2021 Unibet Premier League Darts
Winner
Wales Jonny Clayton
Runner-up
Portugal José de Sousa
Score
11–5
Dates
5 April–28 May 2021
Edition
17th
Number of players
10
Venues
1
Nine Dart Finish
Wales Jonny Clayton
Portugal José de Sousa
Premier League Darts
< 2020 | 2021 | 2022 >

The 2021 Unibet Premier League Darts was a darts tournament organised by the Professional Darts Corporation and the seventeenth edition of the tournament. The event was scheduled to begin on Thursday 4 February at the Motorpoint Arena in Cardiff and end with the play-offs at the Mercedes-Benz Arena in Berlin on Thursday 27 May, but due to the continuation of the COVID-19 outbreak,[1][2] was delayed to begin with the first nine rounds taking place from 5 April behind closed doors at the Marshall Arena, Milton Keynes.[3] On 22 March 2021, it was then confirmed that all the fixtures would take place in Milton Keynes, with the playoffs taking place on Friday 28 May; up to 1,000 people were allowed to attend from Monday 24 May.[4]

Glen Durrant was the reigning champion, having beaten Nathan Aspinall 11–8 in the 2020 final, but a run of seven successive defeats saw him eliminated on night seven;[5] Durrant eventually became the first player in Premier League Darts history to fail to score a single point. Rob Cross was also eliminated from the competition for a second consecutive year on the eighth night, despite earning seven points, which is the most by an eliminated player since elimination came into effect in 2013.

Two nine-dart finishes were thrown during the tournament. Jonny Clayton threw a nine-darter against José de Sousa on Night Three, and the very next day, de Sousa threw a nine-darter of his own against Nathan Aspinall. He also hit 11 maximum scores of 180 during the match, equalling the Premier League record set by Gary Anderson in 2011.[6] De Sousa threw 96 maximums during the tournament, surpassing Gary Anderson's record of 79.

For the first time, the playoffs featured four players from four nations: Michael van Gerwen from the Netherlands, Jose de Sousa from Portugal, Nathan Aspinall from England, and Jonny Clayton from Wales.

Jonny Clayton won his second individual televised title, defeating fellow debutant José de Sousa 11–5 in the final. He became the first Welshman to win the event, the first champion to have finished fourth in the league phase, and the first person to defeat Michael van Gerwen in a Premier League semi-final.[7]

Format

The tournament format reverted to that used in 2018, with a permanent list of ten players, instead of nine players and a guest "challenger" each week, as had been used in 2019 & 2020.[2]

Phase 1: In each round, the ten players play each other in five matches. Phase 1 matches have a maximum of twelve legs, allowing for the winner being first to seven or a six-six draw. At the end of Phase 1, the bottom two players are eliminated from the competition.

Phase 2: In each round, the remaining eight players play each other in four matches. Phase 2 matches have a maximum of fourteen legs, allowing for the winner being first to eight or a seven-seven draw. At the end of Phase 2, the bottom four players in the league table are eliminated from the competition.

Play-off Night: The top four players in the league table contest the two knockout semi-finals with 1st playing 4th and 2nd playing 3rd. The semi-finals are first to 10 legs (best of 19). The two winning semi-finalists meet in the final which is first to 11 legs (best of 21).

Venues

The Marshall Arena, Milton Keynes, was the only venue to host the Premier League in 2021.

The announced calendar included The Brighton Centre being restored to the calendar, having last hosted the Premier League in 2017. The initial calendar also restored rounds in Birmingham, Belfast, Leeds, Berlin, Rotterdam, Glasgow, Manchester, Newcastle, Sheffield and London; all of which had been scheduled for 2020 but cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic; with Berlin replacing London as the scheduled host of the final. Milton Keynes and Coventry, which hosted rounds in 2020 following the pandemic, were not intended to be on the 2021 calendar.[1] Due to the continuation of the pandemic, the PDC confirmed that the first nine rounds would be held over two weeks at the Marshall Arena, Milton Keynes.[3] On 22 March 2021, it was confirmed that all the remaining dates, including the playoffs, would also be played in Milton Keynes.[4]

The first five nights took place from Monday 5 April to Friday 9 April, with the next four nights, including Judgement Night (where the bottom two players are eliminated), taking place from Monday 19 April to Thursday 22 April. The second half will again be in two parts with the first part taking place between Wednesday 5 May to Friday 7 May, and the second part to take place from Monday 24 May to Thursday 27 May, with the playoffs taking place on Friday 28 May.[3]

Prize money

The prize money for the 2021 tournament was increased from £825,000 to £855,000, due to the additional player compared to 2020.

