SCOTLAND were crowned as BetVictor World Cup of Darts champions for the first time on Sunday night as Gary Anderson and Peter Wright overcame the Republic of Ireland 3-1 in the final in Hamburg.
The Scottish pair have been defeated twice previously in the final of the annual pairs tournament, losing out to England in 2015 and the Netherlands 12 months ago.
However, this time they went all the way as they denied Steve Lennon and William O'Connor a remarkable triumph.
The Republic of Ireland had never won past the Last 16 in the previous eight World Cup tournaments, but followed up a round two demolition of England by defeating Austria and the Netherlands on Sunday to defy the odds and reach the final.
Their semi-final triumph over reigning champions Netherlands was particularly memorable, as they whitewashed Michael van Gerwen and Jermaine Wattimena 4-0 in the Doubles decider with the aid of finishes of 131 and 128 from Lennon.
Lennon also opened the final with a 4-2 win over Gary Anderson, but Wright's 4-2 defeat of O'Connor saw them level before an outstanding Doubles whitewash moved them 2-1 up overall.
Wright then sealed glory for Scotland for the first time as he defeated Lennon 4-1 in their Singles tie to secure the £70,000 top prize and become only the third nation to win the event.
"I'm over the moon," said Wright. "To play with Gary, the best player on the planet, is an honour, and it's about time we did it.
"We're both quality players and we should have won it ages ago, but it's happened now, we've got that monkey off our backs.
"We've got to the final before and run out of steam in the past. We clicked this year and that's why we won. Instead of those silver medals, we've got gold ones!"
Wright added: "We didn't want to go into the pairs 2-0 down because we've done it in the past and it's not very nice."
The Scots had earlier raced past both Belgium and Japan with 2-0 wins to secure their place in the final, marking a hugely successful return to action for Anderson following his treatment for a back problem.
"I came here not knowing what to expect and it's been good, a confidence lifter," said Anderson. "Ireland in the semi-finals were fantastic, and they've been good.
"I'm quite happy. My throw's still not 100 percent but we got there. We played the right games at the right times.
"It's special. We've been beaten by the best in the world and it's taken them to beat us, but we got there at last."
Ireland had begun Sunday's action with a 2-1 quarter-final defeat of Austria, whitewashing their opponents 4-0 in the Doubles decider.
They then secured the biggest win of their careers in a superb semi-final to end the Netherlands' title defence.
Lennon had lost 4-3 to World Champion Van Gerwen in their Singles tie, but O'Connor swept aside Wattimena 4-1 before they limited the Dutch to just one dart at a double in the decisive Doubles contest.
Lennon admitted: "Obviously we're gutted. We've done so well to get here but we will try and take the positives from it.
"I think we played brilliant as a team. Getting to the final was immense, we couldn't have dreamed of it.
"[Scotland] were brilliant, it's why they're two of the best players in the world but we showed what we can do and we'll hopefully be back here next year."
O'Connor added: "I'll look back on the whole tournament positively. Myself and Steve are in the final of the World Cup, it's a dream come true.
"I knew we could do it and it's a pity we couldn't go that one step further. I'm proud to represent Ireland.
"Scotland threw some unreal darts in the final, and the fans were absolutely fantastic all weekend."
New Zealand's run to a first World Cup quarter-final saw the challenge of Cody Harris and Haupai Puha ended with a 2-0 loss to Japan's Seigo Asada and Haruki Muramatsu.
Canada's Dawson Murschell claimed a memorable 4-2 Singles win over Van Gerwen in their quarter-final, only to see Wattimena overcome Jim Long 4-2 before the Dutch took the Doubles contest 4-1.
Belgium's Kim Huybrechts and Dimitri Van den Bergh were unable to match last year's semi-final appearance as they lost out 2-0 to Belgium in the last eight, where Austria also exited the event.
Hear from your 2019 @BetVictor World Cup of Darts Champions, Gary Anderson and Peter Wright ? pic.twitter.com/y3TTrd6H95
— PDC Darts (@OfficialPDC) June 9, 2019
2019 BetVictor World Cup of Darts
Sunday June 9
Afternoon Session
Quarter-Finals
Japan 2-0 New Zealand
Singles One: Seigo Asada 4-1 Cody Harris
Singles Two: Haruki Muramatsu 4-3 Haupai Puha
Doubles: (Not Needed)
Scotland 2-0 Belgium
Singles One: Gary Anderson 4-2 Kim Huybrechts
Singles Two: Peter Wright 4-2 Dimitri Van den Bergh
Doubles: (Not Needed)
Republic of Ireland 2-1 Austria
Singles One: Steve Lennon 4-1 Zoran Lerchbacher
Singles Two: William O'Connor 0-4 Mensur Suljovic
Doubles: Republic of Ireland 4-0 Austria
Netherlands 2-1 Canada
Singles One: Michael van Gerwen 2-4 Dawson Murschell
Singles Two: Jermaine Wattimena 4-2 Jim Long
Doubles: Netherlands 4-1 Canada
Evening Session
Semi-Finals
Scotland 2-0 Japan
Singles One: Gary Anderson 4-2 Seigo Asada
Singles Two: Peter Wright 4-1 Haruki Muramatsu
Doubles: (Not Needed)
Republic of Ireland 2-1 Netherlands
Singles One: Steve Lennon 3-4 Michael van Gerwen
Singles Two: William O'Connor 4-1 Jermaine Wattimena
Doubles: Republic of Ireland 4-0 Netherlands
Final
Scotland 3-1 Republic of Ireland
Singles One: Gary Anderson 2-4 Steve Lennon
Singles Two: Peter Wright 4-2 William O'Connor
Doubles: Scotland 4-0 Republic of Ireland
Singles Three: Peter Wright 4-1 Steve Lennon
Singles Four: Gary Anderson v William O'Connor (Not Needed)
Format
Quarter-Finals & Semi-Finals
The Second Round, Quarter-Finals & Semi-Finals will be played as two best of seven leg 501 Singles matches, with both nations nominating the order in which their players play. In the event of both nations winning one Singles match apiece, a best of seven leg 501 Doubles match will be played to decide the tie.
