National pride is at stake in the darting world this weekend as the leading 32 countries across the globe battle it out for the World Cup of Darts out in Germany. This competition is seeing its importance increase by the year so we should be in for a decent event.
The Netherlands will defend the title this weekend but they have a new duo trying to retain the title. A number of the other countries look a great deal stronger than in previous runnings of this event so we should be in for a dramatic weekend.
Recent Winners
2018 – Netherlands
2017 – Netherlands
2016 – England
2015 – England
2014 – Netherlands
2013 – England
2012 – England
2011 – Netherlands
The Format
I have to say the only thing wrong with this tournament is the chronically bad format. The first round is all doubles over the best-of-nine legs and then it gets complicated. The last 16, quarter finals and semi-finals are the best of three rubbers. The first two rubbers are singles over the best-of-seven legs and if they are shared a best-of-seven doubles will decide the tie. The final is a five rubber battle. That contains four singles and a doubles over the same distance as the previous rounds.
Top Half
It is England who are the number one seeds this weekend and as a result they headline the top half of the draw. Rob Cross and Michael Smith will represent them. The Netherlands are potential semi-final opponents with Michael van Gerwen and Jermaine Wattimena in action for the defending champions. Australia and Austria make up the other seeds so Simon Whitlock and Mensur Suljovic will be in this section of the draw.
There are always some half decent nations who can put up a tussle from the unseeded countries and Philippines could be considered a bit of a dark horse. Republic of Ireland have an improving pair as well and they could be dangerous. There is no John Part for Canada for the first time in a while. Spain and Poland will be looking to be dark horses.
Bottom Half
All eyes will be on Scotland to see how they fare in this tournament this year. Gary Anderson hasn’t been seen much in 2019 and Peter Wright has been poor much of the time that he has been on the big stage so they look vulnerable. Wales are the next highest seeds looking to take advantage of any weakness with Gerwyn Price and Jonny Clayton their pairing. Northern Ireland and Belgium are the other two seeds in the half.
This is a tasty section for unseeded nations too with the hosts Germany one of those looking to cause some upsets over the course of the weekend. South Africa, Singapore, Japan and Sweden have all gone deep in this tournament in the past and will be looking for positive showings this time around as well.
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Betting
This tournament has a much more open feel to it this year with more doubts over the leading nations than there has been in previous runnings of this event. I will head to the bottom half of the draw for my bets though but only because there has to be major question marks over Scotland. With that in mind I fancy Belgium could be the side to be on. Kim Huybrechts hasn’t been in the best form in 2019 but he always ups his game for this tournament and his partner Dimitri Van den Bergh is top quality. This pair made the semi-finals last year before running into the eventual winners Netherlands. They won’t need to worry about them until the final so at 25/1 they standout.
Another side who could be a truly massive price are Japan. We saw at the World Championship how well Seigo Asada can play when he took care of Krzysztof Ratajski and had James Wade in all sorts of bother and his partner Haruki Muramatsu doesn’t lack for experience on the big stage. Japan took out Austria in the first round here last year before losing in the quarter final to Scotland. They should walk past Gibraltar in the first round and if they can upset the Welsh in the second round the draw opens right up at a monster price.
Tips
Back Belgium to win World Cup of Darts (e/w) for a 1/10 stake at 26.00 with Coral (1/2 1-2)
Back them here:
Back Japan to win World Cup of Darts (e/w) for a 0.5/10 stake at 201.00 with Boylesports (1/2 1-2)
Back them here:
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