StagePrize Money
Winner£250,000
Runner-up£120,000
Semi-finalists (x2)£80,000
5th place£70,000
6th place£60,000
7th place£55,000
8th place£50,000
9th place£35,000
10th place£30,000
League Winner Bonus£25,000
Total£855,000

Players

Nine of the ten players in this year's tournament were announced following the 2021 PDC World Darts Championship on 3 January. The top four on the PDC Order of Merit are joined by six wildcards. The tenth was announced following the 2021 Masters, with the final of that event serving effectively as a play-off between Mervyn King and Jonny Clayton, with the winner qualifying.

Gerwyn Price, the world number one and reigning world champion, tested positive for COVID-19 before the start of the tournament and had to withdraw. James Wade, the highest-ranked player not in the tournament, was brought in as a replacement.[8]

Player Appearance in
Premier League		 Consecutive
Streak		 Order of Merit
Rank on 3/1/21		 Previous best performance Qualification
 Gerwyn Price 4th 4 1 5th (2019, 2020) PDC Order of Merit
 Michael van Gerwen 9th 9 2 Winner (2013, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019)
 Peter Wright 8th 8 3 Runner-up (2017)
 Rob Cross 4th 4 4 Runner-up (2019)
 Nathan Aspinall 2nd 2 5 Runner-up (2020) Wildcard
 Gary Anderson 10th 2[lower-alpha 1] 8 Winner (2011, 2015)
 Dimitri Van den Bergh 1st 1 10 Debut
 Glen Durrant 2nd 2 13 Winner (2020)
 José de Sousa 1st 1 15 Debut
 Jonny Clayton 1st 1 18 Debut
 James Wade 11th 1 7 Winner (2009) Replacement
  1. ↑ Anderson qualified for the 2019 Premier League Darts, but withdrew following an injury.

League stage

    Play-offs – 28 May

    England Marshall Arena, Milton Keynes

    Score
    Semi-finals (best of 19 legs)
    101.97 Michael van Gerwen 8 – 10 Jonny Clayton 103.25
    98.29 José de Sousa 10 – 9 Nathan Aspinall 95.93
    Final (best of 21 legs)
    100.18 Jonny Clayton 11 – 5 José de Sousa 100.52
    Night's Total Average: 100.02
    Highest Checkout:  Michael van Gerwen 140
    Most 180s (in one match):  José de Sousa 8
    Night's 180s: 31

    Table and streaks

    Table

    After the first nine rounds in phase 1, the bottom two players in the table are eliminated. In phase 2, the eight remaining players play in a single match on each of the seven nights. The top four players then compete in the knockout semi-finals and final on the playoff night.

    Two points are awarded for a win and one point for a draw. When players are tied on points, leg difference is used first as a tie-breaker, after that legs won against throw and then tournament average.

    Pos Name Pld W D L Pts LF LA LD LWAT 100+ 140+ 180s A HC C%
    1  Michael van Gerwen 16 10 3 3 23 103 79 +24 36 208 92 39 98.68 148 41.53%
    2  José de Sousa 16 8 4 4 20 104 84 +20 39 167 102 81 100.08 149 42.80%
    3  Nathan Aspinall 16 7 5 4 19 103 88 +15 40 158 120 59 97.58 161 43.10%
    4  Jonny Clayton (C) 16 8 2 6 18 95 88 +7 34 213 129 50 99.64 151 38.46%
    5  Dimitri Van den Bergh 16 6 4 6 16 95 95 0 34 158 122 72 100.2 164 41.48%
    6  James Wade 16 5 5 6 15 93 96 −3 31 241 129 44 98.89 152 48.95%
    7  Peter Wright 16 6 3 7 15 87 95 −8 31 196 124 47 96.03 156 42.03%
    8  Gary Anderson 16 5 3 8 13 85 98 −13 23 185 110 58 97.84 156 38.29%
    9  Rob Cross 9 3 1 5 7 49 52 −3 17 209 90 29 95.78 118 40.00%
    10  Glen Durrant 9 0 0 9 0 24 63 −39 7 160 52 6 86.36 121 37.50%
    Updated to match(es) played on 25 May 2021. Source: Match reports from the results section
    (C) Champion

    Streaks

    Player Phase 1, Nights 1 to 9 Phase 2, Nights 10 to 16 Play-offs
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 SF F
     Michael van Gerwen D W W L D W D W L W W W L W W W L —
     José de Sousa D L L D W W W L D W D W W W L W W L
     Nathan Aspinall W L W D D W D W W W L L W D D L L —
     Jonny Clayton D W W L W L D L W W L W W L L W W W
     Dimitri Van den Bergh D W W D L W W W D L W L L L D L —
     James Wade D L L W W L W W D L D L L D D W
     Peter Wright D L W D W L L W D L L L W W W L
     Gary Anderson D W L W L W D L L L W W L L D L
     Rob Cross D W L W L L L L W Eliminated
     Glen Durrant L L L L L L L L L
    Legend: WWinDDrawLLoss—Eliminated

