World Cup of Darts: Everything you need to know
Published:
The 2020 World Cup of Darts takes place in Salzburg this weekend, with the best players from thirty-two nations vying to become Darts world champions.
The tournament will see the top two players from each nation – based on the PDC Order of Merit -compete in both doubles and singles matches at the Salzburgarena.
The tournament will be broadcast live on Sky Sports with matches also being shown on matchroom.live.
The teams
There are plenty of familiar faces taking part in the 2020 Darts World Cup but there are also a few notable absentees and debutants this year.
Scotland are the defending champions at the World Cup but will be without last year’s winning partnership of Peter Wright and Gary Anderson. Their places have been taken by John Henderson and Robert Thornton who are 80/1 outsiders to retain their title.
Elsewhere, Danny Noppert will make his debut for the Netherlands after finishing runner-up in the 2019 World Series of Darts Finals. He’ll be playing alongside three-time champion Michael van Gerwen at the weekend.
2019 Brisbane Darts Masters champion, Damon Heta will make his first appearance for Australia. He’ll team up with former finalist, Simon Whitlock.
For Germany, Gabriel Clemens will partner Max Hopp as he makes his debut. Germany are 16/1 to become world champions.
The format
The first and second round of matches will be played on Friday and Saturday before the quarter-finals, semi-finals and final on Sunday.
Players will take to the oche on Friday for a double session of first round matches with six afternoon ties and six evening ties in the best of nine legs 501 Doubles.
Four-time winners England will be in action in the afternoon session, along with Belgium and host nation Austria in a tasty opening round of matches.
Scotland’s title defence will commence in the evening session as they play Japan (6/4), while four-time champions Netherlands will join the likes of Republic of Ireland and Australia later in the day.
The second round, quarter-finals & semi-finals will be played as two best of seven leg 501 Singles, 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 result.
The final will also be played as two best of seven leg 501 Singles matches, followed by a best of seven leg 501 Doubles and then reverse Singles matches. The first team to win three games will be crowned 2020 World Cup of Darts champions.
Who to watch
England’s Michael Smith and Rob Cross will be the top seeds in Austria as they seek to secure a fifth title for their country in the tenth year of the tournament. The duo begin their campaign in a first round tie against the Philippines as 2/11 favourites.
World number two, Gerwyn Price will be joined by Jonny Clayton in the Welsh team. Wales are 1/25 to get off to a winning start against Russia (10/1).
The Netherlands are seeded third ahead of Northern Ireland’s Daryl Gurney & Brendan Dolan, who are 3/10 to beat Canada in their first match.
Last year’s runners-up Republic of Ireland, paired with William O’Connor and Steve Lennon, face a tricky test against Simon Whitlock and Damon Heta of Australia in their opener. They are 11/10 underdogs to beat Australia (8/11).
Elsewhere, World Matchplay champion Dimitri Van den Bergh partners former World Cup finalist Kim Huybrechts for Belgium in a formidable partnership that will be one to watch.
The favourites
Netherlands are the four-time champions and will take to the oche as the 2/1 favourites for the 2020 World Cup of Darts with world number one Michael van Gerwen in their ranks.
Wales (3/1) have previously been 2010 and 2017 finalists and will be confident heading to Salzburg with Price and Clayton one of the most fancied pairings.
England are another nation with four World Cup titles to their name and are 4/1 to go all the way in Austria as they try to emulate the success of former stars Phil ‘The Power’ Taylor and Adrian Lewis.
Further back, Belgium are 9/1 to win the title with Northern Ireland a 11/1 shot. Germany (16/1) and host-nation Austria (20/1) may also fancy their chances as competitive outsiders.
Who do you think will lift the trophy? Have your say on who you think will win the 2020 World Cup of Darts on our Twitter @Ladbrokes!
Ladbrokes Latest Betting:
2020 World Cup of Darts winner
Netherlands – 2/1
Wales – 3/1
England – 4/1
Belgium – 9/1
Northern Ireland – 11/1
Germany – 16/1
Austria – 20/1
Australia – 25/1
Poland – 25/1
Portugal – 33/1
500/1 bar
All Odds and Markets are correct as of the date of publishing.