Final
The Final will be played as two best of seven leg 501 Singles matches, with both nations nominating the order in which their players play the first two matches, followed by a best of seven leg 501 Doubles match and then Reverse Singles matches. The first team to win three games is declared the winner.
Round-Up
Quarter-Finals
Reigning champions Netherlands overcame a scare against Canada to continue their title defence with a 2-1 win, as they and Scotland were joined in the semi-finals by Japan and the Republic of Ireland.
Dutch duo Michael van Gerwen and Jermaine Wattimena needed a Doubles decider to see off Canada's Dawson Murschell and Jim Long 2-1 in their quarter-final tie in Hamburg.
Van Gerwen suffered his first Singles defeat in the World Cup since 2016 as he went down 4-2 to Dawson Murschell, who capitalised on the World Champion's 20 missed doubles to give Canada the advantage.
Van Gerwen opened the game with a 180 but survived ten misses to claim the opening leg, and landed double ten to move two legs up.
However, Murschell finished 72 to get off the mark and tops in the next two to move 3-2 up, before being given a reprieve for his own misses to return on double five to take a memorable win.
Jermaine Wattimena overcame a scare to send the tie into a Doubles decider, taking a 4-2 win over Jim Long in their Singles contest.
Like Van Gerwen, Wattimena opened up a 2-0 lead - finishing duble 16 and then 100 - only to see missed doubles give his rival a way back into the game.
Long finished tops in leg three and, after Wattimena took the fourth, the Canadian finished 96 with single 20, double 18 and tops to close the gap to 3-2.
Long then missed tops to complete another double-double combination in leg six, and two further misses allowed Wattimena back on double 16 to take the win and set up a decisive Doubles match.
The first two legs of the Doubles game were tied, but Van Gerwen finshed 64 to win a nervy third leg and posted double 16 to move his side 3-1 up before Wattimena posted double 12 to book a semi-final place for his country.
The Netherlands now face the Republic of Ireland in Sunday evening's semi-finals, with the Irish continuing their best-ever World Cup campaign with a 2-1 success against Austria.
Steve Lennon gave Ireland the advantage by defeating Zoran Lerchbacher 4-1 in the opening Singles tie.
The pair shared the opening two legs before Lennon finished 106 in the third to edge back in front and then capitalised on some scrappy finishing from Lerchbacher in the next two to take the win.
Mensur Suljovic then sent the quarter-final into a Doubles decider by whitewashing William O'Connor.
The pair had produced the stand-out individual performances in Saturday's second round, and this time it was Suljovic who was dominant as he restricted O'Connor to just one dart at a double.
The Austrian edged the opener on double one, but then took out 96 to break in leg two, posted a 14-darter and then capitalised on O'Connor's missed double 18 to secure the win with a 13-dart leg.
O'Connor, though, stepped up in style to hit the winning double in all four legs of the Doubles decider as they whitewashed the Austrian pair to claim a semi-final place.
He began by capitalising on a miss at tops from Lerchbacher to take out 62 in the opener, before adding double nine, double ten and double two to move himself and Lennon into the last four.
Japan also won through to their first World Cup semi-final as Seigo Asada and Haruki Muramatsu secured a 2-0 win over New Zealand.
Asada secured the opening Singles tie for Japan by defeating Cody Harris 4-1.
Asada landed a 180 as he broke in the first leg, tops for the second and the scored 140, 140 and 180 as he took the third with a 12-darter.
Harris landed a 174 in reply as he took the fourth following three missed match darts from his rival, but the New Zealander paid for two wired darts at double 18 as Asada sealed victory on double four.
Muramatsu then took a 4-3 win over Haupai Puha to secure his nation's place in the last four - with the Japanese ace having been a quarter-finalist in 2013 and 2018.
Muramatsu came from a leg down to lead 2-1 before Puha punished three misses at tops from his rival to level.
