Darts fans, be ready to mark your calendars for the 15th of December as it is the official date the 2021/22 PDC World Darts Championship is scheduled to commence, with the world’s most elite names ready to do battle in front of what should be a raucous crowd. It’s an event that no one wants to miss.
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This year’s instalment of the event will the 29th
since its inception and establishment following on from the initial split from
the British Darts Organisation by the PDC (Professional Darts Corporation).
The top 96 ranked players from across the globe will square
off in a series of encounters to decide who walks away with the coveted Sid
Waddell trophy.
Last year’s event saw Welsh star Gerwyn
Price
(1) walk home with the trophy, defeating Scottish starlet Gary Anderson (6) with
‘the Iceman’ picking up his first ever world championship after winning the
World Grand Prix in 2020 and back-to-back Grand Slam’s in 2018 and 2019.
Heading into this year’s event, unsurprisingly Price is
ranked as the world’s number one for the championship tournament with a top
five ranking of Peter Wright, Michael Van Gerwen, Dimitri Van Den Bergh and
James Wade, all of whom will believe that they are in with a strong chance to
take home the world championship trophy.
The event itself will be held from the 15th of
December up until the 3rd of January from which a winner will be crowned
at the premier darts venue that is the Alexandra Palace that has since hosted
the championship from 2008 onwards.
Darts fans will be sure to be gearing up for an excellent
period of action and with crowds ready to send the Palace into complete bedlam,
it should be another phenomenal few weeks of action that will most likely
culminate in a tremendous finale.
The biggest names to watch out for
It’s a tournament that has seen that game’s most historic
and greatest ever names take to the floor and complete on the biggest stage in
professional darts.
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Everyone knows of the legacy left behind by Phil Taylor
(the sport’s most successful competitor), yet there are now even more names who
are ready to carve out their own legacies and become the world’s most commendable
darts player, reigning as the world number one.
Perhaps the most familiar name to most casual sports fans
is Michael Van Gerwen who is on the prowl to take home his fourth world championship,
with Gerwen currently occupying second on the all-time winners list.
Gerwen himself has defeated the likes of Peter Wright in
2014, Gary Anderson in 2017 and Michael Smith in 2019 as well as making it to
the finals on five separate occasions with his most recent appearance being a 7-3
defeat to Wright in 2020.
Gerwen was shockingly swept by Dave Chisnall (14) last year
a 0-5 blowout which resulted in arguably the biggest upset in the entirety of
last years event, with Gerwen now potentially looking gain some vengeance and
once again make an impressive sixth trip to the finals and avenge his loss in
2020.
Fans who are interested in placing their bets on names such
as Gerwen can choose from a wide variety of available darts bookies for the latest darts odds,
with Gerwen likely to be one of the odds-on favourites at this year’s event.
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Alongside Van Gerwen, his former adversary Peter Wright
will also be looking to win another World Championship following on from his
2020 win over the Dutchman.
Wright was eliminated in the third round by German
competitor Gabriel Clemens (24) in another shocking upset which left the
previous year’s finalist’s out of the tournament at a much earlier stage than
originally expected.
World number four Dimitri Van Den Bergh may also be a
potential candidate to win it all this year as the Belgian reached the Quarterfinals
in 2020 but is still yet to win his first world championship.
Gary Anderson is also looking to avenge his loss in the finals last year but has since plummeted down
the rankings to number six after testing positive for the virus which has
delayed his start at the Alexandra Palace.
Fan favourite Michael Smith will always remain a likely
candidate with many now believing that he is finally due his course to win a
world championship this year despite the stiff competition.
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However, it will certainly take a lot to dethrone the
current world champion Gerwyn Price who will certainly have the fullest of
intentions to continue his reign of dominance over the world darts scene and
become the first name since Gary Anderson in 2015 and 2016 to win the
competition on a consecutive basis, becoming a two-peat champion in the
process.
While fans will continue to bicker amongst themselves on
who they truly believe will be lifting the Sid Waddell trophy, they will
certainly be ready to tune into the championship’s contests with more
competitors soon to be added in the coming weeks including further
international names from Southern Europe and from the Youth Championship.
The event will be televised to a number of eager audiences
and given that it draws in millions of viewers every single year, it will most
certainly be an event that no sporting fans will want to miss, whether they are
true fans of darts or not, as we expect this year’s tournament to a true
showdown for the ages.
