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events, having previously competed in British Darts Organisation (BDO) events. Nicknamed "The Wizard", he won th ...

and only one leg from defeat, Hamilton won nine consecutive legs to advance to the semi-finals.

John Part John Part (born 29 June 1966) is a Canadian former professional darts player and current commentator, who competes in World Seniors events. Nicknamed "Darth Maple", he is a three-time World Champion, having won the 1994 BDO World Darts Champions ...

recorded his first and only televised

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 a ...

, and the third in Matchplay history, in his first-round defeat to Mark Webster. The 2011 World Matchplay is notable for being the last darts tournament on

Sky Sports Sky Sports is a group of British broadcasting of sports events, subscription sports channels operated by the satellite television, satellite pay television company Sky Group (a division of Comcast), and is the dominant subscription television ...

where long-time commentator,

Sid Waddell Sidney 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 Television, Granada, Yorkshire ...

, commentated full-time. He was diagnosed with

bowel cancer Colorectal cancer (CRC), also known as bowel cancer, colon cancer, or rectal cancer, is the development of cancer from the colon or rectum (parts of the large intestine). Signs and symptoms may include blood in the stool, a change in bowel ...

in September 2011, underwent treatment, and made a brief return to the commentary box during the

2012 Premier League Darts The 2012 McCoy's Premier League Darts was a darts tournament organised by the Professional Darts Corporation; the eighth edition of the tournament. The event began at the Manchester Arena in Manchester on 9 February, and ended at The O2 Arena ...

. Waddell died from the bowel cancer on the 11 August 2012, the day after his 72nd birthday.

Prize money

For the third consecutive World Matchplay, the prize fund was £400,000.

Qualification

The top 16 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 ...

qualified automatically and were also seeded players. The other 16 places went to the top 16 non-qualified players from the Players Championships Order of Merit. These were the participants:

PDC Top 16

# Phil Taylor (winner) #

Adrian Lewis Adrian Lewis (born 21 January 1985) is an English professional darts player who formerly competed in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events. Nicknamed "Jackpot", he is a two-time PDC World Champion, having won the title in 2011 and 2012. ...

''(semi-finals)'' #

''(runner-up)'' # Gary Anderson ''(first round)'' #

''(quarter-finals)'' #

Raymond van Barneveld Raymond van Barneveld (born 20 April 1967) is a Dutch professional darts player who competes in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events, where he was ranked world number one from January 2008 to June 2008. Nicknamed "Barney", he is a five-t ...

''(quarter-finals)'' #

Terry Jenkins Terry Jenkins (born 26 September 1963) is an English former professional darts player who was nicknamed The Bull, having previously used the name "Tucker" for his matches. He reached a peak ranking of world number three in the darts world ranki ...

''(first round)'' #

Wes Newton Wesley Newton (born 27 August 1977) is an English professional darts player. Darts career Newton's first PDC major was the 2003 UK Open where he lost 8–6 to Mark Thomson in the last 32. He was beaten in the semi-finals of the Eastbourne Op ...

''(quarter-finals)'' # Mervyn King ''(first round)'' # Mark Webster ''(quarter-finals)'' # Paul Nicholson ''(second round)'' #

Ronnie Baxter Ronnie Baxter (born 5 February 1961) is an English former professional darts player who competed in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events. He used the nickname "The Rocket" for his matches. Baxter was known for his fast robotic throwing a ...

''(first round)'' #

Colin Lloyd Colin Edward Lloyd (born 7 August 1973), nicknamed Jaws, is an English former professional darts player. He formerly competed in Professional Darts Corporation events, where he was ranked world number one from April 2005 to January 2007 (except ...

''(first round)'' # Mark Walsh ''(second round)'' #

Vincent van der Voort Vincent van der Voort (born 18 December 1975) is a Dutch former professional darts player who played in British Darts Organisation (BDO) then Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events. He is nicknamed the "Dutch Destroyer", although he used ...

''(second round)'' # Wayne Jones ''(second round)''

PDPA Players Championship qualifiers

''(first round)'' # Andy Smith ''(first round)'' #

Jamie Caven Jamie Robert Caven (born 10 March 1976) is an English former professional darts player who competed in Professional Darts Corporation and British Darts Organisation (BDO) events. He won seven PDC Pro Tour titles, including two in the same we ...

''(first round)'' #

Justin Pipe Justin Pipe (born 9 November 1971) is an English former professional darts player who competed in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events. He won six PDC titles. Playing career Pipe was a Boxing, boxer in his youth, and, as a staunch anti- ...

''(second round)'' #

Dave Chisnall David Chisnall (born 12 September 1980) is an English professional darts player who competes in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events, where he is currently ranked world number twelve; he reached a peak ranking of world number five in ...

''(first round)'' # Peter Wright ''(first round)'' #

Alan Tabern Alan Tabern (born 29 September 1966) is an English darts player who plays in events of the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC). He is nicknamed "The Saint". Darts career A left-hander, Tabern made his PDC World Championship debut in 2006 with ...

''(first round)'' # Mark Hylton ''(first round)'' # Steve Brown ''(first round)'' #

Denis Ovens Denis Ovens (born 1 July 1957) is an English former professional darts player. He is nicknamed "The Heat" and is now based in Stevenage. Ovens is regarded as one of the most consistent players in the circuit, though he has as yet failed to c ...

''(second round)'' # John Henderson ''(second round)'' #

Kevin Painter Kevin Painter (born 12 July 1967) is an English former professional darts player who competes in World Seniors Darts (WSD) events. He competed in British Darts Organisation (BDO) tournaments from 1992 to 2001, before switching to the Profession ...

''(first round)'' # Scott Rand ''(first round)'' #

Colin Osborne Colin Osborne (born 19 June 1975) is an English professional darts player who plays in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events. In 2009, he won the Championship League and reached the final of the UK Open. Darts career Osborne has won two ...

''(first round)'' #

Steve Beaton Steve Beaton (born 5 April 1964) is an English former professional darts player who competes in World Seniors Darts (WSD) events. Nicknamed "the Bronzed Adonis", Beaton formerly formerly competed in British Darts Organisation (BDO), World Dart ...

''(second round)'' #

''(semi-finals)''

Draw

Scores after player's names are three-dart averages (total points scored divided by darts thrown and multiplied by 3)

Statistics

Broadcasters

In the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

and

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

, the tournament was broadcast by

for the 18th consecutive time.
In the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

, RTL7 broadcast the tournament for the very first time through an internet livestream, and in highlights on Friday, Saturday and Sunday on television.
The tournament was broadcast in

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

for the first time with

Fox Sports Fox Sports is the brand name for a number of sports channels, broadcast divisions, programming, and other media around the world. The name originates from Fox Broadcasting Company in the United States, which in turn derives its name from Fox Fi ...

References

{{2011 in PDC darts World Matchplay (darts) World Matchplay Darts World Matchplay Darts