World Cup of Darts 2022 | Day One Preview and Order of Play
The 2022 World Cup of Darts gets under way in Frankfurt on Thursday evening with eight exciting pairs matches.
The 12th staging of the unique invitational takes place at the Eissporthalle from June 16-19, with the two-player teams contesting a combination of Doubles and Singles matches.
The top eight countries are seeded based on the lowest combined PDC Order of Merit ranking of the two representatives.
Four of those seeded nations will be in action on opening night as they bid to avert a shock early exit over the short format.
Wales, the 2020 World Cup winners, come into the event as strong favourites to regain the title, as Premier League stars Gerwyn Price and Jonny Clayton joining forces once again.
Price and Clayton were dethroned by eventual champions Scotland in last year’s Semi-Finals and begin their latest campaign against veteran Lourence Ilagan and debutant RJ Escaros of the Philippines.
Netherlands, who boast a joint record four World Cup titles, are without Michael van Gerwen for the first in a decade and will be represented by UK Open champion Danny Noppert and fellow top 16 star Dirk van Duijvenbode.
Both players have previously featured in the event alongside Van Gerwen, but a scheduled arm operation has ruled the world number three out of this year’s competition.
The Dutch duo open up with a tie against Brazil – represented by five-time World Championship qualifier Diogo Portela and Artur Valle – who were beaten by England in the First Round last year.
Hosts Germany are set for a rapturous reception as they aim to get their title quest off and running at the expense of Spain.
Semi-finalists two years ago, Germany will be represented by world number 23 Gabriel Clemens and world number 44 Martin Schindler and will face the new-look Spanish duo of José Justicia and Tony Martinez – who both came through Qualifying School to secure a Tour Card earlier this year.
Northern Ireland, who reached the Semi-Finals in 2016, are once again represented by two-time major champion Daryl Gurney and multiple ranking title winner Brendan Dolan and have been drawn to face Justin Hewitt and Craig Galliano of Gibraltar, with the young duo aiming to register their first win in this event.
Mensur Suljovic and Rowby-John Rodriguez come into the event unseeded for the second successive year as they aim to go one better than last year’s runner-up spot.
The Austrian aces will face Finland’s Marko Kantele – making his eighth consecutive World Cup appearance – and newcomer Aki Paavilainen.
Republic of Ireland, beaten finalists in 2019, face a tough opening test against 2020 quarter-finalists Canada, as World Cup ever-present William O’Connor and Steve Lennon take on fellow Tour Card holders Jeff Smith and Matt Campbell.
The opening tie of the tournament sees Vladimir Andersen and Andreas Toft Jørgensen of Denmark come up against the experienced Singapore pairing of Paul Lim and Harith Lim – who famously defeated Peter Wright and Gary Anderson of Scotland in 2017.
Switzerland return to the line-up for the first time since 2018, with Euro Tour participants Stefan Bellmont and Thomas Junghans taking on New Zealand’s Ben Robb and Warren Parry – who have both previously featured in World Series events.
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.
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World Cup of Darts 2022 Day One Schedule of Play
All times BST (local time one hour ahead)
Thursday June 16
First Round
6pm-10pm
Denmark v Singapore
New Zealand v Switzerland
Republic of Ireland v Canada
Austria v Finland
Northern Ireland (6) v Gibraltar
Wales (2) v Philippines
Germany (7) v Spain
Netherlands (3) v Brazil
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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