2021 Players Championship Finals Preview

The culmination of the 30 Players Championship qualifiers player throughout the year takes place this weekend, back in front of a crowd at Butlins, Minehead. It is the 2021 Players Championship Finals and it should be a cracking event.

The top 64 players on the Players Championship order of merit are seeded by their OOM position and the number 1 ranked player plays the 64th ranked player and so on.

Friday sees no less than 32 first round matches, Saturday has sixteen second round matches in the afternoon session and eight third round matches in the evening. Sunday features the quarter finals, semi-finals and final. It is a very busy schedule and only the sixteen matches played on the main stage are televised on Friday, the rest are streamed on PDCTV. The same 50/50 split applies for Saturdays play, before all matches on Sunday are held on the main stage.

The first two rounds are best of eleven legs, third round and quarter finals, best of 19 legs and the semi-finals and final best of 21 legs.

2021 Players Championship Finals: The Players

First Quarter

Jose de Sousa

De Sousa is the top ranked player having amassed £67250 in prizemoney and winning three of the qualifying events. His recent form however is not good. He has lost four of his last ten matches and only averaged 92.75 at last week’s Grand Slam of Darts.

Devon Petersen

A shadow of the player who was seen as a potential winner of this event last year. His seasonal average has dropped 6 points in the last 12 months and his win rate is a shade under 44%. He has won just one of his last ten matches and up against it even against a slightly out of form De Sousa in the first round.

Merv King

Last year’s runner up, King comes here in poor form, having won just four of his last ten matches. His game is very unpredictable, and we have seen a 115 average and an 80 average in that last ten. It is hard to see another big run and he could go out in the first round or win 6-0.

Darius Labanauskas

Winning five of his last ten matches but reaching the semi-final of PC30, the last qualifying event of the season. Lucky D is a tricky customer, not a heavy scorer but effective. Faces King in his opener and lost 0-5 the last time they met.

Chris Dobey

Very disappointing at last week’s Grand Slam, Dobey has won two Players Championship titles in 2021, including PC28 three weeks ago. He looked in great form but since that win he has played eight and won just three. There is a great talent in Dobey, but he just gets in the way of himself in front of the TV cameras. Dobey reached the semi-final here in 2019 and he could have another good run if he lowers his expectations and just plays darts.

William O’Connor

A player whose progress has gone backwards in the last couple of years. He won his only players championship event in 2019 but since then his win rate has dropped to under 50%. The Magpie has won seven of his last ten matches, but his scoring is too low to be more than a participant in the big events. He has a recent win over Dobey, and he can rain on other people’s parade but rarely looks a threat for a title these days.

Krzysztof Ratajski

The Polish Eagle has had a reasonable season in terms of prize money won thanks to good runs in the majors, but he has won just one players championship title, the last one of the season, and he is getting frustrated by his failure to land a big TV title.

His win rate has fallen from a high of 75% in 2018 to 64% this year. He has won eleven of his last thirteen matches but lost his last two. Those were a 0-5 defeat to Gerwyn Price and 4-5 to Nathan Rafferty in the Grand Slam. He has the game to have a long run, but is he getting too frustrated to perform at his best?

Ron Meulenkamp

Ron The Bomb is slowly drifting down the rankings. He was once featured on BBC’s Dragon’s Den but failed to get investment for flightless darts. His darting career may also be heading for the exit, and he has failed to progress beyond the first round here for the last two years. He has lost seven of his last ten matches and is hard to fancy.

Gerwyn Price

Only the 17th seed for this event but he did sit out a number of events. He has won two players championship qualifiers and picked up the Grand Slam of Darts last weekend. It was a very slow start for Price at the Grand Slam and he lost a group match, which is a reminder that his form has not been rock solid of late. He has won seven of his last ten. He was runner up here in 2019 and a semi-finalist last year. An obvious contender for the title.

Jason Lowe

Won his tour card in 2020 and had a good first season but his win rate in 2021 has dropped from 61% to 47%. He has won six of his last ten matches but hasn’t put any sort of run together since a couple of quarter finals in the spring.

