2021 PDC World Youth Championship

The 2021 PDC Unicorn World Youth Championship was the eleventh edition of the PDC World Youth Championship, a tournament organised by the Professional Darts Corporation for darts players aged between 16 and 23. In a change from previous years, the whole tournament was played at Butlin's Minehead, Minehead, on 28 November 2021. The final took place on the stage, before the final of the 2021 Players Championship Finals.[1]

2021 PDC Unicorn World Youth Championship
Tournament information
Dates28 November 2021
VenueButlin's Minehead
LocationMinehead
Country England
Organisation(s)PDC
FormatLegs
First to 4 (group stage)
First to 5 (knockout phase)
First to 6 (Final)
Prize fund£45,000
Winner's share£10,000
High checkout170  Ted Evetts
(semi-final)
Champion(s)
 Ted Evetts
«2020 2022»

England's Bradley Brooks was the defending champion after defeating compatriot Joe Davis 6–5 in the 2020 final,[2] but lost 5–3 to Dutch player Kevin Doets in the second round (last 16).

Ted Evetts was crowned World Youth Champion for the first time after defeating Nathan Rafferty 6–4 in the final.[3] As Evetts had already secured his World Championship spot, an additional qualifier was available at the PDPA World Championship Qualifier.[4]

Prize money

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The prize fund for the Youth Championship was reduced to £45,000 due to the smaller field of participants, with the winner still receiving £10,000. The winner also gets a spot at the 2022 PDC World Darts Championship and the 2022 Grand Slam of Darts, whereas the Runner-up gets also a place at the 2022 Grand Slam of Darts.

Position (num. of players) Prize money
(Total: £45,000)
Winner (1) £10,000
Runner-up (1) £5,000
Semi-finalists (2) £2,500
Quarter-finalists (4) £1,750
Last 16 (8) £1,000
Third in group (8) £750
Fourth in group (8) £500

Qualifiers and Format

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The smaller field of 32 players was made up of PDC Tour Card Holders, Development Tour players and International Qualifiers. Play in Minehead saw the 32 players compete in a round-robin format during the afternoon in Reds Bar, with the top two players in each group progressing to the last 16. The final was played on the main stage in the evening between the semi-finals and final of the Players Championship Finals.

Mike van Duivenbode, Bence Katona and Nico Kurz withdrew from the original field of qualifiers and were replaced by Lewis Pride, Maikel Verberk, and Jack Male, the next ranked players from the respective UK and European Orders of Merit.

The following players participated:

Seedings

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The top eight ranked players from the PDC Order of Merit are seeded at the time of the draw.[9]

  1.   Callan Rydz
  2.   Bradley Brooks
  3.   Ted Evetts
  4.   Keane Barry
  5.   Ciarán Teehan
  6.   Lewy Williams
  7.   Rusty-Jake Rodriguez
  8.   Adam Gawlas

Draw

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[4]

Group stage

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All group matches are best of seven 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; Avg = Three-dart average in group matches; Status = Qualified to knockout stage

Knockout stage

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[4]

Second round
(best of 9 legs)
Quarter-finals
(best of 9 legs)
Semi-finals
(best of 9 legs)
Final
(best of 11 legs)
            
A1   Jack Male (Alt) 84.38 0
B2   Nathan Rafferty 98.88 5
B2   Nathan Rafferty 94.26 5
B1   Adam Gawlas (8) 85.28 4
B1   Adam Gawlas (8) 89.62 5
A2   Callan Rydz (1) 88.55 4
B2   Nathan Rafferty 99.82 5
D2   Geert Nentjes 84.72 3
C1   Liam Meek 95.72 2
D2   Geert Nentjes 101.02 5
D2   Geert Nentjes 85.32 5
C2   Keane Barry (4) 91.55 3
D1   Ciarán Teehan (5) 86.12 1
C2   Keane Barry (4) 89.53 5
B2   Nathan Rafferty 93.66 4
G1   Ted Evetts (3) 95.44 6
E1   Bradley Brooks (2) 92.68 3
F2   Kevin Doets 103.99 5
F2   Kevin Doets 92.19 5
F1   Rusty-Jake Rodriguez (7) 81.65 1
F1   Rusty-Jake Rodriguez (7) 97.36 5
E2   Lewis Pride (Alt) 91.35 1
F2   Kevin Doets 80.03 1
G1   Ted Evetts (3) 89.42 5
G1   Ted Evetts (3) 97.60 5
H2   Niels Zonneveld 82.83 0
G1   Ted Evetts (3) 94.76 5
G2   Keelan Kay 82.31 3
H1   Lewy Williams (6) 88.30 1
G2   Keelan Kay 89.53 5

Representation

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This table shows the number of players by country in the 2022 PDC World Youth Championship. A total of 12 nationalities were represented.

 
ENG
 
NED
 
IRL
 
AUT
 
WAL
 
GER
 
NIR
 
CZE
 
POL
 
HKG
 
JPN
 
SPA
Total
Final 1 1 2
Semi-finals 1 2 1 4
Quarter-finals 2 2 1 1 1 1 8
Second round 6 3 2 1 2 1 1 16
Group stage 12 6 2 2 2 2 1 1 1 1 1 1 32
Total 12 6 2 2 2 2 1 1 1 1 1 1 32

References

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  1. ^ Allen, Dave. "2021 PDC Unicorn World Youth Championship dat]]& format confirmed". Professional Darts Corporation. Retrieved 22 October 2021.
  2. ^ Allen, Dave. "Brooks wins 2020 PDC Unicorn World Youth Championship". Professional Darts Corporation. Retrieved 22 October 2021.
  3. ^ Phillips, Josh. "Evetts crowned Unicorn World Youth Champion". Professional Darts Corporation. Retrieved 21 September 2022.
  4. ^ a b c Phillips, Josh. "Evetts crowned Unicorn World Youth Champion". Professional Darts Corporation. Retrieved 31 January 2022.
  5. ^ "DartConnect Match Summary". DartConnect. 21 November 2021.
  6. ^ "DartConnect Match Summary". DartConnect. 13 November 2021.
  7. ^ "Qualification News". PDC Europe. 21 November 2021.
  8. ^ "DartConnect Match Summary". DartConnect. 14 November 2021.
  9. ^ "2021 Unicorn World Youth Championship field & format confirmed". PDPA. Retrieved 25 November 2021.