We have a new world champion and new world number one.
On Sunday, Gerwyn Price became the first ever Welsh winner of the PDC World Darts Championships when he saw off the challenge of two times winner Gary Anderson.
The Iceman played his esteemed opponent off the oche when he posted a 7-3 win at the Ally Pally and he’s now replaced Michael van Gerwen as world number one. It is the first time in seven years that MVG has been displaced at the world’s top.
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Former Rugby man Price boasted an 80% checkout average at one point in the final and even broke the record for the highest set average in World Championship history when he took out the sixth with 136.64, courtesy of an 11-darter with a 100 checkout, a 12-darter with a 161, before a 10-darter as he just missed out on the perfect leg.
The Welshman, who this year also banked the World Grand Prix and the World Cup, did somehow manage to waste 11 match darts to make things look closer than they actually were but eventually nailed the double five with his 12th match dart to take himself to the pinnacle of his newest sport and lift the Sid Waddell Trophy for the first time.
New Year, New Season
Now, all eyes are turn towards the new PDC season. Everything gets underway all over again on the 29th of January when the PDC Darts Masters gets the season off to a hopefully thrilling start.
This year, the posted PDC schedule looks a little more tentative than in previous seasons. One thing we do know is that the Premier League Darts, which should under normal conditions, get going in February, has been delayed until further notice in the hope that they can bring the game to as many fans as possible, a critical element of the Premier League which travels from venue to venue each Thursday for three months.
All the same, the 2021 Premier League Darts line up has been announced. This year the PDC have done away with the weekly local contender element in the tourney’s structure as play reverts back to 10 weekly regulars.
These are, new world No 1 Gerwyn Price, five times winner Michael van Gerwen, reigning champion Glen Durrant, Peter Wright, Gary Anderson, Rob Cross and Nathan Aspinall. 2020 PDC winners Dimitri van den Bergh and Jose de Sousa will make their debuts, while the final player will be announced after The Masters later this month.
In other news, the upcoming PDC Darts Masters, the season’s traditional curtain raiser, will be expanded from 16 players to 24 players, with this year’s tournament beginning on January 29 and finishing on 31 at the Marshall Arena in Milton Keynes.
PDC 2021 FULL DARTS TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE
JANUARY
- 29 – 31, January (Marshall Arena, Milton Keynes) The Darts Masters
FEBRUARY
- No events scheduled yet
- 2021 Darts Premier League delayed
MARCH
- 5 – 7 March (Butlin’s Minehead Resort) UK Open
APRIL
- No events scheduled yet
MAY
- No events scheduled yet
JUNE
- 4 – 5 June (Madison Square Garden, New York City) US Darts Masters
- 11 – 13 June (Forum Copenhagen, Denmark) Nordic Darts Masters
JULY
- 17 – 25 July (Winter Gardens, Blackpool) World Matchplay of Darts
AUGUST
- 6 – 7 August (WIN Entertainment Centre, Wollongong) New South Wales Darts Masters
- 13 – 14 August (Townsville Entertainment & Convention Centre) Queensland Darts Masters
- 20 – 21 August (Claudelands Arena, Hamilton) NZ Darts Masters
SEPTEMBER
- TBC: (Numerous Venues) Champions League of Darts (Unconfirmed)
- TBC: (Numerous Venues) World Series of Darts Finals (Unconfirmed)
- TBC: (Victoria Stadium, Gibraltar) Gibraltar Darts Trophy European Tour (Unconfirmed)
OCTOBER
- TBC: (Citywest Hotel, Dublin) Darts World Grand Prix (Unconfirmed)
- TBC: (Germany) European Championship Darts (Unconfirmed)
NOVEMBER
- TBC: (Aldersley Leisure Village, Wolverhampton) Grand Slam of Darts (Unconfirmed)
- TBC: (Butlin’s Minehead Resort) Players Championship Finals (Unconfirmed)
DECEMBER
- TBC (Alexandra Palace, London) 2022 PDC Darts World Championship (Unconfirmed)