By: Allen Bryan
The 2020/2021 Darts World Championship finished its run at the Alexandria Palace in London, England on January 3rd, 2021. Gerwyn Price won the 2020/2021 World Darts Championship to become the number one darts professional in the world. In doing so, he also became the first World Darts Champ from Wales. Price dominated play against two-time World Champion, Gary Anderson, with a 7-3 set victory to bring home the £500,000 ($678,275) cash prize. In his journey to becoming the world champion, Price has ended a seven year run by the Dutch darts master, Michael van Gerwen. Gary Anderson’s second place showing bought him a £200,000 ($271,310) purse and moved him up five places to a number five world ranking.
This year of pandemic has challenged the world of darts, much as it has challenged other sports. Along with other sports, all pro darts competitions were cancelled until July 2020. In December, with London in a complete lockdown, there was some question as to whether the Championship would even take place. It was decided that socially distanced crowds of 1000 would be further limited to 500, with this number finally reduced to zero and with tournament play occurring behind the locked doors of the historic Alexandria Palace. Pre-recorded and technician-controlled crowd noise was piped into the event hall to create a sense of excitement. This led to complaints by some participants whose finely tuned games were affected by the timing of
sounds. These and other minor issues were ultimately handled and the event brought some much-needed excitement to the dart world during an otherwise subdued holiday season.
You can catch many of this tournament’s most exciting moments on YouTube. Also, for those who are inspired by the colorful characters and focused play of darts, there are many opportunities to explore this sport right here in the United States. Check out
http://www.adoyouthdarts.com/ to find out more about youth dart competitions. While most tournaments are cancelled due to the ongoing pandemic, the season usually starts in February with the Camellia Classic Tournament, run by the Sacramento Valley Darting Association (SVDA). With practice, maybe you can become the first American World Champion.
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