MICHAEL VAN GERWEN and Raymond van Barneveld spoke of their pride after claiming a record-equalling fourth Betway World Cup of Darts title in Frankfurt on Sunday.
The Dutch duo defeated Scottish pair Gary Anderson and Peter Wright 3-1 at the Eissporthalle to retain their crown in impressive style, having previously defeated Gibraltar, South Africa, Germany and Belgium to reach the final.
World Cup ever-present Van Barneveld and world number one Van Gerwen were in unstoppable form throughout the weekend, dropping just 12 legs in their march to back-to-back titles.
“It feels amazing to win the World Cup for a second year in a row alongside such a great player in Raymond,” said Van Gerwen, who joined Van Barneveld in being honoured with the Dutch equivalent of an MBE earlier in April.
“The standard was really high this year but no one could touch us.
“If you don’t play as a team then you can’t win this tournament and we felt good playing alongside each other all the way through.
“We put pressure on every opponent we had, whether it was Scotland or Gibraltar, we did the right thing and didn’t make any mistakes.
“Even when we were put under a little bit of pressure in the final we stood up to it with unbelievable finishing.”
Michael van Gerwen seals the title for The Netherlands ?????????#LoveTheDarts #RealWorldCup pic.twitter.com/zHSDk5Y7to
— PDC Darts (@OfficialPDC) June 3, 2018
The Dutch pair blew the Scots away 4-1 in the Doubles, before Van Gerwen sealed the title with a 4-0 whitewash of Anderson, with the world number one posting a 111.33 average.
Sunday’s triumph puts the Netherlands level with England for most World Cup wins, the first of which came in the inaugural 2010 event which Van Barneveld picked up alongside Co Stompe.
“You’ve got to be at your best for your country every single year,” said Van Barneveld, who posted a stunning 113.38 average in his 4-2 semi-final win over Belgian youngster Dimitri Van den Bergh.
“You have to believe in each other, and I couldn’t choose a better player in the world to play with than Michael.
“He was giving me encouragement all the way through to get me sharp in the final. We had to be at our best because they are long days and the standard is so high.
“It’s happy days for us to win it for a fourth time, we are so proud to achieve this for our country.”