Tops moved Muramatsu 3-2 up, with Puha taking out 76 in two darts to force a decider only to see the Japanese ace be first to a finish as he again landed double top to seal the win.
Two-time finalists Scotland remain on course to challenge for another spot in the final after booking their last four place against Japan with a 2-0 defeat of Belgium.
Gary Anderson secured the opening Singles tie with a 4-2 defeat of Kim Huybrechts.
The Belgian took the opening leg against the throw with a 14-darter, but missed three darts at doubles across the next two legs as Anderson clinically capitalised to move 2-1 up.
Huybrechts levelled again with a 14-darter, but Anderson continued a superb performance with legs of 12 and 13 darts to move Scotland ahead in the tie.
Wright ensured Scotland's passage to the semi-finals by matching that scoreline against Dimitri Van den Bergh.
The pair shared the opening four legs, with Wright firing in an 11-darter in the four to level before breaking with a 76 finish to move 3-2 up.
Van den Bergh fired in five perfect darts to open leg six, but he was unable to stop Wright finishing double 12 to complete victory for Scotland.
Semi-Finals
Scotland booked their place in a third final at the BetVictor World Cup of Darts with a comfortable 2-0 defeat of Japan, who saw their best run in the tournament ended in the semi-finals.
Gary Anderson claimed the opening Singles tie with a 4-2 defeat of Seigo Asada in a high-quality contest where both players averaged over 100.
Anderson stormed into a 3-0 lead, following up a 14-darter with checkouts of 118 and 113, before Asada landed a 180 and took out 127 on the bull to hit back.
A narrow miss at tops for the match from Anderson in leg five allowed Asada to finish 48 and keep his hopes alive, but the Scot clinically landed two 180s and tops in the next to give his country the edge.
Peter Wright then proved too strong for Haruki Muramatsu, finishing four doubles from seven attempts in a 4-1 victory over the Japanese ace.
Muramatsu had finished 61 to win the opening leg, but Wright matched that to level and then punished a miss at tops from the Japanese thrower to break and move ahead, before reeling off the next two to seal a spot in the final.
Steve Lennon and William O'Connor made history as the Republic of Ireland won through to the World Cup of Darts final with an incredible 2-1 win to end the Netherlands' defence of the title.
The Dutch pair of Michael van Gerwen and Jermaine Wattimena had been the favourites as they sought a fifth World Cup win for their nation, and Van Gerwen had set them on the path to victory with a 4-3 win over Lennon in the opening Singles tie.
However, O'Connor was superb in a 4-1 defeat of Wattimena before the pair produced a sensational 4-0 whitewash win in the Doubles decider.
Van Gerwen withstood a strong fightback from Steve Lennon to take the opening Singles tie.
Van Gerwen opened the game with a 136 finish and moved into a 3-1 lead, only to see Lennon hit back to force a deciding seventh leg, in which a 180 moved the World Champion clear and tops for a 13-darter finally secured victory.
William O'Connor took the semi-final into a Doubles decider with a 4-1 defeat of Jermaine Wattimena in the second Singles match of the tie.
O'Connor took the opening three legs without reply, including a 13-darter in the third, before Wattimena finished 64 to hit back, but double two sealed victory for the Irish ace.
They maintained that momentum in the Doubles decider, with O'Connor's 174 setting up Lennon for a brilliant 131 checkout in the opening leg.
Double 18 moved Ireland two legs up before Lennon then fired in a 128 finish to open up a 3-0 lead, with the youngster landing a 180 before O'Connor's tops secured a huge result for Ireland.
Final
Steve Lennon gave Ireland the lead in the final with a 4-2 defeat of Gary Anderson in the opening Singles tie.
Lennon landed a pair of double ten finishes to win the first two legs, before Anderson hit back in style with successive 12-darters which were both completed with 85 checkouts.
However, tops saw Lennon break to move 3-2 up before he took out 110 to claim the lead in the contest.
Peter Wright levelled the final with a 4-2 win over William O'Connor in their Singles match,reeling off three straight legs from 2-1 down.
Wright finished 91 to capitalise on O'Connor's missed bull in the opener, before the Irish star took out double 16 and a 13-darter to move ahead.
A 14-darter for Wright levelled before he punished two misses from his opponent to land tops and move 3-2 up with a break of throw, before double ten to level matters in the final.
Scotland then claimed a 4-0 whitewash win in the Doubles to move 2-1 up overall, with Wright landing the winning double in three of the four legs.
The colourful star took the opener with a third-dart tops and then took out 96 and 92 before Anderson completed the win by finishing 76.
Wright then sealed glory for Scotland in the fourth game of the final, defeating Lennon 4-1 to scoop the £70,000 top prize and seal a place as only the third nation to claim the title.
He finished 82 and tops to lead 2-0 before Lennon landed a pressure double top to respond in leg three.
Wright, though, finished 86 as he moved Scotland to the brink of the title, before landing double top as he made his nation the World Cup winners.