Order of Merit Contestants
The following players qualified for the tournament through their rankings in the PDC Order of Merit:
Gerwyn Price
This Welshman is a former rugby player. His best performance in the tournament was when he reached the quarterfinals in 2015. Price has won other premier PDC events such as the World Championship in 2021, the World Grand Prix in 2020, and he has won three Grand Slams.
Peter Wright
Wright is not only one of the most successful darts players in the world, but also one of the most eccentric and flamboyant, famous for his colourful Mohican haircuts and attire. This Scottish darts player won the Masters in 2020, Players Championship Finals in 2021, the UK Open in 2017, and a World Championship in 2020 (and later won again in 2022).
Michael van Gerwen
This Dutch darts player is world famous for his achievements in the game, which he started playing when he was very young. He made his debut in the PDC tournament in 2007 at the age of 18 and has since gone on to win every PDC premier event since then. He has won the World Championship in 2014, 2017, and 2019, the World Matchplay in 2015, and 2016, and the World Grand Prix a whopping five times: in 2012, 2014, 2016, 2018, and 2019. In addition to these main events, he has won the UK Open, the Grand Slam, the European Championship, the Premier League of Darts, the Players Championship Finals, the Masters, the Champions League, and the World Series Finals.
James Wade
Wade is an English darts player who won the World Matchplay in 2007. He has also won other major events such as the World Grand Prix in 2007 and 2010, the UK Open in 2008, 2011, and 2021, the European Championship in 2018, the Premier League in 2019, the Championship League in 2010, the Masters in 2014, and the World Series Finals in 2018.
Rob Cross
Cross is also an English darts player, and he won the competition far more recently, in 2019. He entered the World Matchplay in 2021 as a player who had won four major events, including the World Matchplay, the World Championship in 2018, and the European Championship in 2019 and 2021.
Gary Anderson
Nicknamed "the Flying Scotsman", Anderson is a veteran who has been playing since the 90s. He previously won the World Matchplay in 2018, and has he also won the World Championship in 2015 and 2016, the UK Open in 2018, the Premier League in 2011 and 2015, the Players Championship Finals in 2014 and the Champions League in 2018.
Michael Smith
Smith is an English darts player who has yet to win a PDC title but is amongst the best in the world. He came second in the 2019 World Matchplay, his best result in the competition, and he has also placed runner up in the World Championship, the UK Open, the Premier League, Masters, and the World Series Finals.
Dimitri Van den Bergh
This young Belgian darts player entered the 2021 World Matchplay as the defending champion. He entered that tournament by playing in the qualifiers, and as the underdog he managed to beat Nathan Aspinall, Joe Cullen, Adrian Lewis, Glen Durrant, and met Gary Anderson in the finals whom he beat 18-10.
Dave Chisnall
Chisnall, or "Chizzy", is an English player who has yet to win a major PDC title. He has reached the World Matchplay quarterfinals on numerous occasions: in 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, and 2018. He continues to place high in the world rankings because he has a good record in the tournaments, reaching the semi-finals in the World Championship, UK Open, Fran Slam and Premier League, and he was runner up in the Masters, Players Championship Finals, Grand Slam and World Grand Prix.
Jose de Sousa
De Sousa won his first and only major PDC title in 2020, when he won the Grand Slam of darts. This Portuguese player has featured in most of the major tournaments, but he has only reached the finals in the Premier League, and has not gone beyond the last 16 in the World Championship, World Matchplay, World Grand Prix, and UK Open.
Nathan Aspinall
Aspinall is a young English player who entered the 2021 World Matchplay as a UK Open Winner in 2019. He has entered the competition in 2019 and 2020, but failed to proceed past the first round.
Glen Durrant
Durrant is an older player who won all the majors in the BDO majors, a separate organisation of darts. His best performances in the World Matchplay came in 2019 and 2020, where he reached the semi-finals. He has won only one PDC premier event, the Premier League of Darts, which he won in 2020.
Krzysztof Ratajski
Ratajski is the most successful darts player to come from Poland, and his greatest success was winning the BDO World Masters. He has also featured in all the major PDC events as well, though he has yet to win any. When he entered the World Matchplay in 2021, his best record in the competition was reaching the quarterfinals, in the prior year’s competition.
Daryl Gurney
Gurney is a Northern Irish darts player who won the World Grand Prix in 2017, and the Players Championship Finals in 2018. In the World Matchplay, he had reached the semi-finals in 2017 and 2019, though in 2020 he was knocked out in the second round.
Joe Cullen
Going into the competition, Cullen had not won any PDC titles. The young Englishman had reached the quarterfinals in the 2018 World Matchplay, but in the following two years, he had early exits in the first and then second round. Despite this, he had qualified for all of the major tournaments in 2020, and reached the quarterfinals of both the World Grand Prix and the Players Championship Finals.
Jonny Clayton
Clayton was in great form going into the World Matchplay in 2021. He had won the Premier League of Darts and the Masters earlier in the year. Before that year, the Englishman had not won any major tournaments, but he had qualified for all of them.
PDC ProTour Qualifers
The darts players who entered the competition through winning the qualifiers were:
Brendan Dolan, Devon Petersen, Damon Heta, Danny Noppert, Dirk van Duijvenbode, Ross Smith, Stephen Bunting, Mervyn King, Luke Humphries, Gabriel Clemens, Vincent van der Voort, Ryan Searle, Ian White, Callan Rydz, Chris Dobey, and Jermaine Wattimena.
The Tournament
In the first round, the players in the top 16 were grouped with the players who qualified through the PDC ProTour. There were a few upsets as Callan Rydz overcame Glen Durrant, Ian White defeated Daryl Gurney, and Luke Humphries beat James Wade in a game that ended 10-3.
In the second round, the winners of the first round were paired again, and qualifier Callan Rydz beat Rob Cross. Welshmen Gerwyn Price and Jonny Clayton played each other, with Price winning 11-3. Peter Wright, van Gerwen, Michael Smith. Van den Bergh, and Ratajski all won their games. There was an upset by Nathan Aspinall, who beat Gary Anderson in a close game that ended 11-9 to the Englishman.
In the quarterfinals, Ratajski stopped qualifier Rydz's great run, and Van den Bergh beat Price. Peter Wright and van Gerwen won their games, beating Michael Smith and Nathan Aspinall. Defending champion Van den Bergh then played Ratajski in the semi-finals, and beat the Polish player 17-9. In the other game, Wright played against van Gerwen and overcame the Dutchman 17-10.
Peter Wright met Dimitri Van den Bergh in the finals, in a game that was played to a first to 18 legs. The Scotsman took an early lead after the first break, and managed to hold that lead through the first five breaks. Van den Brugh could not do enough, and the score ended 18-9, with Peter Wright securing his first ever World Matchplay title.