2021 Premier League Darts
| 2021 Unibet Premier League Darts |
|---|
| Dates |
| TBA |
| Edition |
| 17th |
| Number of players |
| 10 |
| Venues |
| 7 |
| Premier League Darts |
| < 2020 | 2021 | 2022 > |
The 2021 Unibet Premier League Darts is an upcoming darts tournament organised by the Professional Darts Corporation – 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 has been delayed due to the continuation of the COVID-19 outbreak.[1][2]
Glen Durrant is the current reigning champion, having beaten Nathan Aspinall 11–8 in the final of the 2020 tournament.[3]
Format
The tournament format will revert 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 Brighton Centre was 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, are not currently scheduled to be on the 2021 calendar.[1]
_(April_2013).JPG)
Prize money
The prize money for the 2021 tournament will remain at £825,000.
| Stage | Prize 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 | ||
| League Winner Bonus | £25,000 | |
| Total | £825,000 | |
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 qualifiying.
| 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 | 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 |
References
- ^ a b Phillips, Josh. "Fresh look revealed for 2021 Premier League with schedule confirmed". Professional Darts Corporation. Retrieved 3 January 2021.
- ^ a b Allen, Dave. "Unibet Premier League reverts to ten players in 2021". Professional Darts Corporation. Retrieved 3 January 2021.
- ^ "Premier League Darts 2020: Glen Durrant crowned unibet Premier League Champion". PDC.
External links
- PDC Professional Darts Corporation, official website
- PDC Professional Darts Corporation, official website, Tournaments