World Cup of Darts 2022 | Day Two Preview and Order of Play
The First Round action continues at the 2022 World Cup of Darts in Frankfurt on Friday with two multiple champions among those on show.
The favourites safely made it through on the opening night at the Eissporthalle and a further quartet of seeded nations will look to join them in Saturday’s Second Round.
All eyes will be on Peter Wright and John Henderson as they begin the defence of their title for Scotland with a tie against rank outsiders Hong Kong.
Wright, who partnered Gary Anderson to glory in 2019, was inspired by a remarkable display from Henderson last September as they regained the title in Jena.
The world number one and former World Grand Prix semi-finalist start out against the new-look pairing of Lee Lok Yin and Ching Ho Tung – who will be out to cause a sensational upset.
Four-time winners England, meanwhile, will be represented for the first time by Michael Smith and James Wade – and the Premier League duo open up with a tricky tie against the Czech Republic.
Three has recently picked up three Players Championship titles, as well as the US Masters, while Wade reached the Semi-Finals of the Premier League and has registered his highest ever TV average this season.
Both are making their third appearances in this event but join forces for the first time, though former World Youth finalist Adam Gawlas and former Tour Card holder Karel Sedláček are poised to offer a tough early examination,
Simon Whitlock is one of only four ever-presents in the World Cup of Darts, and the 2012 finalist joins forces with world number 19 Damon Heta to form a strong Australian side.
The pair have lost at the Quarter-Final stage in their last two World Cup appearances and begin their latest campaign against Darius Labanauskas and Mindaugas Barauskas of Lithuania – who have reached Round Two in successive years.
World Cup specialists Belgium aim to hit the ground running when they take on Toru Suzuki and Tomoya Goto of Japan.
Recent Nordic Masters champion Dimitri van den Bergh teams up with veteran Kim Huybrechts for the fifth year in a row, with the duo having reached two Semi-Finals.
World number 16 Krzysztof Ratajski is partnered for the first time by UK Open quarter-finalist Sebastian Białecki to form a strong Polish pair as they take on Tour Card holders Danny Baggish and Jules van Dongen of the USA.
Former Grand Slam champion Jose de Sousa joins up with Vítor Jerónimo for Portugal – who face Italy’s Giuseppe di Rocco and Gabriel Rollo in Round One.
World Cup veteran Daniel Larsson and Johan Engström form the Sweden side which faces former European Tour event winner Devon Petersen and Stefan Vermaak of South Africa.
The opening tie of the evening sees world number 42 Madars Razma and Nauris Gleglu of Latvia come up against debutant Hungarian duo Gergely Lakatos and Nándor Prés.
The action gets under way from 6pm BST, with all First Round matches comprised of doubles ties – to be contested over the best of nine legs.
WATCH DAY TWO OF THE WORLD CUP OF DARTS STREAMED LIVE HERE (18+)
World Cup of Darts 2022 Day Two Schedule of Play
All times BST (local time one hour ahead)
Friday June 17
First Round
6.15pm Latvia v Hungary
6.45pm Poland v USA
7.15pm Sweden v South Africa
7.45pm Portugal v Italy
8.15pm Australia v Lithuania
8.45pm England v Czech Republic
9.15pm Scotland v Hong Kong
9.45pm Belgium v Japan
World Cup of Darts 2022 Pairings
Australia – Damon Heta & Simon Whitlock
Austria – Mensur Suljovic & Rowby-John Rodriguez
Belgium – Dimitri Van den Bergh & Kim Huybrechts
Brazil – Diogo Portela & Artur Valle
Canada – Jeff Smith & Matt Campbell
Czech Republic – Adam Gawlas & Karel Sedlacek
Denmark – Vladimir Andersen & Andreas Toft Jörgensen
England – Michael Smith & James Wade
Finland – Marko Kantele & Aki Paavilainen
Germany – Gabriel Clemens & Martin Schindler
Gibraltar – Justin Hewitt & Craig Galliano
Hong Kong – Lok Yin Lee & Ho Tung Ching
Hungary – Nándor Prés & Gergely Lakatos
Italy – Guiseppe Di Rocco & Gabriel Rollo
Japan – Tomoyo Goto & Toru Suzuki
Latvia – Madars Razma & Nauris Gleglu
Lithiuania – Darius Labanauskas & Mindaugas Barauskas
Netherlands – Danny Noppert & Dirk van Duijvenbode
New Zealand – Ben Robb & Warren Parry
Northern Ireland – Daryl Gurney & Brendan Dolan
Philippines – Lourence Ilagan & RJ Escaros
Poland – Krzysztof Ratajski & Sebastian Bialecki
Portugal – Jose de Sousa & Vítor Jerónimo
Republic of Ireland – William O’Connor & Steve Lennon
Scotland – Peter Wright & John Henderson
Singapore – Paul Lim & Harith Lim
South Africa – Devon Petersen & Stefan Vermaak
Spain – Jose Justicia & Tony Martinez
Sweden – Daniel Larsson & Johan Engstrom
Switzerland – Stefan Bellmont & Thomas Junghans
USA – Danny Baggish & Jules van Dongen
Wales – Gerwyn Price & Jonny Clayton
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