2022 World Cup Of Darts Preview and Tips

Now, it is time for James Punt’s 2022 World Cup of Darts preview:

This will be just the 12th PDC World Cup of Darts and the first eleven years threw up just four different winners. The Netherlands and England won four each, Scotland two and Wales one. England have also been runners up twice, Wales twice, Scotland twice, with Netherlands, Australia, Belgium, Ireland and Austria once. It is a fairly exclusive group, especially when it comes to the winners.

However, it has become more competitive in recent years. England and the Netherlands won the first eight between them, but the last four years has seen three different nations winning and four different nations as runners up.

Quality Usually Prevails

Every winning side had a World Champion in their team up until Scotland in 2019 but Peter Wright won the World Championship six months later, and it was the same for Gerwyn Price after winning with Wales in 2020. Clearly, the winning team needs at the very least, a player with genuine World Champion potential in the line-up.

The only two teams with a World Champion in their ranks are Scotland and Wales. Michael van Gerwen has withdrawn for the Dutch squad as he will be having wrist surgery for a Carpal Tunnel problem and will require a period of recovery which will see him out of the game for six to eight weeks.

Format

The field is made up of eight seeded teams and twenty-four non-seeds. The first round is a brutal best of nine legs, pairs match and rounds two to the semi-finals will see two singles matches in a best of seven leg matches, with a best of seven leg pairs match if a decider is required. In the final, three points are needed to win the title. Two best of seven legs singles matches are played, followed by a best of seven doubles match. If necessary, one or two best of seven legs singles matches in reverse order are played to determine the champion.

The matches are all very short format, which in theory gives the outsiders a punchers chance. The list of past winners suggests that it doesn’t quite work out like that, but the format is designed to at least make it possible for the outsiders to have a chance. Perhaps the fact that Ireland (O’Connor and Lennon) and Austria (Suljovic and Rodriguez) made the final in two of the last three years, does offer some hope for a surprise winner.

To take the boxing analogy a bit further, you will want your chosen team to be made up of a couple of heavyweights and preferably a champion of the world in there. Some teams have one or two heavyweights, a few are middleweights but there are a lot of lightweights who can only punch so hard.

2022 World Cup Of Darts: The Seeds

1. England

Definitely have two heavyweights and arguably the two best players never to have won the World Championship. Could one of them follow in the footsteps of Wright and Price and win the World Cup and follow it up with the World Championship in January?

Michael Smith is the form player coming into this event. He won three consecutive players championships, a Premier League night, the Dutch Darts Championship and the US Masters all in the last five weeks. James Wade on the other hand was hospitalised in early May, had to take some time out and has lost 5 of his 8 matches played since.

On paper, this is the team to beat with Smith’s prodigious scoring power and Wade’s legendary finishing, they look a formidable pairs team. In my opinion England deserve to be favourites, but Wade’s form is a possible weakness. Odds of 6.00 are attractive.

2. Wales

A very strong pairing with former World Champion Gerwyn Price and 2021 Premier League winner Jonny Clayton. They won this in 2020 and reached the semi-finals last year but were losing favourites. Price hasn’t been at his best for a while, Clayton is not at his best either, but they remain contenders.

3. Netherlands

A very different but no less potent line up for the Dutch this year. With Michael van Gerwen recuperating after his wrist surgery, the Netherlands are represented by Danny Noppert and Dirk van Duijvenbode. It is probably a blessing in disguise that MVG is not available as his form has been iffy and he has struggled to gel with his Dutch teammates since Raymond van Barneveld retired.

The Netherlands have failed to make the final since Barney last played with MVG in 2018. Both Noppert (2020) and Van Duijvenbode (2021) have represented the Netherlands alongside MVG but failed to get beyond the quarter finals.

Noppert is in great form and should gel well with the power scoring of Dirk, who played very well in the mid-week players championship events, reaching the final on Tuesday and the quarter finals yesterday. Not being in the shadow of MVG will be better for both and they could go all the way.

4. Belgium

The familiar line up of Kim Huybrechts and Dimitri van den Bergh. This will be their fifth year together and they have reached two semi-finals. Van den Bergh won the Nordic Darts Masters at the weekend and is a different beast on the big stage. The question is, can he carry Huybrechts and if so, how far?

Dangerous opponents, but a little lopsided. Huybrechts showed some useful form in the mid-week, reaching the semi-finals yesterday and is nothing if not fully committed. Belgium have a history of overperforming in this competition, and another good run is possible.

5. Australia

Much like Belgium, Australia is bit lopsided, with Heta being one of the heaviest scorers in the game but Whitlock is past his best, if still a very competitive player. They have reached the quarter finals for the last two years with this line up and they will be no push overs but will likely trip up at some point.

Damon Heta made the last 16 in both the mid-week events, playing well, but just not converting his form into more wins. The Wizard reminded everyone that his is not finished yet by beating Michael Smith yesterday, and not many people have manged that recently.

6. Northern Ireland

This will be the seventh year of the Dolan/Gurney partnership, and they peaked back in 2016 when they reached the semi-final. They made the quarter finals last year but have lost at the first round stage three times. 

This is a line-up that has under delivered and it’s hard to see that changing in 2022. Superchin won five matches mid-week and put in some good performances, but his form is patchy, even within matches. Brendan Dolan is playing OK, but not his best. Norn Iron have a decent draw and should be able to make the quarter finals, than things get tricky.

