World Cup of Darts: Everything you need to know about the annual team event in Frankfurt | Darts News

Simon Whitlock and Damon Heta will likely be defending their World Cup of Darts title

The World Cup of Darts takes place on the Eissporthalle from June 15-18 – reside on Sky Sports activities. Here is what you’ll want to know forward of the expanded event underneath an thrilling new format.

Who’re the reigning champions?

Represented by Damon Heta and Simon Whitlock – Australia received their maiden World Cup of Darts title after stunning England and Wales en path to glory in Frankfurt final 12 months.

Heta and Whitlock produced a sensational doubles show to dump out five-time semi-finalists Belgium earlier than defeating four-time winners and prime seeds England within the semi-finals.

The inexperienced and gold then claimed the title due to a 3-1 victory over Welsh duo Gerwyn Worth and Jonny Clayton within the ultimate.

Who’re this 12 months’s favourites?

Take your choose! The highest 4 ranked nations – based mostly on the bottom cumulative PDC Order of Advantage rating of the 2 competing gamers – are seeded and can enter on the second spherical stage.

4-time winners England and Netherlands will start their marketing campaign within the final 16, alongside 2020 winners Wales and two-time champions Scotland.

Which nation has the most effective pairings?

World Champion Michael Smith and Rob Cross will star for prime seeds England, with three-time World Cup winner Michael van Gerwen and Danny Noppert set to fly the flag for Netherlands.

Gerwyn Worth and Jonny Clayton will bid to repeat their 2020 exploits as they signify Wales for a sixth straight 12 months, whereas Gary Anderson returns to accomplice Peter Wright for fourth seeds Scotland.

What makes the World Cup of Darts so thrilling?

Let’s return to 2012 when the duel between England and Australia was determined through a last-leg shoot-out. Phil Taylor and Adrian Lewis appeared to have the title within the bag however Paul Nicholson and Simon Whitlock had different concepts.

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We mirror on a dramatic PDC World Cup of Darts ultimate between England and Australia in 2012.

What is the format?

With the highest 4 ranked nations getting into on the second spherical stage, the remaining 36 groups have been break up into 12 teams of three for the round-robin first spherical – together with 12 seeded nations – from which every group winner will progress.

Following the completion of the round-robin part, the draw for the final 16 will happen on Friday night, as England, Netherlands, Wales and Scotland put together to enter the fray in Frankfurt on Saturday.

The highest 4 seeded nations will likely be pre-allocated into the draw bracket, with the 12 group winners to be drawn at random.

The second spherical will happen throughout a double session on Saturday, adopted by the quarter-finals, semi-finals and ultimate on a bumper Finals Day in Frankfurt.

Group Stage Draw

Seeded via to Second Spherical
(1) England
(2) Netherlands
(3) Wales
(4) Scotland

Group A
(5) Belgium
Finland
China

Group B
(6) Germany
Hong Kong
Japan

Group C
(7) Australia
Guyana
Gibraltar

Group D
(8) Northern Eire
France
Ukraine

Group E
(9) Republic of Eire
Thailand
Croatia

Group F
(10) Austria
Denmark
USA

Group G
(11) Poland
Portugal
Lithuania

Group H
(12) Canada
India
Hungary

Group I
(13) Czech Republic
Singapore
Philippines

Group J
(14) Spain
South Africa
Iceland

Group Okay
(15) Latvia
New Zealand
Bahrain

Group L
(16) Switzerland
Italy
Sweden

Session Schedule

Thursday June 15 (7pm native time, 6pm BST)
Group Stage – First Matches x12
Staff 1 v Staff 2 from every group – match order TBC
Belgium v Finland
Germany v Hong Kong
Australia v Guyana
Northern Eire v France
Republic of Eire v Thailand
Austria v Denmark
Poland v Portugal
Canada v India
Czech Republic v Singapore
Spain v South Africa
Latvia v New Zealand
Switzerland v Italy

Friday June 16
Afternoon Session 11am (BST)
Group Stage – Second Matches x12
Loser First Match v Staff 3

Night Session (6pm)
Group Stage – Remaining Matches x12
Winner First Match v Staff 3

Saturday June 17
Afternoon Session (12pm)
Second Spherical x4

Night Session (6pm)
Second Spherical x4

Sunday June 18
Afternoon Session (12pm)
Quarter-Finals

Night Session (6pm)
Semi-Finals
Remaining

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 – Michael van Gerwen, Danny Noppert
New Zealand – Ben Robb, Warren Parry
Northern Eire – Brendan Dolan, Daryl Gurney
Philippines – Christian Perez, Lourence Ilagan
Poland – Krzysztof Ratajski, Krzysztof Kciuk
Portugal – Jose de Sousa, Luis Ameixa
Republic of Eire – 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 Worth, Jonny Clayton

Watch the World Cup of Darts on Sky Sports activities

Thursday June 15
6pm: Group Stage (Sky Sports activities Motion)

Friday June 16
11am: Group Stage (Sky Sports activities Enviornment)
6pm: Group Stage (Sky Sports activities Enviornment)

Saturday June 17
12pm: Second spherical (Sky Sports activities Motion)
6pm: Second spherical (Sky Sports activities Motion)

Sunday June 18
12pm: Quarter-finals (Sky Sports activities Motion)
6pm: Semi-finals and ultimate (Sky Sports activities Motion)

The annual World Cup of Darts will likely be broadcast on Sky Sports activities and you’ll catch all of the motion from June 15-18.