2018 Betway World Cup of Darts Preview

BetVictor World Cup of Darts

THE 2018 Betway World Cup of Darts begins on Thursday at the Eissporthalle in Frankfurt.

Dutch Visit Boosts Van Gerwen

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MICHAEL VAN GERWEN has prepared for his Betway World Cup of Darts title defence by playing darts with the Dutch football team.

2018 Betway World Cup Schedule

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THE schedule of play for the 2018 Betway World Cup of Darts has been confirmed.

Betway World Cup of Darts Draw

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THE NETHERLANDS will begin their defence of the Betway World Cup of Darts title against Gibraltar in Frankfurt.

2018 Betway World Cup Teams Confirmed

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SCOTLAND will be the number one seeds for the 2018 Betway World Cup of Darts following the confirmation of the 32 teams.

New Faces Set To Star In Betway World Cup

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A NUMBER of new faces are set to compete in the 2018 Betway World Cup of Darts.

Zhou Heads List of World Cup Qualifiers

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MOMO ZHOU will become the first woman to represent China at the 2018 Betway World Cup of Darts.

Price Stronger For Premier League Experience

BetMGM Premier League

GERWYN PRICE looks back on a mixed start to 2018 following his Unibet Premier League elimination.

2018 Betway World Cup Nations

BetVictor World Cup of Darts

THE 32 competing nations for the 2018 Betway World Cup of Darts have been confirmed ahead of the eighth staging of the tournament.

Quartet Confirm Betway World Cup Teams

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THE Brazil, Finland, Sweden and Denmark teams for the 2018 Betway World Cup of Darts have been confirmed.

2023 My Diesel Claim World Cup of Darts
Eissporthalle, Frankfurt

Thursday June 15 (1900 local time, 1800 BST)
Group Stage – First Matches x12
Team 1 v Team 2 from each group
Italy 4-3 Switzerland (L)
Poland 4-3 Portugal (G)
Czech Republic 4-2 Singapore (I)
South Africa 4-2 Spain (J)
Republic of Ireland 4-1 Thailand (E)
France 4-1 Northern Ireland (D)
Belgium 4-0 Finland (A)
Canada 4-2 India (H)
Denmark 4-2 Austria (F)
Germany 4-0 Hong Kong (B)
Australia 4-0 Guyana (C)
Latvia 4-2 New Zealand (K)

Friday June 16
Afternoon Session (1200 local time, 1100 BST)
Group Stage – Second Matches x12
Loser First Match v Team 3

Finland 4-0 China (A)
Philippines 4-1 Singapore (I)
Sweden 4-1 Switzerland (L)
Lithuania 4-1 Portugal (G)
New Zealand 4-1 Bahrain (K)
Spain 4-2 Iceland (J)
Croatia 4-3 Thailand (E)
Northern Ireland 4-0 Ukraine (D)
Hungary 4-0 India (H)
Japan 4-3 Hong Kong (B)
Gibraltar 4-1 Guyana (C)
Austria 4-2 USA (F)

Evening Session
Group Stage – Final Matches x12
Winner First Match v Team 3

Belgium 4-3 China (A)
Philippines 4-1 Czech Republic (I)
Sweden 4-3 Italy (L)
Poland 4-1 Lithuania (G)
Latvia 4-2 Bahrain (K)
South Africa 4-2 Iceland (J)
Croatia 4-1 Republic of Ireland (E)
France 4-0 Ukraine (D)
Canada 4-1 Hungary (H)
Germany 4-0 Japan (B)
Australia v Gibraltar (C)
USA 4-3 Denmark (F)

Saturday June 17
Afternoon Session (1300 local time, 1200 BST)

Second Round x4
France 8-4 South Africa
Sweden 8-5 Canada
Australia 8-6 Croatia
Scotland 8-5 Philippines

Evening Session (1900 local time, 1800 BST)
Second Round x4

Wales 8-2 Denmark
England 8-4 Latvia
Belgium 8-7 Netherlands
Germany 8-6 Poland

Sunday June 18
Afternoon Session (1300 local time, 1200 BST)

Quarter-Finals
Wales 8-5 Sweden
Belgium 8-7 Australia
Scotland 8-0 France
Germany 8-3 England

Evening Session (1900 local time, 1800 BST)
Semi-Finals
Wales 8-7 Belgium
Scotland 8-5 Germany

Final
Wales 10-2 Scotland

Format
Group Stage - Best of seven legs
Second Round - Best of 15 legs
Quarter-Finals - Best of 15 legs
Semi-Finals - Best of 15 legs
Final - Best of 19 legs

All games will be played in a Doubles format.

Draw Bracket – Second Round onwards
(1) England v Latvia
Poland v Germany
(4) Scotland v Philippines
France v South Africa
(2) Wales v Denmark
Sweden v Canada
(3) Netherlands v Belgium
Australia v Croatia