7. Germany

Gabriel Clemens is in poor form, but Schindler is largely playing well. One-man teams, even with home advantage, rarely do well. Germany have reached at least the quarter finals in six of the last nine years, helped by the fact that this event is nearly always played in Germany. They have a decent draw and should reach the quarter finals but the crowd will have to play a big part to help them get much further.

8. Scotland

The defending champions but only seeded 8th thanks to John Henderson’s low ranking. Scotland have had many good teams and are blessed with having a two-time World Champion in the side. Wright and Anderson won in 2019 but didn’t defend the title due to Covid worries. Wright returned with Henderson last year and pulled off an unlikely looking win. Snakebite hasn’t been in great form recently and Henderson’s win rate in 2022 is just 30%.

Hard to fancy, but I said that last year. At least Henderson warmed up by finally showing good form in mid-week, winning more pro tour matches than he had for the rest of the year put together. He reached the quarter final on Tuesday and the fourth round yesterday. That was seven wins in two days, giddy heights indeed.

Peter Wright on the other hand lost his first round match on Tuesday 1-6 to Steve Beaton but reached the semi-final yesterday. However, he averaged just 88.3 across those five matches.

Best of the Non-Seeded Nations

The vast majority of the unseeded nations are here to broaden the competition’s international reach, rather than having any realistic chance of having a deep run. However, there are some that will be hard to beat and may cause an upset or two.

Austria

Last year’s runners up. The Suljovic, Rowby-John Rodriguez was the surprise package. Mensur Suljovic has played in all eleven previous World Cups with various partners. He has been paired with Rowby-John  four times in total and reached the quarter finals three times, and the final once.

Clearly, they gel well and punch above their weight. The problem is that Mensur is all but retired. He has lost eight of his last ten matches and surely that kind of form is going to put too much pressure on Rowby-John.

Canada

This will be the third year with the Jeff Smith/Matt Campbell line up. This year, both players are tour card holders and more experienced for it. They reached the quarter finals in 2020 but fell at the first fence last year. Smith’s win rate in 2022 is only 41% and Campbell’s 52%. Hard to fancy Canada having a good run given their form.

Czech Republic

It is a sign of the times that the Czech Republic are fielding a good team. Both Gawlas and Sedlacek are now experienced players. Sedlacek lost his tour card last year but if anything, is playing better than ever. Both players have enjoyed good runs on the Euro tour this season and they are fancied to go well by many pundits.

The Czech teams in the past have never won a match in their seven previous appearances, including this pairing for the last two years. They have drawn England in the first round. Both players have lost seven of their last ten matches and they have the toughest draw possible.

Ireland

The 2019 runners up and this will be Lennon and O’Connor’s fifth appearance. Outside of that final Ireland have never gone beyond the second round. Both are experienced, competent professionals, but neither are in great form.

Poland

This is a team with real potential. Ratajski is a very heavy scorer, very experienced and while he just isn’t getting the results in 2022, there is little wrong with his game. Young Bialecki is an exciting prospect as he showed when reaching the quarter-final of this year’s UK Open. Ratajski has played in eight World Cups, but never got beyond the second round. That could change this year.

The 2022 World Cup Of Darts Draw

The first round is the big banana skin for the big boys. The first to five leg pairs match is a great leveller and a chance for the lesser lights to pull off a surprise. That said in 2021 all the seeds won, in 2020 both the Irish teams lost as seeds. 2019 saw Wales and Northern Ireland as losing first round seeds with Austria the only seed to go in 2018.

2017 saw a huge shock with number1 seeds Scotland going out to Singapore and Northern Ireland to Germany. All the seeds made round 2 in 2016, and before that we had 16 seeded teams, many of whom were not worthy of the title.

First Round Danger

The first round is a potential shock zone, but the shocks have been relatively few, except for Northern Ireland who seem to have cornered the market for exiting early as a seeded nation.

There is just one first round matchup which had looked dangerous for the seeds. England have drawn the Czech Republic and they will have to hit the ground running otherwise we could see a surprise. However, both the Czech players have hit a flat spot form wise. Outside of that, I would be surprised to see any seeds going home early. Even Northern Ireland should make this time has they are up against Gibraltar.

England, should they survive the tricky first round tie, look primed to win the top quarter, but Scotland could prove tricky if Hendo keeps his form of the mid-week. Peter Wright isn’t at his best at the moment, however.

Open

The second quarter looks more open. Belgium and Australia are the two seeded teams, but Poland are a bit of a dark horse, should they beat the USA in the opener. Australia could edge this quarter, but Belgium usually have a good run.

Wales and Germany are the third quarter seeds. Germany has home advantage but while Schindler in playing well, Gabriel Clemens form is a worry. Wales should get through the quarter but with neither Price nor Clayton in top form, they look like false favourites at 3.00 to lift the trophy.

The bottom quarter has the Netherlands as the standout team.

2022 World Cup Of Darts Ante Post Selections

1 point The Netherlands to win the 2022 World Cup of darts @ 6.50 with generally available

1 point England to win the 2022 world cup of darts @ 6.00 with Ladbrokes

There will be another update later today with a look at selected matches from this evening’s session.

-JamesPunt