PDC World Darts Championship 2020/21: Full schedule, results, draw, TV and live stream information

Peter Wright defends his title after stunning Michael Van Gerwen in the final on 1 January this year

The PDC World Darts Championship is back to finish off the year with Peter Wright set to defend his title after the Scot broke through in last year’s tournament that concluded on New Year’s Day with a 7-3 victory over Michael van Gerwen.

The competition for the Sid Waddell Trophy is as fierce as ever before this year, with Dutch maestro Van Gerwen the favourite and looking to add to his three world titles with Wright, Gerwyn Price, Michael Smith and many more tipped to go far over the next few weeks. Wright is eager to be announced as world champion for the first time this week.

With London set to move into tier three, there will only be fans, capped at 1,000, on the opening day of the championship at Alexandra Palace, with the measures banning fans in attendance from Wednesday - a decision Barry Hearn has described as “a slap in the face” for sport.

“We can't go one day this, one day that forever,” Hearn said on Talk Sport. “We have either got to say 'close the lot or open it'. You can't have a world of inconsistency because people don't know where they are and that involves sport. I am getting very frustrated, we are doing all the work and then getting slapped in the face.”

Reigning champion Wright got off to a fine start and is determined to live up to his style as well as his darts, after dressing up as The Grinch on opening night.

Fans will therefore have to make do with catching the darts on Sky Sports Main event and Sky Sports Arena every day - fans can also catch a live stream by using the Sky Go app through their mobile devices.

READ MORE: Phil Taylor teases comeback after admitting he almost entered UK Open qualifying

Here is the full schedule for this year’s tournament, with the results set to be updated each day:

Peter Wright lifts the world championship (Getty)

READ MORE: Fans ban a ‘slap in the face for sport’, says furious World Darts Championship boss Barry Hearn

Schedule of play

Wednesday December 23

Afternoon Session (12pm GMT)

Ricky Evans 3-1 Mansell (R2)

Gary Anderson 3-1 Razma (R2)

Stephen Bunting v Boulton/Hedman (R2)

Mensur Suljovic v Kuivenhoven/Edgar (R2)

Evening Session (6pm GMT)

Dave Chisnall v Brown/Meikle (R2)

Jermaine Wattimena v Telnekes/Kenny (R2)

Nathan Aspinall v Waites/Campbell (R2)

Michael Smith v Lowe/Gorbunov (R2)

Sunday, December 27

Afternoon Session

3 x Third Round

Evening Session

3 x Third Round

Monday, December 28

Afternoon Session

3 x Third Round

Evening Session

3 x Third Round

Tuesday, December 29

Afternoon Session

3 x Third Round

Evening Session

1 x Third Round, 2 x Fourth Round

Wednesday, December 30

Afternoon Session

3 x Fourth Round

Evening Session

3 x Fourth Round

Friday, January 1

Afternoon Session

2 x Quarter-Finals

Evening Session

2 x Quarter-Finals

Saturday, January 2

Semi-Finals

Sunday, January 3

Final