Wizard Whitlock Wins At Last

It certainly has been an eventful last four days for Simon Whitlock and Damon Heta, beating Belgium, England and Wales 3-1 in the Final to become the fifth different nation to win the tournament. Both players won their opening singles matches of the Final with the man that is based in Ilkeston whitewashing Gerwyn Price with a 92.49 average.

The Wizard after suffering World Cup heartbreak 10 years ago with Paul Nicholson, put all that behind him and beat Jonny Clayton 4-2 in the second singles match to go 2-0 up in a race to three in Frankfurt. The Welsh pair knew that they now had to win the remaining three matches of the Final to claim the title they won back in 2020.

From going close to becoming the first pair to hit a nine-dart leg back on Friday after Winmau star Whitlock missed double eighteen for a 141 finish, the two grew in confidence through each of their matches. They knew that if they played like they did in their double’s decider with Belgium in the afternoon the title would be theirs. The Aussies averaged 109.31 in whitewashing Dimitri van den Bergh and Kim Huybrechts, missing just two darts at double.

The Welsh dragons had other ideas though, coming from 3-2 down to beat the Australian duo 4-3 in the third match of the Final, sending it into the last two singles games to decide the fate of the competition. The 2^nd Seeds broke throw in the last leg decider after the former Premier League champion Clayton stepped up and finished 48 on double 8 to keep his country in the World Cup.

It was The Ferret who had to continue the Final, taking on Damon Heta in the third singles tie knowing he had to win to send it into the last singles match between Price and Whitlock. The Heat will have been wary of his defeat to Daniel Larsson in the Second Round but knew his confidence and his game was better than his on Friday after beating the World Number 2 4-0.

The 34-year-old found double sixteen with his first dart to win his country their first title, 10 years on from the devastating heartbreak they suffered against England. Kyle Anderson a man who has represented his country in the World Cup before tragically lost his life 10 months ago, so victory in Frankfurt will have been dedicated to The Original who influenced so many across the darting world down under.

The Netherlands hadn’t dropped a single point in the singles and doubles match as Danny Noppert and Dirk van Duijvenbode beat Brazil 5-0 in the first round, before victories against Ireland and Northern Ireland 2-0 put the new look duo in the Semi-Finals. Their run would come to an end at the hands of Wales, with The Iceman beating the UK Open champion 4-1 to put Wales 1-0 up in the Semi-Finals.

The Titan despite hitting four maximums in his match with World Number 8 Clayton, lost out 4-2 to end their hopes of a first World Cup since 2018 when Michael van Gerwen and Raymond van Barneveld beat Scotland 3-1. Just one missed dart at double in the match for the former Premier League champion, hitting tops with his first dart to send the third seeds packing in the Eissporthalle.

Australia beat England 2-0 in the other Semi-Final with Michael Smith 3-1 up against Damon Heta and one away from putting his country 1-0 up. The Heat had other ideas and found double four with his first dart to complete a 4-3 comeback victory, getting his country on the board despite averaging 6 points lower than his opponent from St Helens.

Simon Whitlock averaged 103.66 in whitewashing James Wade in the second singles match of the day, missing two darts at double as he found double tops with his second dart to send the number 1 seeds out in the final four. The Wizard found his first break of throw with his highest checkout of the match, finishing 78 in the second leg for a 2-0 lead.

A successful return to Frankfurt with the competition returning to the Eissporthalle for the first time since 2018, in a competition team Australia will never forget after picking up their first title 10 years on from losing in Hamburg to England (Phil Taylor and Adrian Lewis)

World Cup of Darts 2022 Results

Quarter-Finals:

Netherlands (3) 2-0 Northern Ireland (6)

Wales (2) 2-0 Germany (7)

Australia (5) 2-1 Belgium (4)

England (1) 2-0 Scotland (8)

Semi-Finals:

Wales (2) 2-0 Netherlands (3)

Australia (5) 2-0 England (1)

Final:

Australia (5) 3-1 Wales (2)

—–ENDS—–