Martin Schindler

One of the most improved players of 2021. The Wall has improved his win rate from 55% in 2020 to 68% this year and put 5 points on his seasonal average. He won the German Super League earlier in the year and is realising his potential. It is maybe expecting too much to see him win the title, but he can give anyone a game as he showed when beating Gerwyn Price in the group stage at last week’s Group stage. If he gets through to the second round, he is likely to face Price again, which is a potential banana skin for the Welshman.

Ian White

A semi-finalist here in 2019, White’s career has been going downhill ever since. He was winning 70% of his matches in 2019 but just 50% in 2021. He has won ten players championship titles but always struggled to bring his floor form to the big stage. Diamond has lost seven of his last ten and while he retains a good scoring ability, his confidence is low.

Brendan Dolan

The History Maker has turned his career around in the last two years and he picked up another players championship title earlier this year, along with numerous other long runs. He picked up £46750 in prizemoney to finish ninth on the OOM. He has lost five of his last ten matches but there have been some good performances in those last ten including three ton plus averages. Dolan has never gone beyond the third round in this event and his best form is on the floor.

Chas Barstow

Barstow only just failed to win a tour card in January, edged out by a final day run by Danny Baggish. Since then, he has taken advantage of invites to players championship events to pick up £13500 and finished 56th on the OOM. He comes here low on confidence having lost seven of his last ten matches, but he is not easily dismissed.

Dave Chisnall

No titles since 2019 and still a maiden in terms of TV titles. He reached the semi-final of PC28 three weeks ago and just lost out on a Grand Slam place, losing 4-5 to Martin Schindler despite a 103 average. He has won six of his last ten matches and he has enjoyed some good runs in the TV events this year, but winning titles isn’t his game.

Ritchie Edhouse

Very much a fringe player, having reasonable runs here and there but he has lost six of his last ten matches. He is up against it facing Chizzy in the first round.

2021 Players Championship Finals: Second Quarter

Michael Smith

Winner of PC 27 and a Grand Slam semi-finalist, Bully Boy is in good form winning seven of his last ten and his win rate has been good all year. The ‘never won a major’ tag is still with him and another losing semi-final will have frustrated him.

William Borland

Has enjoyed a reasonably successful first year on the pro tour, picking up £22k but a win rate of 47% means that long runs are unlikely and as with many of the up-and-coming youngsters, the scoring consistency isn’t there yet. Losing seven of his last ten matches suggests he will struggle to beat Michael Smith.

Daryl Gurney

The 2018 champion has had a poor season and missing out on the European Championship and Grand Slam means he isn’t getting much in the way of stage matches coming into the most important part of the season. His game is not quite there, showing signs that it isn’t far away, but he needs more in the way of competitive darts.

Superchin seems to reserve his best form for playing MVG and those sort of performances show the talent is still there but the consistency is not. Daryl has won six of his last ten, but he has got a fairly tough draw.

Alan Soutar

Another player on his first year on the pro tour. He has won £29k and taken plenty of big scalps. His TV experience is limited with just a good run to the last 16 in the UK Open at this venue back in March. He had a run to the quarter final of PC 28 earlier this month, beating Ratajski and Wright, and has won six of his last ten matches.

Callan Rydz

One of the rising stars in the PDC. Rydz won two players championship qualifiers this season, his three month average is 97.5, and he is a dark horse this weekend.

Mensur Suljovic

Blowing hot and cold right now. We have seen some excellent matches and some absolute tripe, his Grand Slam performances summed it up. A 5-0 win over Matt Campbell and a 106 average, followed up by an 84 average and a 5-10 capitulation to Fallon Sherrock. He could give Rydz a hard time, or he could go down 6-0.

James Wade

Grand Slam semi-finalist last week, Wade has won seven of his last ten matches and there has been some very impressive performances. He eventually ran out of steam against Gerwyn Price. Wade has never improved on his semi-final here in 2009, but another good run is possible.

Ricky Evans

An annual win rate of just 51% suggests that any sort of run is unlikely this weekend. He has won six of his last ten matches but six of those matches saw sub 90 averages.

