Bwin World Cup of Darts Draw Made

NETHERLANDS duo Michael van Gerwen and Raymond van Barneveld will begin their defence of the Bwin World Cup of Darts title against the United States of America in next month's 32-nation event in Frankfurt.

The £250,000 tournament will be held at the Eissporthalle in Frankfurt from June 11-14, with live coverage on Sky Sports being broadcast worldwide as the 32 pair do battle across four days.

Reigning champions Netherlands, who were crowned as the champions for the second time in four years when they won the 2014 tournament, will begin their bid to complete a title hat-trick against America.

The tie will pit world number one van Gerwen and five-time World Champion van Barneveld up against the experienced American pairing of left-hander Darin Young and former World Matchplay winner Larry Butler.

England, the number one seeds, will be represented for a fourth successive year by Phil Taylor and Adrian Lewis and have drawn Denmark in the first round, putting them up against Per Laursen and Per Skau.

Number two seeds Scotland, represented by World Champion Gary Anderson and world number five Peter Wright, are up against Singapore's Paul Lim and Harith Lim in the first round.

Australia's Simon Whitlock and Paul Nicholson, the fourth seeds, play Russian debutants Boris Koltsov and Aleksei Kadochnikov, while Belgian brothers Kim and Ronny Huybrechts - like Australia former finalists - open up against Philippines pair Lourence Ilagan and Gilbert Ulang.

Northern Irish duo Brendan Dolan and Mickey Mansell, who reached the semi-finals 12 months ago, will begin this year's event against Thailand's Thanawat Gaweenuntawong and Attapol Eupakaree.

Wales, who are represented by former finalist Mark Webster and World Cup debutant Jamie Lewis, will play Hong Kong's Scott Mackenzie and Ting Chi Royden Lam in the first round.

Austria's Mensur Suljovic and Rowby-John Rodriguez, the number eight seeds, take on Czech Republic duo Michal Kocik and Pavel Jirkal ahead of a potential second round tie with hosts Germany, whose pairing of Jyhan Artut and Max Hopp take on India's Ashfaque Sayed and Nitin Kumar, who won a qualifying event to represent their country.

The Republic of Ireland pairing of Connie Finnan and William O'Connor open up against Poland's Tytus Kanik and Mariusz Paul, while Canadian duo John Part and Ken MacNeil face New Zealand's Rob Szabo and Warren Parry.

Newcomer Cristo Reyes - who reached the last 16 of the World Championship on his debut in December and has hit two nine-dart finishes on the PDC circuit this year - partners Antonio Alcinas in the Spanish team for the event, and they will take on Norway's Robert Wagner and Vegar Elvevoll in the first round.

Gibraltar, the number 13 seeds, will be represented by qualifiers Dyson Parody and Manuel Vilerio as they face returning Italian pair Daniele Petri and Marco Brentagani.

South Africa's flamboyant Devon Petersen and Graham Filby take on Finland's Kim Viljanen and Marko Kantele in round one, with Sweden's Magnus Caris and Daniel Larsson taking on Hungary's Nandor Bezzeg and Gabor Takacs.

The other first round tie sees Japan's Haruki Muramatsu and Morihiro Hashimoto taking on China's Jun Chen and Xuejie Huang.

The first round will be split across Thursday June 11 and Friday June 12, with the second round played across two sessions on Saturday June 13, before Sunday's Finals Day sees the quarter-finals in the afternoon session and the semi-finals and final in the evening session.

The tournament's schedule of play will be announced in due course.

Bwin World Cup of Darts
First Round Draw & Tournament Draw Bracket
England (1) v Denmark
Japan (16) v China
Austria (8) v Czech Republic
Germany (9) v India
Belgium (5) v Philippines
Spain (12) v Norway
Australia (4) v Russia
Gibraltar (13) v Italy
Scotland (2) v Singapore
Sweden (15) v Hungary
Wales (7) v Hong Kong
Republic of Ireland (10) v Poland
Northern Ireland (6) v Thailand
Canada (11) v New Zealand
Netherlands (3) v United States of America
South Africa (14) v Finland

Watch the full Bwin World Cup of Darts first round draw below:



Teams

NB: Teams are seeded based on the cumulative Main Order of Merit ranking of their two representatives (South Africa and Sweden are seeded based on their one ranked players' position), with Japan taking the 16th seed on account of Haruki Muramatsu's status as a Tour Card Holder.

The cut-off date for the event was following the Players Championship weekend in Crawley, unless dedicated qualifying tournaments were arranged separately (as in the case of the Scandinavian nations).

Bwin World Cup of Darts
Session Times
Thursday June 11 (8pm local time)
First Round x8

Friday June 12 (8pm local time)
First Round x8

Saturday June 13
Afternoon Session (2pm local time)
Second Round x4

Evening Session (8.30pm local time)
Second Round x4

Sunday June 14
Afternoon Session (2pm local time)
Quarter-Finals

Evening Session (8pm  local time)
Semi-Finals
Final

Prize Fund
Winners: £25,000 each
Runners-Up: £13,000 each
Semi-Finalists: £7,500 each
Quarter-Finalists: £5,000 each
Last 16 Losers: £3,500 each
Last 32 Losers: £1,500 each
Total: £250,000