    Positions by Week

    Player Phase 1, Nights 1 to 9 Phase 2, Nights 10 to 16
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16
     Michael van Gerwen 4 1 2 3 4 3 3 2 3 2 2 1 2 1 1 1
     José de Sousa 9 7 8 9 9 6 5 6 6 5 4 4 3 3 3 2
     Nathan Aspinall 1 6 4 2 3 2 2 3 1 1 1 2 1 2 2 3
     Jonny Clayton 2 2 3 4 1 4 4 8 5 4 5 5 4 4 4 4
     Dimitri Van den Bergh 5 4 1 1 2 1 1 1 2 3 3 3 5 5 5 5
     James Wade 6 8 9 8 7 9 7 4 4 6 6 7 7 7 7 6
     Peter Wright 3 9 7 7 5 7 8 7 7 7 8 8 8 6 6 7
     Gary Anderson 7 5 6 6 8 5 6 5 8 8 7 6 6 8 8 8
     Rob Cross 8 3 5 5 6 8 9 9 9 Eliminated
     Glen Durrant 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10

    References

    1. 1 2 Phillips, Josh. "Fresh look revealed for 2021 Premier League with schedule confirmed". Professional Darts Corporation. Retrieved 3 January 2021.
    2. 1 2 Allen, Dave. "Unibet Premier League reverts to ten players in 2021". Professional Darts Corporation. Retrieved 3 January 2021.
    3. 1 2 3 Allen, Dave. "2021 Unibet Premier League update + 2022 dates confirmed". Professional Darts Corporation. Retrieved 22 February 2021.
    4. 1 2 Allen, Dave. "2021 Unibet Premier League To Conclude In Milton Keynes In May". Professional Darts Corporation. Retrieved 22 March 2021.
    5. ↑ "Premier League Darts 2021: Reigning Champion Glen Durrant eliminated". Professional Darts Corporation. Retrieved 20 April 2021.
    6. ↑ Phillips, Josh (8 April 2021). "De Sousa hits nine-darter & equals 180s record on Night Four". Professional Darts Corporation. Retrieved 22 April 2021.
    7. ↑ Banks, Jamie. "Clayton caps amazing debut season with Unibet Premier League glory". Professional Darts Corporation. Retrieved 28 May 2021.
    8. ↑ Allen, Dave. "Price replaced by Wade for 2021 Unibet Premier League". Professional Darts Corporation. Retrieved 5 April 2021.
    9. ↑ "2021 PDC Premier League Darts Night 1". DartConnect. Retrieved 5 April 2021.
    10. ↑ "2021 PDC Premier League Darts Night 2". DartConnect. Retrieved 6 April 2021.
    11. ↑ "2021 PDC Premier League Darts Night 3". DartConnect. Retrieved 7 April 2021.
    12. ↑ "2021 PDC Premier League Darts Night 4". DartConnect. Retrieved 8 April 2021.
    13. ↑ "2021 PDC Premier League Darts: Night 5". DartConnect. Retrieved 9 April 2021.
    14. ↑ "2021 PDC Premier League Darts: Night 6". DartConnect. Retrieved 19 April 2021.
    15. ↑ "2021 PDC Premier League Darts: Night 7". DartConnect. Retrieved 20 April 2021.
    16. ↑ "2021 PDC Premier League Darts: Night 8". DartConnect. Retrieved 21 April 2021.
    17. ↑ "2021 PDC Premier League Darts: Night 9". DartConnect. Retrieved 22 April 2021.
    18. ↑ "2021 PDC Premier League Darts: Night 10". DartConnect. Retrieved 6 May 2021.
    19. ↑ "2021 PDC Premier League Darts: Night 11". DartConnect. Retrieved 6 May 2021.
    20. ↑ "2021 PDC Premier League Darts: Night 12". DartConnect. Retrieved 7 May 2021.
    21. ↑ "2021 PDC Premier League Darts: Night 13". DartConnect. Retrieved 24 May 2021.
    22. ↑ "2021 PDC Premier League Darts: Night 14". DartConnect. Retrieved 25 May 2021.
    23. ↑ "2021 PDC Premier League Darts: Night 15". DartConnect. Retrieved 26 May 2021.
    24. ↑ "2021 PDC Premier League Darts: Night 16". DartConnect. Retrieved 27 May 2021.
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