Ryan Searle

Along with Callan Rydz, Searle is one of the most improved players of 2021. He got his second pro tour title when winning PC22 in August and he has been a runner up on three occasions. He is one of the heaviest scorers on tour and his consistency has come on in leaps and bounds. A genuine contender.

Simon Whitlock

You can never rule out The Wizard but his 2021 win rate is just 51% and he has won just five of his last sixteen matches.  Searle is tough opening match, but he is capable of pulling of a surprise or two.

Ryan Joyce

Played some nice stuff at the Grand Slam and has won seven of his last ten matches, but he has lost all three of his first-round matches in the this event. He has a good chance to improve on that record but it’s hard to see any serious run.

Luke Woodhouse

One of those players who has been on the tour for a few years now, without making much of an impression but in no danger of losing his card. He reaches a quarter final now and then but never looks like a potential winner. He has lost five of his last ten matches.

Rob Cross

It is probably safe to say the Cross is back. He won the European Championship in October and PC26 shortly afterwards. He reached the semi-final of PC27 and PC28. Voltage couldn’t quite get past James Wade in the Grand Slam quarter final. He is winning plenty of matches and his game is in very good shape. A definite title contender.

Jermaine Wattimena

His win rate has dropped below 50% and has lost five of his last ten. He hasn’t won back-to-back matches since mid-July.

Nathan Aspinall

The Asp didn’t qualify for the Grand Slam, but he reached the quarter final of the World Matchplay and the semi-final of the European Championship, losing both to MVG. He reached the semi-final of PC26, quarter final of PC27and was runner up in PC29. Aspinall is winning plenty of matches and seven of his last ten have seen ton plus averages. Another title contender.

Jeff Smith

It has been a difficult year for Smith having to do a lot of trans-Atlantic travel and the required quarantine periods. He arrived back in the UK on Monday, but his luggage, including his darts, didn’t. Hopefully he will be reunited with them before Friday but it’s not an ideal start to his preparations.

Smith has dropped three points on his average this season, but he seems to have done enough to keep his card for next season. Smith was playing in North America last week, winning the CDC Continental Cup and he has won six of his last ten pro tour matches. Aspinall is a tough first match.

2021 Players Championship Finals: Third Quarter

Peter Wright

Snakebite was an unlikely runner up to Gerwyn Price at the Grand Slam last week. His form going into the event wasn’t great and he was far from impressive in his first four matches before he hit his stride in the quarter and semi-finals. He said the just ran out of gas in the final and it was a very flat performance. He has lost five of his last ten matches and two good matches does not mean he is back in good form.

Keane Barry

The next big thing in Irish darts, Barry is just 19 years old and learning the ropes on his first year on the pro tour. He has won five of his last ten and it is a bit much to expect a good run this weekend.

Adrian Lewis

Lewis was runner up in PC 24 in mid-October and had a couple of quarter finals earlier in the year, but he has lost six of his last ten matches. He is a hard player to call as he still has a game in him, but a long run this weekend would be a surprise.

Kim Huybrechts

A player having a bit of a revival in 2021. He has improved his seasonal average by 2.5 points, he has won seven of his last ten matches and has enjoyed some good runs on the pro tour of late. He is certainly a dangerous opponent these days.

Damon Heta

The Aussie hasn’t added to his 2020 pro tour title, but he was a two-time runner up in 2021. He remains one of the heaviest scorers on tour and a dangerous opponent. He arguably doesn’t win as many matches as his talent should. Heta was a quarter finalist last year and he is capable of something similar this year. The Heat has won seven of his last ten matches, but he does struggle against the elite players, and you tend to meet them at the business end of these events.

Steve Lennon

Lennon has struggled in the last three years and his seasonal win rate is just 46%. He has won just one of his last eleven matches and his confidence will be low.

Gabriel Clemens

He has had a decent pro tour season, reaching three semi-finals and was runner up in PC 25 last month. He has always won his first-round match in this event and should do again, but he has yet to get beyond the third round and might struggle to do so once more.

Steve Beaton

It has been a tough couple of years for Steve Beaton. He made a couple of quarter finals this year, but his scoring is tailing off and his win rate is 50%. He has lost six of his last ten matches. Beaton reached the quarter finals in 2017 but he has lost seven of his thirteen first round matches in this event.

