THE bwin World Cup of Darts kicks off on Thursday night, as 32 nations bid to claim the title in the annual Pairs tournament at the Eissporthalle in Frankfurt. The tournament will see 32 teams do battle across four days from June 11-14 to claim the title in the fifth staging of the PDC's World Cup of Darts. The £250,000 event begins with the first round split across Thursday and Friday evenings, with the two-player teams doing battle in a Doubles format over the best of nine legs. Thursday's opening games will be headlined by two-time champions England - represented for a fourth successive year by Phil Taylor and Adrian Lewis - taking on Denmark's Per Laursen and Per Skau. The 2012 and 2013 champions were defeated in last year's final by the Netherlands, but are aiming to reclaim their title this weekend in Frankfurt. "I'm really looking forward to the World Cup and I know Adrian is too because it's a great honour for us to be representing our country and we love this event," said Taylor. "We've done well in previous years but that counts for nothing this weekend and we've got to make sure that we play well, especially in the first round because it's a short format and in Doubles anything can happen. "Per Laursen's been in the World Championship a few times and I played against Per Skau over 20 years ago, so they've both got plenty of experience." Thursday's opening session will also feature former finalists Australia and Belgium taking on Russia and the Philippines respectively. Spain - who were shock semi-finalists in 2010 - kick off against Russia and Japan take on China before Austria play the Czech Republic, Gibraltar face Italy and hosts Germany come up against India. Holders Netherlands will again be represented by world number one Michael van Gerwen and five-time World Champion Raymond van Barneveld, who was also one half of their 2010 World Cup-winning pairing. They face the American pair of Darin Young and Larry Butler in the first round on Friday night, with van Gerwen in top form after winning the Dubai Duty Free Darts Masters and Dutch Darts Masters over the past fortnight. "Winning the World Cup last year was very special and I can't wait for this event," said van Gerwen. "I've had a great year so far and I want to retain it. "I think we're going to be one of the favourites but we're both playing really well and our confidence is there. "This is a different type of pressure to other tournaments because it's not just for me but I'm playing with Raymond and representing our country, but I love it and I hope we can have another successful tournament." Number two seeds Scotland - represented by World Champion Gary Anderson and world number five Peter Wright - also enter the fray on Friday night as they take on Singapore's Paul Lim and Harith Lim. Anderson has come into the team this year after leapfrogging Robert Thornton in the world rankings, and is aiming to add the World Cup after his treble of major wins in the Players Championship Finals, World Championship and Premier League since November. "I've had a great six months or so and it would be brilliant to add the World Cup title too, not just for me but because we're representing Scotland too," said Anderson. "As a country we've not had a good record in the past in this event but Peter's been in great form recently and if we can put it together this weekend then hopefully we've got a good chance. "It's going to be tough in the first round, though, because Paul Lim's a great player who's been around for so many years, and he's got loads of experience in playing Doubles." Friday's first round also sees Wales, the 2010 finalists, taking on Hong Kong, while Canada play New Zealand, Sweden meet Hungary, the Republic of Ireland face Poland, Northern Ireland up against Thailand and South Africa's clash with Finland. The tournament continues into the weekend with a mixture of both Singles and Doubles matches during the second round - which is split across two sessions on Saturday - and Sunday's quarter-finals, semi-finals and final. 2015 bwin World Cup of Darts Schedule of Play Thursday June 11 - Evening Session (20:00-00:00 local time) First Round Spain (12) v Norway Japan (16) v China Austria (8) v Czech Republic Gibraltar (13) v Italy Belgium (5) v Philippines England (1) v Denmark Germany (9) v India Australia (4) v Russia Friday June 12 - Evening Session (20:00-00:00 local time) First Round Canada (11) v New Zealand Sweden (15) v Hungary Wales (7) v Hong Kong Republic of Ireland (10) v Poland Northern Ireland (6) v Thailand Scotland (2) v Singapore Netherlands (3) v United States of America South Africa (14) v Finland Saturday June 13 Afternoon Session (14:00-18:00 local time) Second Round Belgium/Philippines v Spain /Norway Australia /Russia v Gibraltar/Italy Northern Ireland/Thailand v Canada/New Zealand Wales/Hong Kong v Republic of Ireland/Poland Evening Session (20:30-00:30 local time) Second Round Scotland/Singapore v Sweden/Hungary Netherlands/USA v South Africa/Finland England/Denmark v Japan/China Austria/Czech Republic v Germany/India Sunday June 14 Afternoon Session (14:00-18:00 local time) Quarter-Finals Order of Play TBC Evening Session (20:00-00:00 local time) Semi-Finals Final Format First Round Best of nine legs Doubles Players will be required to nominate their order of throw to the PDC's Tournament Director upon arrival at the venue on Friday before their first round games. Second Round, Quarter-Finals & Semi-Finals The Second Round, Quarter-Finals & Semi-Finals will be played as two best of seven leg 501 Singles matches, with both nations nominating the order in which their players play. In the event of both nations winning one Singles match apiece, a best of seven leg 501 Doubles match will be played to decide the tie. Final The Final will be played as two best of seven leg 501 Singles matches, with both nations nominating the order in which their players play the first two matches, followed by a best of seven leg 501 Doubles match and then Reverse Singles matches. The first team to win three games is the winner. Draw Bracket England (1) v Denmark Japan (16) v China Austria (8) v Czech Republic Germany (9) v India Belgium (5) v Philippines Spain (12) v Norway Australia (4) v Russia Gibraltar (13) v Italy Scotland (2) v Singapore Sweden (15) v Hungary Wales (7) v Hong Kong Republic of Ireland (10) v Poland Northern Ireland (6) v Thailand Canada (11) v New Zealand Netherlands (3) v United States of America South Africa (14) v Finland
2 Comments
Nadine
6/11/2015 03:26:51 pm
Dear Phil Taylor, will you come to Riesa/Germany next week? It will be a great pleasure to me to see you there. Only your appearance guaranteed a great show. Please come to my beautiful homeland and see magnificent fans and atmosphere.
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