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- And why should he listen to you?Deduce635807-11-2026
- Ultimately it is a bye for whoever draws Barney. It will be another stroppy and sulky performance once he goes behind. Barney was excellent but really must completely call it a day now.richieburnettrocks07-11-2026
- I'm disappointed he was not able to secure a spot at the Grand Slam. With Carl Sneyd taking care of Daryl Gurney, he would have had to beat Andy Boulton before facing the winner of Sneyd vs Mensur Suljović for a Grand Slam spot. Unfortunately, after beating Filip Bereza comfortably, he succumbed to Boulton, and the board would ultimately be won by the highly inconsistent Carl Sneyd. Since he could instead have been drawn against the likes of Cristo Reyes, Dirk van Duijvenbode and Stephen Bunting, I think once Gurney was out of the picture he would have been favourite to win his board, and it seems like a massive missed opportunity to put 5 grand on his ranking and seal another major TV appearance ahead of the Worlds. The highs and lows of following Raymond van Barneveld!Deduce635806-11-2026
- Probably i will receive a lot of backlash and hate for this reaction, but well, so be it. I am more than sick and tired of those lies of you Barry Hearn. How dare you defend yourself over the back of Fallon’s son! He has a disability and not an illness, so let me correct that for you! I know because I have the exact same disability. I have tried to reach out to Fallon in the past, and offered her to help her and her son, because I was struggling with the same problems, and I understood the boy. I wanted him to have finally someone who understood him. However she told me that she did not want my help, and I have respected Fallon’s choice. I have never asked Fallon for money. They don’t need money in that case. I only ever wanted the best for Fallon and Rory, but I have to be honest about the situation. Fallon should tell the true story and not be forced to tell lies. I don’t hate Fallon, and I don’t begrudge or envy a single penny that she gets, but this situation/case is just not fair. I hate the lies and the dishonesty and injustice. I don’t want Fallon to be hated because there is an unfair disadvantage created. Don’t proclaim your false lies over the back of Rory! I only stand for integrity and justice. I am precisely the one who always sticks up for Fallon. And you don't, you don't give a damn about them. You were never there for them, and now you only want to save your own position! You are just trying to talk your way out of your own bad behavior at the expense of someone with a disability. And to Fallon, I don’t know if this may ever reach you, and you read it, but I want you to know I love you and I love your son Rory very much, I am sorry how things developed and went. I hope you and Harriet are still friends. I am sorry if I were too persistent to you, or you experienced it that way, but it was never my intention. Please understand I have autism as well. As Barry Hearn would say, I am only just a human being too, and I also make mistakes and misjudge things sometimes. I promise you I did everything out of the deepest love and care for you and Rory. If I were you, I should just keep all the money, only please never be dishonest or tell lies anymore for Barry Hearn, or anyone else. I hope you have the best life, and I wish nothing more than the best for you. I have always loved the two of you. Farewell.Hiddo05-11-2026
- She is a professional. If darts is her income, she is a professional. Same as Adrian Lewis, Martin Adams. A tour card just means someone can play on the PDC tour. You could even make a case that Clayton wasn't a professional (until recently I believe) because he had employment elsewhere.BandB04-11-2026
- She's technically not a professional though as she doesn't hold a pro tour card.mr-pablo04-11-2026
- Such a shame that lakeside has been reduced to this. Fantastic venue,and previously a great tournament. Not any morerick6703-11-2026
- Seems to me that the top 16 players pick and choose whatever they want to play. Good,all the money will get spread out more. They get more money from exhibitions than tournaments so let them all withdrawrick6703-11-2026
- Play all legs and the winners split the pot. Luke gets the lot of he wins them all. If your occupation is darts player you can't enter, regardless of ability.BandB01-11-2026
- I'm quite a jaded person all things considered, but to be honest I found Beat Luke Littler to be pretty entertaining. It certainly wasn't seamless, which is to be expected given the lack of precedence, but I actually think the pacing was pretty good, the production was impressive, and there was a good sense of humour and levity to it. I think it was a very ambitious undertaking but one that, for the most part, paid off. I liked the system with the four pots and I think it added to the drama and intrigue. I enjoyed seeing the diverse range of entrants and learning about their backstories. I think the interactivity was pretty clever and well-integrated. The panel was a little incoherent at times; Lee Mack shone however, and his improvisational skills were appreciated during some more awkward interstitial moments. As far as the darts is concerned, it was a shame that the format didn't allow Littler to get into full flow. You obviously don't want him to steamroll everyone but you want to feel like you're getting the full Littler package rather than seeing him struggling to get out of first gear. I will say that his leg against Jayden Walker was very impressive, but it was mostly downhill from there. The attraction revolves around Littler being this untouchable, indomitable force, yet the format doesn't really allow him to fulfil that characterisation. As for Fallon Sherrock, she was mightily impressive and deserved the victory. It is a testament to her unshakeable character that she was able to bang in a 14-darter under such mind-bending pressure. Everything that has been said about the misleading marketing is valid, though they were clear about their eligibility criteria and were able to offload the responsibility somewhat by bringing the viewers into the decision-making process in real time. What is clear though, is that Fallon played the game according to the rules, and she should not be criticised for that, much less abused. I will admit though that it is a kick in the teeth for those true amateurs who committed time and money to the course, and I would also question those who think pub players would have no chance, given that some of Littler's winning legs were dispatched in 7 visits to the board! The great thing about darts is that it isn't so much that amateurs cannot replicate the feats of brilliance pulled off by professionals of the sport, than it is that they simply cannot replicate the consistency of their output, something that this format almost entirely removes from the equation. It should also be noted that, financially, Fallon certainly stands to benefit much less in relative terms from the paycheque than would your average pub thrower, as I'm sure she nets a fair income from the lucrative exhibition circuit alone. What I do hope is that she might use this as an opportunity to really build up a head of steam heading into the new season, as it seems long overdue that she come through Q-School and really take it to the pros on a week-in week-out basis, but whatever she chooses to do, she has certainly achieved enough already for one if not several lifetimes, so who am I to dictate terms? To conclude though, I will state once again that I found Beat Luke Littler to be a pretty enjoyable evening of entertainment. I do feel for the contestants who never actually had the chance to try their luck against the world #1, although I suppose it comes with the format, but all which inevitably raises the question: will Netflix be tempted to do it all again next year? It's hard to say. Whether it would be financially viable, I can't weigh in there. One point I have been making though, and which I touched on earlier, is that the entire concept relies on a public perception that Littler is more or less unbeatable, and that certainly hasn't been the case of late. If the execs had been trying to pitch the show in recent months while Littler has seemed vulnerable, rather than when he was mopping up almost every major title on the calendar, it would certainly be a tougher sell. We will have to see in about 6 months' time whether Littler can still reliably command perception as a near-unstoppable force in darts, and then we'll have a clearer idea about whether we should expect a second helping. Even as a one-off experiment though, and with all the controversy taken into account, I still don't think they disgraced themselves by any means, and that will probably be my lingering assessment of the event when all is said and done.Deduce635801-11-2026