Michael van Gerwen

This is the last ranked major which MVG won, lifting the trophy after narrowly beating Merv King 11-10 in the final last year. Since then, he has won a World Series title and finally picked up a ranking title when winning PC29 at the start of this month. He is the highest scoring player of the last three months, but he is finding winning titles very hard.

He went out in the quarter final last week, losing 13-16 to Michael Smith. MVG says he is back; I don’t think he will ever come back to where he was a few years ago. He won 91% of his matches in 2016 but that win rate has dropped every year since and is now 74%. Still a very healthy rate, but it is doing his head in that he cannot win more titles. MVG should have a good run, his scoring demands it, but he is poor value to win the title.

Kevin Doets

This up-and-coming Dutchman doesn’t have a tour card but is tipped for great things. He beat MVG 6-4 in a pro tour event in August. He is just 23 and not the finished article yet but he’ll have a go against Mighty Mike.

Raymond van Barneveld

Barney won PC 3 in February shortly after winning back his tour card. He has reached two more quarter finals since and very little else. His scoring is respectable as is a win rate of 63% but he just doesn’t put many runs together. He has won six of his last ten matches but rarely wins more than two in a row.

Maik Kuivenhoven

Kuivenhoven is another player who keeps his tour card without ever looking like winning anything. He reached a pro tour semi-final but generally he wins his board final and loses in the fourth round. He banks enough money to keep his card, but he isn’t a player who looks like having a long run, but he can upset the odds against a fancied player. Maik beat Barney the last time they played and is 2-1 up against MVG. He could take both out before the third round.

Dirk van Duijvenbode

The Aubergenius has enjoyed plenty of good runs in the qualifiers and won PC11 in April. He was runner up the next day. There was another semi-final in June, but he then lost his form until he reached the semi-final of PC 25 last month. There was a quarter final the next day and his scoring in the last month is more like what we have come to expect. His consistency still isn’t quite there but he remains a very dangerous opponent and a good run cannot be ruled out.

Ryan Miekle

The Barber needs a big weekend or it is back to Q school. He has dropped to 72nd on the OOM and his win rate in 2021 is just 48%. The pressure to perform is on but he comes here with just three wins from his last ten matches.

Stephen Bunting

Started the year with a World Championship semi-final, a semi-final in PC15 in June and he won PC17 in July. Bunting had his second major semi-final at the World Grand Prix last month but failed to get out of the group stage in last week’s Grand Slam, but he scored well in two matches. He has won seven of his last ten, but Bunting is hard to fancy as a major winner these days.

Gary Anderson

The 2014 Champion has won nine of his eleven first round matches in the event. He has won six of his last ten matches and played well against Barney and MVG last week but lost 8-10 to his old rival in the second round. He has a 10-3 record vs. Bunting but he could find Duijvenbode a bigger challenge in round two. It is hard to see Anderson lifting the trophy.

2021 Players Championship Finals: Fourth Quarter

Jonny Clayton

The Ferret is a potential winner of any tournament he enters. He lost to eventual winner, Gerwyn Price, in the quarter final of last week’s Grand Slam of Darts, never recovering from a slow start. However, he remains in great form, winning eight of his last ten and picking up six titles in 2021. He finds himself in a decent part of the draw and Clayton is very much in the running for title number seven.

Alan Tabern

Only a run to the semi-final will save Tabern from another visit to Q school. He is not a heavy scorer but like many of the experienced older pro’s he can still turn it on from time to time. He could cause a problem for a younger player, but he is playing Jonny Clayton and if you are playing The Ferret these days, most players’ A game isn’t going to be enough.

Scott Mitchell

The former BDO World Championship is making a decent fist of playing in the PDC. He is 61st on the OOM. He won his tour card in January and has made four pro tour quarter finals. Mitchell isn’t setting the world on fire, but he has the habit of beating some big names without playing well. His recent form is not good however, losing six of his last ten matches.

Martijn Kleermaker

The towering Dutchman started the year in poor form and he is finishing in a similar vein, losing seven of his last ten matches. He is a better player than that but hard to fancy given his recent form.

