Australia and Wales Look To Claim Second World Cup

The 2023 My Diesel Claim World Cup of Darts begins in Germany on Thursday, as a record 40 nations battle it out in the annual festival of darts at the Eissporthalle in Frankfurt. Both defending champions Australia and 2021 winners Wales will be aiming to join the list of multiple tournament winners.

The 13th edition of the World Cup of Darts has been expanded from 32 to 40 teams in a revamped format, featuring a group stage and Doubles matches across four days of competition from June 15-18.

England, Wales, Netherlands and Scotland – the top four ranked nations based on cumulative PDC Order of Merit ranking – will enter the tournament at the second round stage on Saturday.

The remaining 36 teams have been split into 12 groups of three for the round-robin first round – including 12 seeded nations – from which each group winner will progress.

Damon Heta and Simon Whitlock steered Australia to a maiden World Cup title 12 months ago, and they will return in a bid to retain their title in the popular Pairs event at the Eissporthalle.

The Australian duo defeated Gerwyn Price and Jonny Clayton to triumph in last year’s showpiece, and they have been pitted against Gibraltar and debutants Guyana in Group C.

Heta warmed up for Australia’s World Cup title defence by clinching his first ranking title of 2023 in Tuesday’s Players Championship 14, and he heads to Frankfurt in confident mood.

“It probably gives Simon a bit of confidence that he can count on me,” added Heta, making his fourth straight World Cup appearance.

“I know that Simon has been playing well this year too, and I can always count on him because he always steps up for the World Cup.

“I’m absolutely looking forward to it. Hopefully we can back it up, but we’ll have to do it the hard way!

“The best of seven legs format is cut-throat, but it’s great for the other nations. They have a chance to prove themselves. I think it’s going to be great.”

World number one Michael Smith and 2018 World Champion Rob Cross will team up for top seeds England, having reached the final in their most recent appearance as a pairing back in 2020.

They were beaten by Wales on that occasion, and Price and Clayton will renew their formidable partnership for the second seeds – the bookmakers’ favourites to triumph this weekend.

Price and Clayton will be competing in tandem for a sixth consecutive year, as they aim to become only the fourth nation to claim multiple World Cup successes.

“To be in a team with Gerwyn Price in his current form is fantastic,” admitted Clayton, who succumbed to his compatriot in last month’s Premier League semi-finals.

“I love the World Cup and it’s all Pairs this year, so I think it’s open for anybody.

“It’s a totally different game. It’s got to be done as a team and we’ve got to be firing from the word go, but I’m really looking forward to it.

“We’ve won it once before and we want to do it again. I would love to kick off the same season I had last time!”

Poland, Czech Republic, Spain, Latvia and Switzerland make up the seeded nations in the group phase, with Iceland, Guyana, Bahrain, Ukraine the four debutants in this year’s expanded event.

The losing nations from Thursday’s opening group matches will play the third team from each group in Friday’s afternoon session, with the decisive final group games set to be played on Friday evening.

Following the completion of the round-robin phase, the draw for the last 16 will take place on Friday evening, as England, Wales, Netherlands and Scotland enter the fray in Saturday’s second round.

The quarter-finals, semi-finals and final will then take place during a bumper double session on Sunday, and the schedule of play for the remainder of the tournament will be confirmed in due course.

The My Diesel Claim World Cup of Darts will be broadcast on Sky Sports for viewers in the UK & Ireland, through the PDC’s international broadcast partners, including DAZN and Viaplay, and on PDCTV for Rest of the World Subscribers.