2021 Grand Slam of Darts

The 2021 Cazoo Grand Slam of Darts was the fifteenth staging of the Grand Slam of Darts, organised by the Professional Darts Corporation. The event returned to the Aldersley Leisure Village, Wolverhampton between 13–21 November 2021, after being held behind closed doors at the Ricoh Arena, Coventry in 2020.

2021 Cazoo Grand Slam of Darts
Tournament information
Dates13–21 November 2021
VenueAldersley Leisure Village
LocationAldersley, Wolverhampton
Country England
Organisation(s)PDC
FormatLegs
Prize fund£550,000
Winner's share£125,000
High checkout170  Fallon Sherrock
170  Rowby-John Rodriguez
170  Michael van Gerwen

170  Michael Smith
170  Peter Wright
Champion(s)
Wales Gerwyn Price
«2020 2022»

José de Sousa was the defending champion, after defeating James Wade 16–12 in the 2020 final,[1] but he was eliminated in the second round, losing 10–9 to Peter Wright.

Gerwyn Price won the tournament for the third time in four years, defeating Peter Wright 16–8 in the final.[2]

Due to the dissolution of the British Darts Organisation in 2020, there was no BDO/WDF representation for the first time in the event's history.[3]

During her 5–0 victory over Mike De Decker in the group stage, Fallon Sherrock averaged 101.55, setting a new record for the highest televised average by a woman.[4] She then went on to become the first woman to advance to the knockout stage, where she defeated Mensur Suljović in the second round, before losing to Peter Wright in the quarterfinals.

Michael van Gerwen set a new Grand Slam record average of 115.19 during his 5–2 victory over Joe Cullen,[4] surpassing the record set by Dimitri Van den Bergh the previous year.

Prize money

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The prize fund for the Grand Slam was the same as 2019 and 2020, with the winner receiving £125,000.[5]

Position (num. of players) Prize money
(Total: £550,000)
Winner (1) £125,000
Runner-up (1) £65,000
Semi-finalists (2) £40,000
Quarter-finalists (4) £20,000
Last 16 (8) £10,000
Third in group (8) £7,500
Fourth in group (8) £4,000
Group winner bonus (8) £3,500

Qualifying

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The qualification criteria changed again for the 2021 tournament, as there were no Summer, Autumn or Winter Series events, as well as no Home Tour, and no events organized by the BDO, which dissolved in 2020. The addition of qualifiers from the PDC Challenge and Development Tours replaced BDO representation.[3]

On 11 November, it was announced that Dimitri Van den Bergh had tested positive for COVID-19, ruling him out of the tournament. He was replaced by Chris Dobey, who was next on the list of qualifying criteria.[6]

The qualifiers were:

Qualifying Tournaments

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PDC Main Tournaments
Tournament Year Position Player Qualifiers
PDC World Darts Championship 2021 Winner   Gerwyn Price   Gerwyn Price
  José de Sousa
  Jonny Clayton
  Peter Wright
  James Wade
  Rob Cross
  Michael van Gerwen
  John Henderson
  Gary Anderson
  Dimitri Van den Bergh
  Mervyn King
  Luke Humphries
  Mensur Suljović
  Rowby-John Rodriguez
Grand Slam of Darts 2020 Winner   José de Sousa
Premier League Darts 2021 Winner   Jonny Clayton
World Matchplay 2021 Winner   Peter Wright
World Grand Prix 2021 Winner   Jonny Clayton
Masters 2021 Winner   Jonny Clayton
UK Open 2021 Winner   James Wade
European Championship 2021 Winner   Rob Cross
Players Championship Finals 2020 Winner   Michael van Gerwen
World Series of Darts Finals 2021 Winner   Jonny Clayton
PDC World Cup of Darts 2021 Winners   Peter Wright
  John Henderson
PDC World Darts Championship 2021 Runner-up   Gary Anderson
Grand Slam of Darts 2020 Runner-up   James Wade
Premier League Darts 2021 Runner-up   José de Sousa
World Matchplay 2021 Runner-up   Dimitri Van den Bergh
World Grand Prix 2021 Runner-up   Gerwyn Price
Masters 2021 Runner-up   Mervyn King
UK Open 2021 Runner-up   Luke Humphries
European Championship 2021 Runner-up   Michael van Gerwen
Players Championship Finals 2020 Runner-up   Mervyn King
World Series of Darts Finals 2021 Runner-up   Dimitri Van den Bergh
PDC World Cup of Darts 2021 Runners-Up   Mensur Suljović
  Rowby-John Rodriguez
Note: Players in italics had already qualified for the tournament.