Ross Smith

Smudger Smith has upper his game in 2021, not by a huge amount but enough to get him his first pro tour title in July and he was runner up in PC27 last month. There is no lack of talent, and he is capable of very heavy scoring, but his next step is to be more consistent.

His recent form sees six wins from his last ten. He is a hard player to call as he can be very, very good but just as quickly drop into a sub 90 average. His game looks to be in decent shape, and he is a dangerous opponent.

Rusty-Jake Rodriguez

Young Rusty-Jake gave a good account of himself in last week’s Grand Slam but lost all three group matches. At senior level he has lost eight of his last ten matches. He has improved his seasonal average by four points this year and he can score very heavily, his A game is very good, but his B game isn’t and that makes a decent run hard to see.

Luke Humphries

Cool Hand Luke still hasn’t won a senior title which is something I expected him to do this year. He was runner up in the UK Open in early March, he was runner up in PC6 a few days later, runner up in PC9 in April, runner up in PC16 in June and reached a Euro Tour semi-final in September.

He is knocking on plenty of doors and surely one will open soon enough, but the UK Open apart, he hasn’t enjoyed much success in this year’s majors. Frustration must be mounting and winning two group matches but getting knocked out in last week’s Grand Slam won’t have helped. Humphries has won six of his last ten and he isn’t quite in top form.

Jason Heaver

Another tour rookie in his first season on the pro tour. Heaver has won six of his last ten matches and his best run was to the semi-final of PC7 in March. He has taken a few big names down but there is little to suggest he will have a long run this weekend.

Joe Cullen

Runner up in the final players championship, Cullen petered out in last week’s Grand Slam, from excellent form in PC30 to below average form in a week. Cullen has won seven of his last ten, but his major form remains underwhelming. If he brings his A game Cullen could have a decent run and a quarter final would be no surprise, much further would be.

Andy Boulton

X Factor has enjoyed some good form in 2021 and he reached the semi-final of PC11 in April, but he remains a journeyman pro who makes a living at the game but isn’t going to win a title. He has won five of his last ten matches and hit a 108 average in a Grand Slam qualifier but stringing two or three wins together seems unlikely.

Vincent van der Voort

Another journeyman pro, albeit at a higher level. Vincent has lost six of his last ten matches, but he has only gone beyond the second round in 12 of his 13 Players Championship finals. Something similar looks likely.

Jelle Klassen

A late replacement for Jamie Hughes who has failed a Covid test and will not take part. Klassen is struggling these days with a seasonal average of just 90 and it is hard to see him making any impact in this event.

Dimitri van den Bergh

Runner up in the World Series of Darts Finals, Van den Bergh then lost all three of his matches in the final Super Series. He then failed a Covid test and was forced to withdraw from the Grand Slam of Darts last week. He has now lost seven of his last ten matches having recently won a players championship qualifier and recached the World Series final. It is very hard to say where his game is, and he is best watched at this stage.

Madras Razma

Razzmatazz reached the semi-final of PC26 last month with a very poor average it must be said. Razma has lost six of his last ten and his scoring isn’t heavy enough to make much progress, but he could cause Van den Bergh problems if the Belgian is out of sorts.

Danny Noppert

Had a good run at the World Grand Prix in early October, reaching the semi-final and reached the quarter final of the European Championship the following week. Since then, he has played 21 and won 11. He had a good run to the quarter final of PC30 at the start of the month and his scoring remains good and another decent run looks possible this weekend.

Rowby-John Rodriguez

Rowby-John reached the second round of the Grand Slam after group wins against Bunting and Dobey. Like his brother Rusty-Jake, Rowby-John has a very good A game but lacks the consistency to have a good run. He has lost six of his last ten matches and hasn’t made it beyond the second round in his two previous attempts.

2021 Players Championship Finals: Quarter Winners

First Quarter

Gerwyn Price is the obvious choice to make the semi-final and he is the 2.20 favourite to do so. He does look to have a potential banana skin if he faces Martin Schindler in round two. The German beat him last week and in a first to six leg format. Price is vulnerable against a player who is hitting some big averages.

