Tag: world cup of darts

Scotland Win The World Cup Of Darts

The World Cup of Darts has a new champion after Scotland won the competition for the first time in their history on Sunday night in Hamburg. In a surprise final line up, Peter ‘Snakebite’ Wright and Gary ‘The Flying Scotsman’ Anderson saw off Republic of Ireland’s Steve Lennon and William O’Connor with a 3-1 victory in the final.

The Scottish pair had made the final twice previously, losing on both occasions to England in 2015 and Holland a year ago. In its history, only England and The Netherlands have ever won the World Cup, although it was Ireland that put an end to English-Dutch dominance this year.

On Saturday, Lennon and O’Connor, who were 66/1 at the start of the tournament, shot down the pre-tournament favourites, England’s Rob Cross and Michael Smith in the second round, before taking out Holland’s Michael van Gerwen and Jermaine Wattimena in the semis. Ireland also dumped Mensur Suljovic’s Austria out in Sunday’s quarter-finals.

The Irish pair almost caused an upset in the final too as Lennon won his singles game 4-2 over Gary Anderson. But, in the second matchup between the two pairs, Wright’s average of 96.73 was enough to level the tie as he saw off O’Connor by the same score line.
Scotland then moved 2-1 ahead after thrashing the Irish 4-0 in the doubles before the reverse doubles saw Snakebite defeat Lennon 4-1 meaning Gary Anderson wasn’t required to return to the oche. Scotland had established an unassailable 3-1 lead which put an end to Ireland’s hopes and meant that Scotland would be crowned World Cup winners for the first time.

Looking Ahead

With the players on a mini-break for a few weeks until they meet in Las Vegas, now is a good time to look ahead to what is coming up over the second half of the year for the PDC. The World Matchplay, second in importance only to the World Championships, is the next big event on the horizon and takes place, as always, at Winter Gardens in Blackpool on July 20.

As you would expect, Mighty Mike van Gerwen has already been installed as favourite by online bookmakers Betway, who rate him as evens. Rob Cross has been priced at 7/1, while Gary Anderson — returning to events and newly crowned World Cup winner — has a value of 9/1.

From here, interestingly, the prices begin to widen. 16/1 on James Wade must tempt some, as will the 22/1 offered on Gerwyn Price and Michael Smith. Time will tell how this weekend’s success will affect Peter Wright, but if he reacts positively, he could well have a very strong second half of the season. Given his appalling 2019 so far, World Cup notwithstanding, prices are longer than previously and true to form, he has a 22/1 price on his mohawked head which might be worth a punt before it drifts in as it so surely will.

Further down the line, Daryl Gurney is 25/1, Mensur Suljovic is 28/1 and Adrian Lewis is 33/1, while you can also get 33/1 on Glen Durrant winning his maiden PDC event.

PDC Calendar 2019

July 3-5, Mandalay Bay Hotel, Las Vegas

• US Masters (World Series of Darts)

July 12-13, Lanxess Arena, Cologne

• German Darts Masters (World Series of Darts)

July 20-28 Winter Gardens, Blackpool

• World Matchplay

August 9-10, BCEC, Brisbane

• Brisbane Darts Masters (World Series of Darts)

August 16-17, Hisense Arena

• Melbourne Darts Masters (World Series of Darts)

August 23-24, Hamilton

• New Zealand Darts Masters (World Series of Darts)

August 30-September 1, Schwechat

• Austrian Darts Championship (European Tour)

September 6-8, Maimarkthalle, Mannheim

• European Darts Matchplay (European Tour)

September 13-15, Sachsenarena, Riesa

• International Darts Open (European Tour)

September 27-29, Victoria Stadium

• Gibraltar Darts Trophy (European Tour)

October 19-20. Venue TBC

• Champions League of Darts

October 6-12, Dublin

• World Grand Prix

October 24-27, Gottingen, Germany

• European Championship

November 1-3, AFAS Live, Amsterdam

• World Series of Darts Finals

November 9-17, Aldersley Leisure Village, Wolverhampton

• Grand Slam of Darts

November 22-24, Minehead

• Players Championship Finals

Dates TBC, Alexandra Palace, London

• PDC World Championship 2020

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World Cup Of Darts 2019 Betting Tips

This Thursday at the Barclaycard Arena in Hamburg, Germany the Darts World Cup will begin, running for four days until its climax on Sunday. One of the most unique tournaments on the darting calendar, the World Cup puts our heroes together in pairs in a format unlike any other on the circuit.

32 nations are represented at the event, with the best two players from each granted the honour of throwing darts for their country and maybe, just maybe, make a bit of history in doing so.

The Darts World Cup’s unique format includes an all-doubles first round where the sixteen ties are played as best of nine legs. By the second round, singles matches come into play with the running order determined by each of the remaining teams’ captains. Two best-of-seven leg matches are then played, and if the teams still can’t be split, a best of seven legs doubles match will decide the winner. The quarter-finals and semi-finals work the same way but by the final, it become the best of five, with four singles games and a doubles match deciding this year’s World Cup winners.