Since the list of qualifiers from the main tournaments produced fewer than the required number of 16 players, the field was to be filled from the reserve lists. The first list consisted of the winners from 2021 European Tour events, with the winners ordered based on Order of Merit position at the cut-off date. However, Gerwyn Price, who had already qualified, won both European Tour events, and thus this list produced no new competitors.

PDC European Tour
Tournament Event Position Player Qualifiers
2021 European Tour
Hungarian Darts Trophy Winner   Gerwyn Price
Gibraltar Darts Trophy Winner   Gerwyn Price
Note: Players in italics had already qualified for the tournament.

Since there were still fewer than 16 qualifiers after European Tour champions were included, the players with the most 2021 Players Championship titles were added. Order of Merit position served as a tiebreaker.

PDC Pro Tour
Tournament Event Position Player Qualifiers
2021 PDC Pro Tour
Players Championship 1 Winner   Joe Cullen   Michael Smith
  Joe Cullen
  Chris Dobey
Players Championship 2 Winner   Callan Rydz
Players Championship 3 Winner   Raymond van Barneveld
Players Championship 4 Winner   Jonny Clayton
Players Championship 5 Winner   Brendan Dolan
Players Championship 6 Winner   Gerwyn Price
Players Championship 7 Winner   Jonny Clayton (2)
Players Championship 8 Winner   Peter Wright
Players Championship 9 Winner   José de Sousa
Players Championship 10 Winner   Michael Smith
Players Championship 11 Winner   Dirk van Duijvenbode
Players Championship 12 Winner   Dimitri Van den Bergh
Players Championship 13 Winner   Joe Cullen (2)
Players Championship 14 Winner   José de Sousa (2)
Players Championship 15 Winner   José de Sousa (3)
Players Championship 16 Winner   Peter Wright (2)
Players Championship 17 Winner   Stephen Bunting
Players Championship 18 Winner   Chris Dobey
Players Championship 19 Winner   Ross Smith
Players Championship 20 Winner   Peter Wright (3)
Players Championship 21 Winner   Gerwyn Price (2)
Players Championship 22 Winner   Ryan Searle
Players Championship 23 Winner   Peter Wright (4)
Players Championship 24 Winner   Dimitri Van den Bergh (2)
Players Championship 25 Winner   Callan Rydz (2)
Players Championship 26 Winner   Rob Cross
Players Championship 27 Winner   Michael Smith (2)
Players Championship 28 Winner   Chris Dobey (2)
Players Championship 29 Winner   Michael van Gerwen
Players Championship 30 Winner   Krzysztof Ratajski
Note: Players in italics had already qualified for the tournament.

PDC Qualifying Event

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A further eight places in the Grand Slam of Darts were filled by winners of a qualifying event on 5 November.

These are the qualifiers:

Additional qualifiers

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The winners of these tournaments and tours also qualified for the tournament, in place of BDO/WDF representation.

Tournament Year Position Player
PDC World Youth Championship 2020 Winner   Bradley Brooks
Runner-up   Joe Davis
PDC UK Challenge Tour 2021 Winner   Jim Williams
PDC European Challenge Tour 2021 Winner   Matt Campbell
PDC UK Development Tour 2021 Winner   Nathan Rafferty [a]
PDC European Development Tour 2021 Winner   Rusty-Jake Rodriguez
PDC Women's Series 2021 Events 1–6 Winner   Fallon Sherrock
Events 7–12 Winner   Lisa Ashton [b]
  1. ^ Rafferty qualified as 2nd of the Development Tour Order of Merit after Bradley Brooks was already qualified.
  2. ^ Ashton qualified as 2nd of the Women's Series 7–12 Order of Merit after Fallon Sherrock was already qualified.

