Scotland will begin the defense of their BetVictor World Cup of Darts title against Japan in Salzburg in November, with the draw for the pairs event confirmed.
A new-look Scottish team made up of John Henderson and Robert Thornton, are not among the eight seeded nations and face a tricky opening tie against Japan’s Seigo Asada and Yuki Yamada as the nations meet for a third successive year.
The 32-nation tournament sees two-player teams representing their countries, with selection based initially on the top-ranked players on the PDC Order of Merit, and will take place at the Salzburgarena from November 6-8.
Top seeds England, represented by Michael Smith and Rob Cross (pictured), face the Philippines in a repeat of last year’s first round, while Wales’ number two seeds Gerwyn Price and Jonny Clayton will play Russia.
Michael van Gerwen will be joined by debutant Danny Noppert in representing the Netherlands, with the Dutch pair set to take on Brazil in their opener.
Daryl Gurney and Brendan Dolan’s Northern Ireland will face a strong Canadian side, while Dimitri Van den Bergh and Kim Huybrechts’ Belgium will take on the Czech Republic.
Host nation Austria, represented by Mensur Suljovic and Rowby-John Rodriguez, will play USA, while Germany’s Max Hopp and Gabriel Clemens will come up against Finland.
One of the pick of the first round ties will see last year’s runners-up Republic of Ireland, who again feature the pairing of William O’Connor and Steve Lennon, face Simon Whitlock and Damon Heta’s Australia.
In a change to the initial listing of team line-ups, Finland will now be represented by Marko Kantele and Veijo Viinikka following the withdrawal of Kim Viljanen.
The schedule of play for the event will be confirmed in due course.
The BetVictor World Cup of Darts will be televised on Sky Sports as well as through the PDC’s international broadcast partners including RTL7 and DAZN, as well as for PDCTV ‘Rest of the World Subscribers’ and on matchroom.live.
BetVictor World Cup of Darts
Draw Bracket
(1) England v Philippines
Lithuania v Gibraltar
(8) Austria v USA
Singapore v Hungary
(4) Northern Ireland v Canada
New Zealand v Denmark
(5) Belgium v Czech Republic
Hong Kong v China
(2) Wales v Russia
Japan v Scotland
(7) Republic of Ireland v Australia
Poland v South Africa
(3) Netherlands v Brazil
Italy v Spain
(6) Germany v Finland
Sweden v Greece
2020 BetVictor World Cup of Darts
Competing Nations & Players (seeding in brackets)
(1) England – Michael Smith & Rob Cross
(2) Wales – Gerwyn Price & Jonny Clayton
(3) Netherlands – Michael van Gerwen & Danny Noppert
(4) Northern Ireland – Daryl Gurney & Brendan Dolan
(5) Belgium – Dimitri Van den Bergh & Kim Huybrechts
(6) Germany – Max Hopp & Gabriel Clemens
(7) Republic of Ireland – William O’Connor & Steve Lennon
(8) Austria – Mensur Suljovic & Rowby-John Rodriguez
Australia – Simon Whitlock & Damon Heta
Brazil – Diogo Portela & Bruno Rangel
Canada – Jeff Smith & Matt Campbell
China – Xicheng Han & Di Zhuang
Czech Republic – Karel Sedlacek & Adam Gawlas
Denmark – Niels Heinsøe & Per Laursen
Finland – Marko Kantele & Veijo Viinikka
Gibraltar – Craig Galliano & Justin Hewitt
Greece – John Michael & Veniamin Symeonidis
Hong Kong – Kai Fan Leung & Royden Lam
Hungary – Patrik Kovacs & Janos Vegsö
Italy – Andrea Micheletti & Daniele Petri
Japan – Seigo Asada & Yuki Yamada
Lithuania – Darius Labanauskas & Mindaugas Barauskas
New Zealand – Cody Harris & Haupai Puha
Philippines – Lourence Ilagan & Noel Malicdem
Poland – Krzysztof Ratajski & Krzysztof Kciuk
Russia – Boris Koltsov & Aleksei Kadochnikov
Scotland – John Henderson & Robert Thornton
Singapore – Paul Lim & Harith Lim
South Africa – Devon Petersen & Carl Gabriel
Spain – Cristo Reyes & Toni Alcinas
Sweden – Daniel Larsson & Dennis Nilsson
USA – Chuck Puleo & Danny Lauby
