| 2022 William Hill World Darts Championship | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Tournament information | |||
| Dates | 15 December 2021 – 3 January 2022[1] | ||
| Venue | Alexandra Palace | ||
| Location | London | ||
| Country |  England | ||
| Organisation(s) | PDC | ||
| Format | Sets Final – first to 7 sets | ||
| Prize fund | £2,500,000 | ||
| Winner's share | £500,000 | ||
| Nine-dart finish |  William Borland  Darius Labanauskas  Gerwyn Price | ||
| High checkout | |||
| Champion(s) | |||
| Peter Wright | |||
| |||
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The 2022 PDC World Darts Championship (officially referred to as the 2021/22 William Hill World Darts Championship[1]) was the 29th World Championship organised by the Professional Darts Corporation since it separated from the now-defunct British Darts Organisation. It took place at the Alexandra Palace in London from 15 December 2021 to 3 January 2022.
Gerwyn Price was the defending champion, after he defeated Gary Anderson 7–3 to claim his first World Championship in 2021. However, he lost 5–4 to Michael Smith in the quarter-finals.[2] For the first time since 2006, no players from outside the United Kingdom reached the quarter-final stage.
Three nine-dart finishes were made in the tournament, the most in a single PDC World Championship.[3][4] William Borland became the first ever player in a televised tournament to hit a nine-dart finish in a deciding leg, against Bradley Brooks in the first round. Darius Labanauskas then hit the second of the tournament the following day, in his first-round match against Mike De Decker.[5] Price hit his first televised nine-dart finish, and the third of the tournament, against Michael Smith in the quarter-finals.[4]
Three players were forced to withdraw in the third round due to testing positive for COVID-19; on 27 December, Vincent van der Voort was forced to withdraw from the tournament ahead of his match against James Wade,[6] three-time World Champion Michael van Gerwen withdrew the following day from his match against Chris Dobey,[7] and Dave Chisnall withdrew on 29 December before his match against Luke Humphries.[8]
Peter Wright won the World Championship for the second time in his career, defeating Michael Smith 7–5 in the final.[9]
The event would be the final event of William Hill's sponsorship deal with the PDC, as the organisation had announced on 18 July 2021 that it had reached a multi-year, multi-tournament sponsorship deal with British car sales company Cazoo for all of its events from 2022 and onwards, including the World Championship.[10]
- ^ a b Phillips, Josh (21 July 2021). "2021/22 World Championship schedule & ticket information confirmed". Professional Darts Corporation. Retrieved 21 July 2021.
- ^ "PDC World Championship 2021: Gerwyn Price beats Gary Anderson to win title". BBC Sport. 3 January 2021. Retrieved 21 July 2021.
- ^ "PDC's Nine-Dart Club". Professional Darts Corporation. 1 January 2022.
- ^ a b "Gerwyn Price lands his first televised 9 darter". Sky Sports. 1 January 2022.
- ^ Gorton, Josh (18 December 2021). "Darius Labanauskas hits second nine darter in 24 hours". Sky Sports.
- ^ "Van der Voort withdraws from William Hill World Darts Championship". PDC. 27 December 2021.
- ^ "Van Gerwen withdraws from William Hill World Darts Championship". PDC. 28 December 2021.
- ^ "Chisnall withdraws from William Hill World Darts Championship". PDC. 29 December 2021.
- ^ "Wright defeats Smith to become two-time World Champion". PDC. 3 January 2022.
- ^ "PDC announce new multi-year, multi-tournament deal with title sponsors Cazoo". Sky Sports. Retrieved 10 July 2022.