2016 PDC World Cup of Darts Preview
The PDC World Cup of Darts starts on Thursday evening from the Eissporthalle in Frankfurt, 32 nations will be contesting the tournament and as usual they are comprised of teams of 2 players per nation.
This is the sixth time the competition has been held since its debut year back in 2010. Here are the semi-finalists from the five previous tournaments.
2010
Semi-finals
Netherlands (2) bt Spain
Wales (5) bt Australia (3)
Final
Netherlands (2) bt Wales (5)
2012
Semi-finals
England (1) bt Wales (5)
Australia (2) bt Netherlands (3)
Final
England (1) bt Australia (2)
2013
Semi-finals
England (1) bt Wales (5)
Belgium bt Finland
Final
England (1) bt Belgium
2014
Semi-finals
England (1) bt Australia (4)
Netherlands (2) bt Northern Ireland (6)
Final
Netherlands (2) bt England (1)
2015
Semi-finals
England (1) bt Belgium (5)
Scotland (2) bt Netherlands (3)
Final
England (1) bt Scotland (2)
From these stats we can see that:
- No team seeded outside the top 2 has won the World Cup.
- Seeds 1 and 2 have contested the final in 3 of the 5 previous World Cup tournaments.
- One team seeded outside the top 8 has made it through to the final (Belgium 2013).
- There has yet to be a World Cup where all the top 4 seeds all made it through to the semi-finals.
- Three teams from outside the top 8 seeds have made it through to the semi-finals.
The 2015 winners England (photo: Lawrence Lustig, PDC)
Here is the list of players and nations who are competing in the tournament this year.
Seeded Nations
1 – England – Phil Taylor & Adrian Lewis
2 – Scotland – Gary Anderson & Robert Thornton
3 – Netherlands – Michael van Gerwen & Raymond van Barneveld
4 – Northern Ireland – Brendan Dolan & Daryl Gurney
5 – Wales – Mark Webster & Gerwyn Price
6 – Australia – Simon Whitlock & Kyle Anderson
7 – Belgium – Kim Huybrechts & Ronny Huybrechts
8 – Austria – Mensur Suljovic & Rowby-John Rodriguez
Unseeded Nations
Canada – John Part & Ken MacNeil
China – Yuanjun Liu & Wenge Xie
Czech Republic – Michal Kocik & Pavel Drtil
Denmark – Per Laursen & Daniel Jensen
Finland – Kim Viljanen & Marko Kantele
Germany – Max Hopp & Jyhan Artut
Gibraltar – Dyson Parody & Manuel Vilerio
Greece – John Michael & Ioannis Selachoglou
Hong Kong – Ting Chi Royden Lam & Scott MacKenzie
Hungary – Nandor Bezzeg & Patrik Kovacs
Italy – Daniele Petri & Michel Furlanis
Japan – Keita Ono & Haruki Muramatsu
New Zealand – Warren Parry & Cody Harris
Norway – Robert Wagner & Cor Dekker
Philippines – Gilbert Ulang & Alex Tagarao
Poland – Krzysztof Ratajski & Mariusz Paul
Republic of Ireland – William O’Connor & Mick McGowan
Russia – Aleksandr Oreshkin & Boris Koltsov
Singapore – Paul Lim & Harith Lim
South Africa – Devon Petersen & Graham Filby
Spain – Cristo Reyes & Antonio Alcinas
Sweden – Magnus Caris & Daniel Larsson
Thailand – Thanawat Gaweenuntawong & Attapol Eupakaree
USA – Darin Young & Larry Butler
A look at the draw for this year’s tournament – I’ve split it into quarters.
England (1) Spain
Czech Republic v China
Austria (8) v Italy
South Africa v Singapore
Wales (5) v Finland
Greece v Canada
Northern Ireland (4) v Japan
Republic of Ireland v Hong Kong
Scotland (2) v New Zealand
Norway v Gibraltar
Belgium (7) v Poland
Hungary v Thailand
Australia (6) v Germany
Denmark v Sweden
Netherlands (3) v Russia
USA v Philippines
Now a brief summary of the 8 seeded nations and 4 interesting outsiders.
First the 8 Seeded Nations
1 – England – Phil Taylor & Adrian Lewis
England are the defending champions, Taylor and Lewis have paired up for the last 4 World Cup tournaments and have won 3 of them, their only defeat coming against the Netherlands in the 2014 final. In doubles matches they have won 13 of the 14 they have played.
