Beware The Celts: Wales and Northern Ireland Get Started

Frankfurt is certainly ready for the start of the World Cup of Darts with Jonny Clayton and Gerwyn Price in action as Wales start their bid to win the tournament for a second time against the Philippines.

The Philippines should not be underestimated with Lourence Ilagen appearing at numerous World Cups for his country and has pushed the likes of England in the First Round losing 5-3 in 2020.

The Ferret will be looking to put his recent Premier League disappointment behind him as Wales look to achieve better than their Semi Final finish last year, losing 2-1 to eventual winners Scotland.

They are the second seeds for the tournament and a win could see them face last year’s runners up Austria (Rowby-John Rodriguez and Mensur Suljovic), if they win earlier in the night against Finland.

Northern Ireland represented by Winmau players Daryl Gurney and Brendan Dolan face young Gibraltar duo Justin Hewitt and Craig Galliano in Germany. The pair reached the Quarter Finals in their best finish since 2016, going into the tournament as the sixth seeds so could they put together a good run starting with a win against Gibraltar tonight?

The winner will face either Switzerland or New Zealand in the Second Round, with that match the second of the session as the tournament sets to take place in the Eissporthalle over the next four days.

Michael van Gerwen will miss the World Cup this year, so the fate of the Netherlands is in the hands of UK Open champion Danny Noppert and Dirk van Duijvenbode who has won on the Pro Tour so far this year. The duo will take to the oche last on Thursday to take on Brazil who are represented by Diogo Portela and Arthur Vale, as the nation prepares to play in its sixth consecutive World Cup.

Either Brazil or the Netherlands will face either Ireland or Canada in the Second Round, a potential banana skin with both nations capable of causing a few upsets in the tournament for the new look pair.

Ireland is represented by William O’Connor and Steve Lennon who steered the nation all the way to the Final back in 2019, losing to Scotland 3-1 in the Final. Canada will feature Winmau star Jeff Smith and Matt Campbell who has reached a Final on the Pro Tour so far this year, with the pair reaching the Quarter Finals as their best run in 2020 losing 2-1 to Belgium.

Reigning champions Scotland kick off their campaigns on Friday against Hong Kong, whilst James Wade and Michael Smith team up for the first time, representing England against a tough opposition in the Czech Republic.

Adam Gawlas reached the Quarter Finals on the Euro Tour losing to 6-2 to Vincent van der Voort, whilst Karel Sedlacek also pulled a good run together on the ET earlier on in the year. England are the number 1 seeds for the tournament so will be looking for a first World Cup title since 2016, last represented by Phil Taylor and Adrian Lewis.

Coverage gets underway at 6pm tonight live on Sky Sports as the Singapore Slinger and the first man to hit a televised nine darter Paul Lim, takes to the Frankfurt stage with partner Harith to face Denmark in the opening match of the tournament.

World Cup of Darts 2022: Thursday Order of Play

Last 32:

Denmark v Singapore

New Zealand v Switzerland

Ireland v Canada

Austria v Finland

Northern Ireland (6) v Gibraltar

Wales (2) v Philippines

Germany (7) v Spain

Netherlands (3) v Brazil

—–ENDS—–

Words: Harry Masterson