The 2021

Ladbrokes Ladbrokes Coral is a British gambling company. Its product offering includes sports betting, online casino, online poker, and online bingo. The Ladbrokes portion of the group was established in 1886, and Coral in 1926. In November 2016, th ...

UK Open The Ladbrokes UK Open is a ranking major darts tournament held annually at the Butlins Minehead Resort by the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) in England. The event is often referred to as the "FA Cup of darts" as it has an unseeded open dr ...

was a

darts Darts is a competitive sport in which two or more players bare-handedly throw small projectile point, sharp-pointed projectile, projectiles known as dart (missile), darts at a round shooting target, target known as a #Dartboard, dartboard. Point ...

tournament staged 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 ...

. 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 The Marshall Arena (formerly known as Arena MK, also Milton Keynes Arena) is a multi-purpose indoor arena in Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, England, located beside Stadium MK. The multi-use event space is positioned over three floors and antic ...

Milton Keynes Milton Keynes ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in Buckinghamshire, England, about north-west of London. At the 2021 Census, the population of Milton Keynes urban area, its urban area was 264,349. The River Great Ouse forms t ...

, England, between 5–7 March 2021, and was played behind closed doors due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

Michael van Gerwen Michael van Gerwen (; born 25 April 1989) is a Dutch professional darts player, who competes in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events, where is currently ranked PDC Order of Merit, world number three; he was ranked world number one from 20 ...

was the defending champion after defeating

Gerwyn Price Gerwyn Price (born 7 March 1985) is a Welsh professional darts player and former professional rugby union and rugby league player. He competes in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events, where he is currently ranked PDC Order of Merit, world ...

11–9 in the 2020 final. However, he lost 11–5 to

Luke Humphries Luke Humphries (born 11 February 1995) is an English professional darts player who competes in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events, where he is currently ranked PDC Order of Merit, world number one. He is a former PDC World Darts Champion ...

in the semi-finals.

Lisa Ashton Lisa Ashton (born 27 August 1970) is an English professional darts player who competes in World Darts Federation (WDF) and Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events. Nicknamed "The Lancashire Rose", Ashton formerly competed in British Darts O ...

became the first woman 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 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 ...

in his opening round victory over Jim McEwan. Jitse van der Wal then hit a nine-dart finish against Białecki in the second round.

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. ...

won his third UK Open title, and his first since

2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...

, with an 11–5 victory over

in the final.

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

, 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 and 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 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- ...

tested positive for

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...

, meaning

received a bye to round 4.

Number 1–32 of the PDC Order of Merit (receiving byes into fourth round)

Number 33–64 of the PDC Order of Merit (receiving byes into third round)

Number 65–96 of the PDC Order of Merit (receiving byes into second round)

Number 97–128 of the PDC Order of Merit (starting in first round)

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Prize money

Format

Qualifiers

Number 1–32 of the PDC Order of Merit (receiving byes into fourth round)

Number 33–64 of the PDC Order of Merit (receiving byes into third round)

Number 65–96 of the PDC Order of Merit (receiving byes into second round)

Number 97–128 of the PDC Order of Merit (starting in first round)

PDC Development Tour qualifiers (starting in first round)

PDC Challenge Tour qualifiers (starting in first round)

PDC UK Qualifying School qualifiers (starting in first round)

PDC European Qualifying School qualifiers (starting in first round)

Draw

Friday 5 March

First round (best of eleven legs)

Second round (best of eleven legs)

Third round (best of eleven legs)

Fourth round (best of nineteen legs)

Saturday 6 March

Fifth round (best of nineteen legs)

Sixth round (best of nineteen legs)

Sunday 7 March

Quarter-finals (best of nineteen legs)

Semi-finals and Final

References