Draw

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The draw was made on 5 November, with the players split into 4 pools based on their current world ranking.[7]

Pools

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One player from each non-seeded pool was drawn into a group with a seeded player. The players are listed with their world ranking at the time of the draw.[8]

Pool A Pool B Pool C Pool D
(PDC Seeded Players) (PDC Tournament Finalists & Qualifiers)

  Gerwyn Price (1)
  Peter Wright (2)
  Michael van Gerwen (3)
  James Wade (4)
  Chris Dobey (Alt)[a]
  Gary Anderson (6)
  José de Sousa (7)
  Jonny Clayton (8)

  Michael Smith
  Rob Cross
  Krzysztof Ratajski
  Joe Cullen
  Stephen Bunting
  Mervyn King
  Gabriel Clemens
  Luke Humphries

  Mensur Suljović
  Ryan Joyce
  John Henderson
  Boris Krčmar
  Mike De Decker
  Martin Schindler
  Raymond van Barneveld
  Bradley Brooks

  Lisa Ashton
  Rowby-John Rodriguez
  Jim Williams
  Matt Campbell
  Joe Davis
  Nathan Rafferty
  Fallon Sherrock
  Rusty-Jake Rodriguez [b]

  1. ^ Chris Dobey replaced Dimitri Van den Bergh, who was previously the Number 5 seed.
  2. ^ Rusty-Jake Rodriguez was not confirmed to qualify as the European Development Tour winner until after the group stage draw.

Group stage

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All group matches are best of nine legs
After three games, the top two in each group qualify for the knock-out stage

NB: P = Played; W = Won; L = Lost; LF = Legs for; LA = Legs against; +/− = Plus/minus record, in relation to legs; Pts = Points; Status = Qualified to knockout stage

Knockout stage

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Second round (best of 19 legs)
17–18 November
Quarter-finals (best of 31 legs)
19–20 November
Semi-finals (best of 31 legs)
21 November
Final (best of 31 legs)
21 November
            
A1   Gerwyn Price (1) 92.97 10
B2   Bradley Brooks 88.35 8
A1   Gerwyn Price (1) 98.11 16
B1   Jonny Clayton (8) 99.32 12
B1   Jonny Clayton (8) 104.30 10
A2   Nathan Rafferty 91.93 2
A1   Gerwyn Price (1) 102.58 16
C1   James Wade (4) 94.52 9
C1   James Wade (4) 98.09 10
D2   Rowby-John Rodriguez 90.37 2
C1   James Wade (4) 96.58 16
C2   Rob Cross 96.17 14
D1   Ryan Joyce (Q) 95.04 4
C2   Rob Cross 102.91 10
A1   Gerwyn Price (1) 103.90 16
E1   Peter Wright (2) 91.51 8
E1   Peter Wright (2) 90.41 10
F2   José de Sousa (7) 93.21 9
E1   Peter Wright (2) 100.33 16
E2   Fallon Sherrock 98.90 13
F1   Mensur Suljović 84.18 5
E2   Fallon Sherrock 90.58 10
E1   Peter Wright (2) 100.70 16
H1   Michael Smith 97.34 12
G1   Michael van Gerwen (3) 100.43 10
H2   Gary Anderson (6) 100.68 8
G1   Michael van Gerwen (3) 97.44 13
H1   Michael Smith 98.70 16
H1   Michael Smith 95.13 10
G2   Joe Cullen 92.04 5

References

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  1. ^ Phillips, Josh (24 November 2020). "History-maker De Sousa defeats Wade in BoyleSports Grand Slam final". PDC. Archived from the original on 24 November 2020. Retrieved 24 November 2020.
  2. ^ Allen, Dave (21 November 2021). "Peerless Price completes Cazoo Grand Slam of Darts treble". PDC. Retrieved 21 November 2021.
  3. ^ a b Allen, Dave (18 August 2021). "2021 Cazoo Grand Slam of Darts qualification criteria confirmed". PDC. Archived from the original on 18 August 2021. Retrieved 18 August 2021.
  4. ^ a b "Fallon Sherrock and Michael Van Gerwen set new record averages". PDC. 14 November 2021. Archived from the original on 15 November 2021. Retrieved 15 November 2021.
  5. ^ "PDC Order of Merit Rules". PDC. Archived from the original on 29 October 2017. Retrieved 15 January 2019.
  6. ^ Allen, Dave (11 November 2021). "Van den Bergh replaced by Dobey at Cazoo Grand Slam of Darts". PDC. Archived from the original on 11 November 2021. Retrieved 11 November 2021.
  7. ^ Allen, Dave. "Wright faces Sherrock - Cazoo Grand Slam of Darts Draw confirmed". PDC. Archived from the original on 5 November 2021. Retrieved 5 November 2021.
  8. ^ "PDC Order of Merit". PDPA. Archived from the original on 5 November 2021. Retrieved 5 November 2021.