World Cup of Darts: the Winners and Losers

A fantastic four days of competition in Germany saw the English pairing of Phil ‘The Power’ Taylor and Adrian ’Jackpot’ Lewis regain their crown in style, as they overcame Scotland in the final on Sunday night. Here is the winners and losers from the weekend.

Team England – Winners

Those watching could see what it meant to Lewis and Taylor after Lewis completed a 3-2 victory in the final to see them lift the trophy.  They were professional from the word go and eased through the early rounds. However, the two former world champions stepped it up in the semi-final and final when they needed to. Lewis had struggled at times, but when it mattered most in the deciding game with Peter Wright he came up with a fantastic display.

Team Hong Kong – Winners

Hong Kong were one of the surprise nations of the competition and were the only non-seeded pairing to make the quarter-finals. Their first round victory over Wales was the standout shock of the competition. Royden Lam led the team well with Scott MacKenzie finding a way to win games despite suffering with nerves on the big stage.

Team Scotland – Winners

Despite being second seeds, Scotland went under the radar in the build-up to the tournament due to the presence of England and the Netherlands. However, both current world champion Gary Anderson and Wright were on fire from the word go. A dramatic doubles victory over Netherlands saw them reach the final, knocking out world number one Michael Van Gerwen. The final itself saw them push England right to the wire, but they still achieved their best result in the five years of the competition. While Wright played well, Anderson showed why he has been unstoppable so far this year. He won every singles match he played, including victories over Raymond Van Barneveld, Taylor and Lewis.

Team Wales – Losers

Wales were the highest seeded side to fall at the first hurdle and were one of the sides I thought could potential cause shocks themselves. Mark Webster and Jamie Lewis have both played on the big stage many times before and Webster reached the final of this competition back in 2010 with Barrie Bates. However, they were brushed aside by Hong Kong in their first round doubles match.

Team Netherlands – Losers

The reigning champions were dethroned at the semi-final stage with Van Barneveld struggling in Sunday’s matches. He lost his singles match against Michael Mansell in the quarter-final meeting with Northern Ireland, before losing to Anderson in the semi-final. Despite good singles performances from Van Gerwen he was unable to pull the side through in the crucial doubles decider with Scotland.

German darts – Winners

Not just the German team, but darts in Germany as a whole were huge winners this week. The Frankfurt crowd were loud and involved in the competition from the word go. A rise in tour events in the country has seen the popularity of the sport go through the roof in recent years and the continued hosting of the World Cup of Darts is helping. The German team of Max Hopp and Jyhan Artut excelled  with the crowd right behind them, as they reached the quarter-finals. Despite being blown away by eventual winners England, they performed well and Hopp, still only 18, will be a star of the future.