PDC World Masters

The PDC World Masters was held in Milton Keynes from 29 January to 2 February. A familiar tournament with a new format. After four days of battle by more than 150 players, it was Luke Humphries who managed to win the Masters title for the first time, after beating former winner Jonny Clayton in the final.

For the first time, there are 32 players in the main tournament of the Masters. The top 24 of the Order of Merit have been placed for this tournament, just like in recent years, but this year there are eight more qualifiers. The tournament also counts for the world ranking for the first time. More than 150 players will be in action on day 1 to reach the last eight and thus secure a place in the main tournament. The eight lucky ones are ultimately Kevin Doets, Bradley Brooks, Andy Baetens, Florian Hempel, William Borland, Jermaine Wattimena, Cameron Menzies and William O’Connor.

Four Dutch players will compete in the last 32. Danny Noppert (3-1 against Michael Smith) and Michael van Gerwen (3-1 against Bradley Brooks) win their first match. Qualifiers Jermaine Wattimena (3-1 against Josh Rock) and Kevin Doets (3-2 against Peter Wright) do not manage to reach the last 16. Luke Humphries wins 3-1 against Joe Cullen, while Jonny Clayton is too strong for Martin Schindler with an average of 112.77 (3-1).

In the last 16, the tournament is over for Michael van Gerwen. He loses 4-3 to Dimitri van den Bergh, who finally manages to beat his eternal rival. The Belgian also throws a nine-darter and advances to the quarter finals. Danny Noppert plays a good game and beats William O’Connor 4-0. The highest average (105.47) is for Luke Littler, who beats James Wade 4-0 without losing a leg. Luke Humphries wins with the same score against Josh Rock and Jonny Clayton beats Ryan Searle 4-3 after a 3-1 deficit.

Each quarter-final features an Englishman, but only Luke Humphries manages to win his match (4-1 against Damon Heta). Luke Littler throws an average of over 108, but loses 4-2 to Jonny Clayton. Title holder Stephen Bunting surprisingly loses 4-3 to Danny Noppert and Nathan Aspinall is the next victim of Dimitri van den Bergh after Van Gerwen (4-1). In the semi-finals, it ends for the Belgian: Clayton wins 5-2 and so the winner of 2021 goes to the final again. There he meets the number 1 on the seeding list Luke Humphries, who proves to be too strong for Danny Noppert with the same score.

Will it be a second title for Clayton, or a first title for Humphries? Clayton has the initiative at the start of the match and takes a 2-1 lead, but then sees Humphries extend the lead to 5-2. The title seems to be within reach for ‘Cool Hand’, but he forgets to finish the match. Clayton comes all the way back to 5-5 in sets and 1-1 in legs, and so a deciding leg is needed to determine the winner. Humphries throws his tenth 180 of the match in this leg and manages to win the title (6-5). With this, the world number 1 wins the World Masters for the first time and strengthens his number 1 position on the world rankings. Clayton rises to 6th place on the Order of Merit thanks to this place in the final.