Peter Wright named PDC Player of the Year after World Championship triumph | Darts News

Jonny Clayton was also the recipient of the Players’ Player of the Year and Fans’ Player of the Year awards, while Gerwyn Price won ProTour Player of the Year, Alan Soutar won Best Newcomer and Rusty-Jake Rodriguez the Young Player of the Year.

Peter Wright poses with his Player of the Year award (Image: PDC)

Peter Wright has been named the 2021 PDC Player of the Year, while Premier League champion Jonny Clayton picked up two awards.

Newly-crowned two-time world champion Wright pipped Clayton, Gerwyn Price and James Wade to the Player of the Year crown.

A vintage year for Snakebite also saw him win the World Matchplay and Players Championship Finals for the first time, while lifting a second World Cup title for Scotland alongside John Henderson.

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World Darts champion Peter Wright says he celebrated his second world title with a Pot Noodle and a cup of tea and also struggled to get any sleep.

“It feels great to win this award, it’s nice to add another trophy to the cabinet,” said Wright.

“Jonny [Clayton] had an amazing year but I think winning the two biggest ranking TV tournaments probably won me this award; thank you to the selection panel for selecting me.

“It’s nice to get recognition for your achievements over the last year and now I want more in 2022.

“Phil [Taylor] always had that hunger to win more and a few years ago I couldn’t understand it but now I’ve got that same hunger to add as many titles to my name as I can.”

A remarkable year for Clayton, which saw him pick up four TV titles including the Premier League in his debut campaign, was recognised with wins in the PDPA Players’ Player of the Year and Selco Fans’ Player of the Year categories.

Clayton received over half of the votes from fellow PDC Tour Card Holders and more than 25 per cent of the votes in an online poll respectively as he scooped an awards double.

Michael Smith’s defeat of Clayton in a pulsating World Championship fourth-round contest was acknowledged with the Toyo Tires Televised Performance of the Year award.

World No 1 Price’s victories in both 2021 European Tour events, as well as in two Players Championships, helped him on his way to winning ProTour Player of the Year after claiming £98,000 during the season.

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Jonny Clayton triumphed at the World Grand Prix after thrashing world number one Gerwyn Price 5-1.

Scotland’s Alan Soutar received the Moneybarn Best Newcomer award thanks to an impressive first year on the professional circuit, which included runs to the last 16 of the UK Open and World Championship as he moved up to 51st on the PDC Order of Merit.

Emerging Austrian Rusty-Jake Rodriguez took the Unicorn Young Player of the Year award thanks to a breakthrough year which saw the 21-year-old dominate the European Development Tour with five tournament wins as well as feature in the World Championship and Grand Slam of Darts.

The PDC Annual Awards also officially welcomes into the Nine-Dart Club any player to have achieved a nine-darter in a PDC event during the previous year.