That is arguably the key match of the quarter. Once he gets into the longer format matches Price becomes harder to oppose but Dolan would be no pushover as we saw at the World Championship. De Sousa has a winning H2H record with Price but The Special One doesn’t look in top form.

Dobey, Ratajski and Chisnall are harder to fancy on the stage than on the floor. Merv King has been blowing hot and cold, but he very nearly won the title last year and you never know with Merv.  

Ratajski looks best placed to take advantage if Price does slip up early on and despite some doubts as to his stage performances, he has been making progress in this area.

Second Quarter

A much more open group with Michael Smith, Nathan Aspinall and Rob Cross vying for favouritism and Ryan Searle not far behind. The bottom half of this group is very tough with Cross, Searle and Aspinall all looking to have claims. Smith looks to have an easier path to the quarter final, but Callan Rydz is a dark horse in the part of the quarter.

Cross will be looking forward to getting back on the horse after missing out in the Grand Slam and with two recent titles to his credit, his confidence might be the deciding factor here.

Third Quarter

Michael van Gerwen is the big favourite to come through this quarter. He will face fellow Dutchmen in the first two rounds and that is not as easy as it sounds and he could foreseeably met another, Van Duijvenbode in the third round. Van Gerwen is not the irresistible force of old but if he gets through the early rounds he would be hard to stop. Peter Wright’s form remains unconvincing and dark horse, Damon Heta, tends to struggle against MVG.

Fourth Quarter

This looks good for The Ferret. The top of half of the quarter looks well within his grasp, especially the tricky opening rounds. Danny Noppert looks a potential dark horse in the bottom half, but there is no one in this quarter that looks an obvious threat to Clayton.

2021 Players Championship Finals: Ante Post Selections

The tournament has been a fiefdom of Michael van Gerwen in the past. He has won it six times in the last eight years, with only Daryl Gurney and Gary Anderson getting their hands on the trophy in the same period. He has made the last six consecutive finals, losing only to Superchin.

There is no doubt Van Gerwen still has the game to win again, but mentally he is not as strong as he was. There are other players playing just as well as he can, but they are on the up, confident and find winning easier.

Van Gerwen is the 5.50 second favourite but he is still just a little short given the strength of the opposition.

2021 Players Championship Finals: Price is Favourite

Gerwyn Price is the favourite at 4.50. He won his fourth ranked major last weekend and his sixth title of the season. There is a touch of value there given his very impressive win rate of 80% in 2021.

Jonny Clayton can be backed at 7.50. He too has won six titles this season and the fact that three were non ranking titles makes little difference. A 77% win rate is very close to Price yet he is much better odds to win. His draw looks a bit better than his big two rivals in the market. He looks underrated compared to Price and MVG.

Peter Wright is the fourth favourite at 12.00 but he just hasn’t been looking in great nick despite a run to the final last week. He said he was exhausted during the final after two long games earlier in the day, but it is a similar schedule this weekend should he make Sunday.

2021 Players Championship Finals: Open Betting

After those four the betting really opens up. Rob Cross picked up his fourth major title recently and backed it up with a pro tour win and he is enjoying his game once more. He knows how to win majors and may pick up another before too long. Krzysztof Ratajski is winning plenty of matches and having decent runs in the majors this year and with a bit of luck he could win one soon. If Price slips up, Ratajski might just get the luck he needs to have another deep run at decent odds.

For a real dark horse, I fancy Dirk van Duijvenbode. He is over his mid-season slump, has the scoring to live with the best and maybe he can go further than his quarter final here last year when he made his tournament debut.

2 points Jonny Clayton to win The 2021 Players Championship Finals @ 7.50 with Unibet

1 point e/w Rob Cross to win The 2021 Players Championship Finals @ 26.00 with Ladbrokes, Unibet, Betfred, Skybet

0.5 point e/w Krzysztof Ratajski to win The 2021 Players Championship Finals @ 41.00 with Skybet, Sportingindex

0.5 point e/w Dirk van Duijvenbode to win The 2021 Players Championship Finals @ 67.00 generally available

-JamesPunt