Teams, fixtures and schedule after all 40 nations competing in the World Cup of Darts confirmed their pairings ahead of the annual tournament later this month; Darts is back on Sky Sports from June 27 with the World Cup in Frankfurt
Image: Jonny Clayton and Gerwyn Price are reigning World Cup of Darts champions
All you need to know ahead of the World Cup of Darts at the Eissporthalle in Frankfurt with Luke Humphries, Michael Smith and Gerwyn Price all playing – but no Luke Littler.
Wales’ Gerwyn Price and Jonny Clayton are the defending champions and they will be determined to fend off 39 other nations to retain their title.
Top seeds and four-time champions England will be represented by world champion Luke Humphries – making his World Cup debut – and Michael Smith, but Luke Littler will not feature because the two highest-ranked English players in the PDC Order of Merit are picked.
‘The Nuke’ is currently 25th in the Order of Merit.
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All the best of the action from last year’s World Cup of Darts finals night in Frankfurt
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Michael van Gerwen and Danny Noppert will line up for four-time winners and third seeds Netherlands, while Peter Wright and Gary Anderson will fly the flag for two-time champions and fourth seeds Scotland.
Damon Heta and Simon Whitlock will continue their partnership which saw them claim glory for Australia in 2022, while former runners-up Belgium, Republic of Ireland and Austria are also among the teams seeded 5-16.
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Speaking on Love The Darts, Paul Lim talked about the feeling of representing your country ahead of last year’s tournament
Paul Lim, at the age of 70, and Harith Lim will compete on behalf of Singapore having qualified for the country’s 10th tournament.
Since their World Cup debut in 2014, Singapore have built for themselves a reputation as giant-killers.
The duo, who are unrelated, surprised third seeds Wales in 2019 and top seeds Scotland in 2017, which was also when they went on to record their best finish by reaching the quarter-finals.
Who is Paul Lim?
The 70-year-old is a legend of this sport
In 1990, he hit the first nine-dart finish in a World Championship, and pocketed £52,000, more than double what a certain Phil Taylor took home for winning the whole event
With all pairings now confirmed, the draw for the Group Stage will be made on Wednesday.
The revamped format successfully introduced last year will return in 2024, with group and knockout stages of all Doubles matches across four days of action.
The top four ranked nations, based on the lowest cumulative PDC Order of Merit ranking of the two competing players, will be seeded and will enter at the second-round stage.
The remaining 36 teams will be split into 12 groups of three for the round-robin first round – including 12 seeded nations – from which each group winner will progress.
The second round, featuring the last 16 nations, will be split across two sessions on Saturday June 29 before the quarter-finals take place on Sunday afternoon, with the tournament culminating in the semi-finals and final on Sunday evening – with the eventual champions to earn a combined £80,000 in prize money.
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Josh Rock told Sky Sports’ Love the Darts Podcast that representing Northern Ireland alongside Brendan Dolan in the World Cup is a ‘massive achievement’
Competing Nations & Pairings
Seeds 1-4 – Through to Round Two
(1) England – Luke Humphries, Michael Smith
(2) Wales – Gerwyn Price, Jonny Clayton
(3) Netherlands – Michael van Gerwen, Danny Noppert
(4) Scotland – Peter Wright, Gary Anderson
Seeds 5-16 – Seeded for Group Stage
(5) Belgium – Dimitri Van den Bergh, Kim Huybrechts
(6) Northern Ireland – Josh Rock, Brendan Dolan
(7) Germany – Martin Schindler, Gabriel Clemens
(8) Australia – Damon Heta, Simon Whitlock
(9) Republic of Ireland – William O’Connor, Keane Barry
(10) Austria – Rowby-John Rodriguez, Mensur Suljovic
(11) Poland – Krzysztof Ratajski, Radek Szaganski
(12) Czechia – Adam Gawlas, Karel Sedlacek
(13) Croatia – Boris Krcmar, Romeo Grvabac
(14) France – Jacques Labre, Thibault Tricole
(15) Sweden – Jeffrey de Graaf, Oskar Lukasiak
(16) USA – Danny Lauby, Jules van Dongen
Non-Seeded Nations
Bahrain – Basem Mahmood, Duda Durra
Canada – Matt Campbell, David Cameron
China – Xiaochen Zong, Chengan Liu
Chinese Taipei – Teng-Lieh Pupo, An-Sheng Lu
Denmark – Benjamin Reus, Claus Bendix Nielsen
Finland – Marko Kantele, Teemu Harju
Gibraltar – Justin Hewitt, Craig Galliano
Guyana – Norman Madhoo, Sudesh Fitzgerald
Hong Kong – Lok Yin Lee, Man Lok Leung
Hungary – Gabor Jagica, Nandor Major
Iceland – Arngrimur Olafsson, Petur Gudmundsson
Italy – Michele Turetta, Massimo Dalla Rosa
Japan – Tomoya Goto, Ryusei Azemoto
Latvia – Madars Razma, Valters Melderis
Lithuania – Darius Labanauskas, Mindaugas Barauskas
Malaysia – Siik Hwang Wong, Mohamad Nasir
New Zealand – Haupai Puha, Ben Robb
Norway – Cor Dekker, Hakon Bjorge Helling
Philippines – Christian Perez, Alexis Toylo
Portugal – Jose de Sousa, David Gomes
Singapore – Paul Lim, Harith Lim
South Africa – Johan Geldenhuys, Cameron Carolissen
Spain – Jose Justicia, Jesus Noguera
Switzerland – Stefan Bellmont, Bruno Stockli
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Schedule of Play
Thursday, June 27 (6pm BST)
Group Stage – Opening Matches
Friday, June 28
Afternoon Session (11am BST)
Group Stage – Second Matches
Evening Session (6pm BST)
Group Stage – Final Matches
Saturday, June 29
Afternoon Session (12pm BST)
Second Round x4
Evening Session (6pm BST)
Second Round x4
Sunday, June 30
Afternoon Session (12pm BST)
Quarter-Finals
Evening Session (6pm BST)
Semi-Finals
Final
What is the 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 matches will be played in a doubles format
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