Competing Nations & Pairings
Australia - 
Damon Heta, Simon Whitlock
Austria - Mensur Suljovic, Rowby-John Rodriguez
Bahrain - Basem Mahmood, Abdulnasser Yusuf
Belgium - Dimitri Van den Bergh, Kim Huybrechts
Canada - Matt Campbell, Jeff Smith
China - Xiaochen Zong, Lihao Wen
Croatia - Boris Krcmar, Romeo Grbavac
Czech Republic - Adam Gawlas, Karel Sedlacek
Denmark - Vladimir Andersen, Benjamin Reus
England - Michael Smith, Rob Cross
Finland - Marko Kantele, Paavo Myller
France - Thibault Tricole, Jacques Labre
Germany - Gabriel Clemens, Martin Schindler
Gibraltar - Craig Galliano, Justin Hewitt
Guyana - Norman Madhoo, Sudesh Fitzgerald
Hong Kong Man Lok Leung, Lok Yin Lee
Hungary - Patrik Kovács, Levente Sárai
Iceland - Hallgrimur Egilsson, Vitor Charrua
India - Prakash Jiwa, Amit Gilitwala
Italy - Michele Turetta, Massimo Dante
Japan - Jun Matsuda, Tomoya Goto
Latvia - Madars Razma, Dmitriy Zhukov
Lithuania - Darius Labanauskas, Mindaugas Barauskas
Netherlands - Danny Noppert, Dirk van Duijvenbode
New Zealand - Ben Robb, Warren Parry
Northern Ireland - Brendan Dolan, Daryl Gurney
Philippines - Christian Perez, Lourence Ilagan
Poland - Krzysztof Ratajski, Krzysztof Kciuk
Portugal - Jose de Sousa, Luis Ameixa
Republic of Ireland - William O'Connor, Keane Barry
Scotland - Peter Wright, Gary Anderson
Singapore - Paul Lim, Harith Lim
South Africa - Devon Petersen, Vernon Bouwers
Spain - Jose Justicia, Tony Martinez
Sweden - Dennis Nilsson, Oskar Lukasiak
Switzerland - Stefan Bellmont, Marcel Walpen
Thailand - Attapol Eupakaree, Yong Gaweenuntavong
Ukraine - Vladyslav Omelchenko, Illia Pekaruk
USA - Jules van Dongen, Leonard Gates
Wales - Gerwyn Price, Jonny Clayton

Prize Fund (Per Team)
Winners - £80,000
Runners-Up - £50,000
Semi-Final Losers - £30,000
Quarter-Final Losers - £20,000
Last 16 Losers - £9,000
Second in Group - £5,000
Third in Group - £4,000
Total - £450,000

Wales' Gerwyn Price and Jonny Clayton celebrated glory for the second time in four years with victory over Scotland in the My Diesel Claim World Cup of Darts in Frankfurt on Sunday.

An exciting weekend in the revamped World Cup saw the 2020 champions repeat their success - and having previously tasted success in a behind-closed-doors event this time joyously lifted the trophy in front of an enthusiastic German crowd.

Whilst the Eissporthalle was unable to celebrate a home victory when hosts Germany were knocked out by Scotland in the semi-finals, they had enjoyed another thrilling day as the all-Pairs tournament concluded.

Belgium's battling run continued as they followed up Saturday's epic 8-7 win over the Netherlands by ending Australia's title defence in another deciding leg at the quarter-final stage.

They then succumbed in the same manner to Wales in the semis, as Clayton took out 100 to seal his country's place in a fifth World Cup final after Belgium came from 6-3 down to level and force a decider.

Wales had also had to hit back in their quarter-final as Sweden's Dennis Nilsson and Oskar Lukasiak opened up an early 3-1 lead and also came from 5-3 down to level before a five-leg burst kept Price and Clayton's title hopes alive.

In the final, the Welsh duo proved too strong for Scotland's Peter Wright and Gary Anderson, who rekindled the partnership which won the 2019 event only to fall just short of repeating that triumph this time around.

Price and Clayton share an £80,000 prize after reclaiming the title, having opened up leads of 3-0 and 8-1 early in the final before holding on to their advantage.

Price landed a 177 score in the final's opening leg and then posted a 180 in a 14-darter as Wales broke, before double ten gave them a three-leg cushion.

Wright hit back with a 93 checkout to get Scotland off the mark, but a missed double 18 for a 147 finish in the next allowed Clayton in to finish 67 in two darts to restore Wales' lead.

Price took out 105, and then the Welsh duo both finished 116 - either side of a 96 checkout from Anderson - to move Wales 9-2 ahead before double eight from Clayton secured glory for his nation.

"It's absolutely fantastic - what a feeling," said an elated Clayton. "We got off to a quick start and kept the lead. I don't think Gary and Peter played their best but we did our job and kept the lead.

"The belief in each other, the confidence in each other, works and when they go, they go pretty - tonight was a good night.

"Gerwyn is my best buddy on tour and he's an amazing skipper."

Price, who also reached the 2017 final alongside Mark Webster and was a runner-up with Clayton last year, said: "It's a brilliant win.

"It's a little bit flattering to win by that margin but we're thrilled to win. I think I struggled a little bit in that game and Jonny won it for us tonight - he was fantastic, he was clinical.

"Gary hates him but I love him! I've carried him a few years, but he carried me tonight - what a player."

Scotland's Wright and Anderson whitewashed France in their quarter-final on Sunday afternoon, before coming 2-0 and 3-2 down to defeat Germany's Gabriel Clemens and Martin Schindler 8-5 in the semis.

The German duo missed five darts at doubles to level in leg 12, allowing Wright in to finish a key 109 checkout as Scotland edged into their fifth World Cup final.

"The Welsh were the favourites for the tournament and they played fantastic in the final," reflected Wright. "It's been a really good tournament with Pairs all the way through.

"It's amazing playing with Gary, maybe old age caught up with us."

Anderson added: "The Welsh have got a cracking team, they were spot on.

"You've got Gerwyn and what he's done in darts over the last few years - it's bad enough playing against Gezzy, but then you've got Jonny banging them in.

"We aren't getting any younger but we're still trying. We got to the final and any more's a bonus."

Germany won through to the semi-finals for the second time as Clemens and Schindler overcame England's Michael Smith and Rob Cross 8-3 in their last eight clash.

Sweden and France posted their best-ever runs in the World Cup as they came through the group stage and then enjoyed second round wins in Frankfurt.

Drawboard