The World Cup of Darts matchups

Only two nations have ever won the trophy, England and Holland, with the latter going into this year’s competition as defending champions. Once again, these are the two favourites but this year both sides will be sending out new line-ups. For the Netherlands, Jermaine Wattimena replaces the soon-to-be-retired Raymond van Barneveld, while for England Michael Smith makes his debut and lines up alongside Rob Cross as Adrian ‘Jackpot’ Lewis makes way. Of course, Michael van Gerwen will lead the line for the Dutch.

Only Australia, who should have won in 2012, has ever seriously threatened to break the dominance of England and the Netherlands. Australia, while still a potential banana skin, are not considered to be among this year’s big four — the Netherlands, England, Scotland and WalesThe semi-finals have never featured all of the top four seeds so they won’t all go the distance.

Despite the lack of Barney, England and Holland have both been quickly installed as pre-tournament favourites, listed as 11/4 each to be crowned World Cup winners according to Betway. The same online sportsbook reckon on Holland being the second most likely to secure the trophy, but with so much riding on Wattimena’s young shoulders, the 11/4 on Holland doesn’t particularly appeal.

The draw could have been kinder to the Dutch, who face Spain in the first round. That said, neither Cristo Reyes or Toni Alcinas have been tearing up any trees this year. However, the first round’s short format played between the pairs usually throws up a shock or two so keep an eye on that one. Should the Dutch navigate Spain, one either Poland or the Czech Republic awaiting, with both representing timid threats to Holland, especially given the tournament’s expanded format. Expect them then to meet Australia in the quarter-final where Simon Whitlock and Kyle Anderson could put an end to the Dutch campaign.

For Germany, Max Hopp and Martin Schindler are representing their country for the third consecutive year. They have risen up the rankings following some previous stellar World Cup performances. Hopp, by the way, has already tempted fate by declaring Hungary a ‘good draw’ for the Germans. In two previous appearances, this pairing has reached the quarter-finals, losing to eventual winners The Netherlands on both occasions. Should they overcome Hungary, and they surely will, Belgium (Kim Huybrechts and Dimitri van den Bergh) are likely to be their second-round opponents. Despite that they should be tricky, the German pair do have home advantage with the crowd roaring them on to the next round where Scotland should await.

Time will only tell what missing out on the Darts Premier League has done for Gary Anderson’s health. The Flying Scotsman makes his long awaited PDC return having sat out most major events of the year so far, including the 17-week tournament that MVG scooped two weeks ago. Given that his partner will be Peter ‘Snakebite’ Wright, Scotland, are unlikely to find many fanciers, especially at their 7/2 Betway price. However, the 15/8 on Scotland reaching the final will definitely appeal to some. Scotland have twice lost in the final, first in 2015 and again last year, losing to England and Holland respectively.

Welsh pair Gerwyn Price and Jonny Clayton are placed fourth in the betting at 13/2, Northern Ireland (Daryl Gurney and Brendan Dolan) 12/1, Belgium 22/1, Australia 25/1 and Austria, for whom Zoran Lerchbacher partners Mensur Suljovic, are 28/1.

This year will be the last World Cup for Sweden’s Magnus Caris, who will bow out of top-level darts, while Lithuania will take part in their first ever World Cup. For China, who get started against the USA, there has been a last minute line-up change as Yuanjun Liu replaces Qingyu Zhan who was set to make his World Cup debut but is now unable to compete due to passport complications.

Singapore’s Paul Lim and Harith Lim, who beat Scotland two years ago, have the opportunity to do the same to the Welsh this time around, while the Philippines (Lourence Ilagan and Noel Malicdem) and New Zealand (Cody Harris and Haupai Puha) are another two sides that have the talent to cause a real surprise, although the former meet England first. And, for all of the above, it is England I will be sticking with to win the 2019 PDC World Cup of Darts.

WORLD CUP OF DARTS: TEAM LINE-UPS

Seeded Teams:

• England – Rob Cross & Michael Smith
• Scotland – Gary Anderson & Peter Wright
• Wales – Gerwyn Price & Jonny Clayton
• Netherlands – Michael van Gerwen & Jermaine Wattimena
• Australia – Simon Whitlock & Kyle Anderson
• Northern Ireland – Daryl Gurney & Brendan Dolan
• Belgium – Kim Huybrechts & Dimitri Van den Bergh
• Austria – Mensur Suljovic & Zoran Lerchbacher

Unseeded:

• Brazil – Diogo Portela & Artur Valle
• Canada – Dawson Murschell & Jim Long
• China – Xiaochen Zong & Yuanjun Liu
• Czech Republic – Pavel Jirkal & Karel Sedlacek
• Denmark – Per Laursen & Niels Heinsøe
• Finland – Marko Kantele & Kim Viljanen
• Germany – Max Hopp & Martin Schindler
• Gibraltar – Dyson Parody & Antony Lopez
• Greece – John Michael & Veniamin Symeonidis
• Hong Kong – Royden Lam & Kai Fan Leung
• Hungary – Pal Szekely & Janos Vegso
• Italy – Andrea Micheletti & Stefano Tomassetti
• Japan – Seigo Asada & Haruki Muramatsu
• Lithuania – Darius Labanauskas & Mindauskas Barauskas
• New Zealand – Cody Harris & Haupai Puha
• Philippines – Lourence Ilagan & Noel Malicdem
• Poland – Krzysztof Ratajski & Tytus Kanik
• Republic of Ireland – Steve Lennon & William O’Connor
• Russia – Boris Koltsov & Aleksei Kadochnikov
• Singapore – Paul Lim & Harith Lim
• South Africa – Devon Petersen & Vernon Bouwers
• Spain – Cristo Reyes & Toni Alcinas
• Sweden – Dennis Nilsson & Magnus Caris
• United States of America – Darin Young & Chuck Puleo

WORLD CUP OF DARTS FIXTURES

Thursday June 6

• Gibraltar v Japan
• Northern Ireland v South Africa
• New Zealand v Lithuania
• Belgium v Hong Kong
• Brazil v Sweden
• Wales v Singapore
• Hungary v Germany
• Scotland v Denmark

Friday June 7

• China v USA
• Italy v Canada
• Poland v Czech Republic
• Republic of Ireland v Greece
• England v Philippines
• Austria v Russia
• Australia v Finland
• Netherlands v Spain

Saturday June 8

• Eight Second Round Matches

Sunday June 9

• Quarter-Finals, Semi-Finals & Final

QUICK GLANCE AT THE DARTS WORLD CUP 2019

Venue: Barclaycard Arena in Hamburg, Germany
Dates: Thursday 06.06.2019 – 09.06.2019
Format: First Round (Best of nine legs), Second Round + (Best of 3 points), Final (Best of 5 points)
Current Champions: The Netherlands
Where To Watch: Sky Sports
When To Watch: (1800 GMT)

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Netherlands Win World Cup Of Darts For The Fourth Time

For the fourth time in their history, The Netherlands are the World Cup of Darts champions after Michael van Gerwen and Raymond van Barneveld beat Scotland’s Peter Wright and Gary Anderson in a final everyone was predicting. The defending champions dropped only one solitary point throughout the entire tournament. That point came in the final, a game where van Gerwen and van Barneveld came out 3-1 winners.

This is the fourth time Holland have won the Cup and the third from this pairing, having previously bagged the prize in 2014 and 2017. On the other occasion, Barney teamed up with Co Stompe to win in 2010. Their latest victory also means the Dutch have drawn level with England for the most World Cup victories, with Phil Taylor and Adrian ‘Jackpot’ Lewis winning in 2012, 2013, 2015 and 2016.

The final took place at the Eissporthalle in Frankfurt with the opening singles match fought between MVG and Peter Wright with the Dutchman reigning supreme and banking a 4-2 victory. Mighty Mike achieved the win despite some below par scoring. The world number one averaged 97 and hit just one solitary 180 but was far more clinical with his doubles, landing four out of five.

The next singles match of the night saw Scotland draw level when Gary Anderson successfully saw off the challenge of Raymond van Barneveld. The Flying Scotsman sank Barney with a 4-1 win, hitting five 180s and averaging 97.

Things swung back in favour of the Netherlands during the pairs match when MVG and RVB combined to average 100 over a 4-1 rout, while Scotland missed three darts at a double. In the first reverse singles match, MVG put the result beyond doubt when he beat Anderson 4-0 to give the Holland the victory yet again.

Earlier on in the evening, Scotland had beaten Australia, while the Dutch pair were impressive in their semi-final clash with Belgium, who knocked England out in the quarter-finals with a 2-1 win. The Netherlands upset the Frankfurt crowd by knocking out Germany 2-0 during the other quarter-finals match.

World Darts Championship preview

In other darts news, the World Darts Championship has been supersized to include 96 competitors, including for the first time ever, two women competitors. Previously, darts’ biggest event saw 72 players competing over the Christmas and New Year period, but the 2018 World Darts Championship will see inclusion of a further 24 qualifiers. Six additional sessions will be added to this year’s schedule to accommodate the extra matches at Alexandra Palace.

The announcement hasn’t, as you might expect, done anything for the early betting on the Championships with Michael van Gerwen installed as the evens favourite at Betway which, is unlikely to stay that way if his current form is any indicator.

The reigning champion, Rob Cross is the 9/2 second favourite, while two-time winner Gary Anderson is out at a very decent 6/1, half the price of his compatriot Peter ‘Snakebite’ Wright, who is 12’s. Aussie Corey Cadby is next in the betting at 28/1, is the same price as Michael Smith, who many believe is capable of being this year’s Cross, following an impressive showing in the Premier League.

Elsewhere, Daryl Gurney is available at 33/1 while another two-time winner, Adrian Lewis can be backed at 50/1.

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