2 – Scotland – Gary Anderson & Robert Thornton
Scotland made it past the quarter-finals for the first time last year and went all the way to the final defeating defending champions Netherlands in the semi-finals. This year Thornton comes in for Wright to partner Anderson. The last time Anderson and Thornton paired up in 2013 they lost in the Last 16 to Spain.
3 – Netherlands – Michael van Gerwen & Raymond van Barneveld
Netherlands are two time World Cup winners (2010 and 2014) with van Barneveld on the winning team in both of those tournaments. Michael van Gerwen and van Barneveld have paired up in 3 World Cup tournaments; the 2014 win is the only time from the 3 tournaments that they made the final.
4 – Northern Ireland – Brendan Dolan & Daryl Gurney
Northern Ireland’s best run at a World Cup was a semi-final appearance in 2014 when they were beaten by eventual champions van Gerwen and van Barneveld who also defeated them in the quarter-finals last year. This will be the first time Daryl Gurney and Brendan Dolan have partnered each other at the World Cup, with Dolan partnering Mansell for the last 4 tournaments. Gurney has broken into the top 32 with some strong performances on tour so arguably the strongest team they have had.
5 – Wales – Mark Webster & Gerwyn Price
Wales have a good World Cup pedigree having reached the very first final in 2010 and then the semi-finals in the next two tournaments; they lost in the first round for the first time last year when they were defeated by Hong Kong. Mark Webster has been a constant in the side playing in every World Cup so far, this year will be the first year he has partnered Gerwyn Price. The inform Price has won 2 ranking tournaments this season and is now established in the top 32.
6 – Australia – Simon Whitlock & Kyle Anderson
Australia came close to winning the title in 2012, but were pipped in a deciding leg by England. They have reached the semi-finals on two other occasions and have only once failed to get to the Last 8 (that was in 2013 when they lost to runners-up Belgium in the Last 16). This year is the first time the team has changed with Kyle Anderson replacing Paul Nicholson. Anderson has made a great impact on tour and is rising up the rankings towards the top 32.
7 – Belgium – Kim Huybrechts & Ronny Huybrechts
Belgium were runners-up in 2013 and reached the semi-finals last year (both times they were beaten by England), in 2014 they lost to the Netherlands in the quarter-finals meaning that they have lost to the eventual champions in each of the 3 years that the Huybrechts brothers have paired up.
8 – Austria – Mensur Suljovic & Rowby-John Rodriguez
Austria’s best run in a World Cup came back in 2010 when they reached the Last 8 (which was played as 2 groups of 4). Suljovic has played in every World Cup tournament so far. Rodriguez and Suljovic have paired up over the last 2 tournaments and they haven’t failed to get past the opening round, they haven’t lost a doubles match together (their defeats in the Last 16 were decided in the singles matches).
Four Interesting Non Seeds (I’m not saying they are potential winners)
Germany – Max Hopp & Jyhan Artut
Home favourites Germany have twice reached the Last 8 of the tournament, this is only the 2nd year that Hopp and Artut have paired up, last year they beat India 5-0 in the first round, before defeating Austria in the second round their run was ended against England in the quarters. Between them they have played 6 singles matches at the World Cup and won 4 of them. The draw hasn’t been kind to them this year with a tough first round tie against Australia.
Hong Kong – Royden Lam & Scott MacKenzie
Hong Kong are competing in their 3rd World Cup and have made it past the first round on both previous occasions. Last year they reached the last 8, losing to runners-up Scotland, in 2014 they lost to Australia in the Last 16. Lam and MacKenzie have played 4 doubles matches together and have won 3 of these including wins against Wales and the Republic of Ireland.
South Africa – Devon Petersen & Graham Filby
South Africa are 2 time quarter-finalists at the World Cup (2012 & 2014) and have never failed to make it past the first round in 4 attempts. Petersen and Filby have played 3 doubles matches and have won all 3 and in total Petersen has won 5 of his 6 doubles matches at the World Cup.
Spain – Cristo Reyes & Antonio Alcinas
Spain famously upset England and Scotland in the 2010 World Cup on their way to the semi-finals where they were eventually beaten by the Netherlands. They also defeated Scotland in 2013 when they reached the quarter-finals. Only once have they failed to get past the first round (this was in 2012). Last year was the first year that Alcinas and Reyes paired up, they won their first round match against Norway 5-0 before losing to Belgium in the Last 16. Spain face a tough ask to get through the first round this year as they have been drawn against reigning champions England.
3dartanalyst.wordpress.com 