For the fourth time in their history, The Netherlands are the World Cup of Darts champions after Michael van Gerwen and Raymond van Barneveld beat Scotland’s Peter Wright and Gary Anderson in a final everyone was predicting. The defending champions dropped only one solitary point throughout the entire tournament. That point came in the final, a game where van Gerwen and van Barneveld came out 3-1 winners.
This is the fourth time Holland have won the Cup and the third from this pairing, having previously bagged the prize in 2014 and 2017. On the other occasion, Barney teamed up with Co Stompe to win in 2010. Their latest victory also means the Dutch have drawn level with England for the most World Cup victories, with Phil Taylor and Adrian ‘Jackpot’ Lewis winning in 2012, 2013, 2015 and 2016.
The final took place at the Eissporthalle in Frankfurt with the opening singles match fought between MVG and Peter Wright with the Dutchman reigning supreme and banking a 4-2 victory. Mighty Mike achieved the win despite some below par scoring. The world number one averaged 97 and hit just one solitary 180 but was far more clinical with his doubles, landing four out of five.
The next singles match of the night saw Scotland draw level when Gary Anderson successfully saw off the challenge of Raymond van Barneveld. The Flying Scotsman sank Barney with a 4-1 win, hitting five 180s and averaging 97.
Things swung back in favour of the Netherlands during the pairs match when MVG and RVB combined to average 100 over a 4-1 rout, while Scotland missed three darts at a double. In the first reverse singles match, MVG put the result beyond doubt when he beat Anderson 4-0 to give the Holland the victory yet again.
Earlier on in the evening, Scotland had beaten Australia, while the Dutch pair were impressive in their semi-final clash with Belgium, who knocked England out in the quarter-finals with a 2-1 win. The Netherlands upset the Frankfurt crowd by knocking out Germany 2-0 during the other quarter-finals match.
World Darts Championship preview
In other darts news, the World Darts Championship has been supersized to include 96 competitors, including for the first time ever, two women competitors. Previously, darts’ biggest event saw 72 players competing over the Christmas and New Year period, but the 2018 World Darts Championship will see inclusion of a further 24 qualifiers. Six additional sessions will be added to this year’s schedule to accommodate the extra matches at Alexandra Palace.
The announcement hasn’t, as you might expect, done anything for the early betting on the Championships with Michael van Gerwen installed as the evens favourite at Betway which, is unlikely to stay that way if his current form is any indicator.
The reigning champion, Rob Cross is the 9/2 second favourite, while two-time winner Gary Anderson is out at a very decent 6/1, half the price of his compatriot Peter ‘Snakebite’ Wright, who is 12’s. Aussie Corey Cadby is next in the betting at 28/1, is the same price as Michael Smith, who many believe is capable of being this year’s Cross, following an impressive showing in the Premier League.
Elsewhere, Daryl Gurney is available at 33/1 while another two-time winner, Adrian Lewis can be backed at 50/1.