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World Cup of Darts: Fixtures, results, format with Luke Humphries, Michael Smith and Michael van Gerwen in action – but no Luke Littler

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World Cup of Darts: Fixtures, results, format with Luke Humphries, Michael Smith and Michael van Gerwen in action – but no Luke Littler

The World Cup of Darts takes place in Frankfurt, live on Sky, with Luke Humphries, Michael Smith and Michael van Gerwen all playing – but no Luke Littler.

Wales won last year through Gerwyn Price and Jonny Clayton but Price will miss this year’s tournament due to health reasons so Clayton will team up with Jim Williams instead.

Top seeds and four-time champions England will be represented by Luke Humphries – making his World Cup debut – and Michael Smith, but Luke Littler will not feature.

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Emma Paton explains why Luke Littler won’t be part of England’s World Cup of Darts team, with Luke Humphries and Michael Smith selected instead.

The two highest-ranked English players in the PDC Order of Merit are picked and ‘The Nuke’ is currently 25th on that list, with Humphries at No 1 and Smith at No 3.

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Emma Paton, Richard Ashdown and Megan Wellens discuss how Michael Smith and Luke Humphries will do at the World Cup of Darts. Is it England’s time to shine at the World Cup?

Michael van Gerwen and Danny Noppert will line up for four-time winners and third seeds Netherlands, while Peter Wright and Gary Anderson will fly the flag for two-time champions and fourth seeds Scotland.

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All the best of the action from last year’s World Cup of Darts finals night in Frankfurt

Damon Heta and Simon Whitlock will continue their partnership which saw them claim glory for Australia in 2022, while former runners-up Belgium, Republic of Ireland and Austria are also among the teams seeded 5-16.

Paul Lim, at the age of 70, and Harith Lim will compete on behalf of Singapore having qualified for the country’s 10th tournament.

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Speaking on Love The Darts, Paul Lim talked about the feeling of representing your country ahead of last year’s tournament

Who is Paul Lim?

The 70-year-old is a legend of this sport

In 1990, he hit the first nine-dart finish in a World Championship, and pocketed £52,000, more than double what a certain Phil Taylor took home for winning the whole event

Since their World Cup debut in 2014, Singapore have built for themselves a reputation as giant-killers.

The duo, who are unrelated, surprised third seeds Wales in 2019 and top seeds Scotland in 2017, which was also when they went on to record their best finish by reaching the quarter-finals.

World Cup of Darts format

The revamped format successfully introduced last year will return in 2024, with group and knockout stages of all Doubles matches across four days of action.

The top four ranked nations, based on the lowest cumulative PDC Order of Merit ranking of the two competing players, will be seeded and will enter at the second-round stage.

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Emma Paton, Richard Ashdown, and Megan Wellens discuss if the way players qualify for the World Cup should change to allow in-form players in

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

The second round, featuring the last 16 nations, will be split across two sessions on Saturday June 29 before the quarter-finals take place on Sunday afternoon, with the tournament culminating in the semi-finals and final on Sunday evening – with the eventual champions to earn a combined £80,000 in prize money.

  • Group Stage – Best of seven legs
  • Second Round – Best of 15 legs
  • Quarter-Finals – Best of 15 legs
  • Semi-Finals – Best of 15 legs
  • Final – Best of 19 legs

All matches will be played in a doubles format

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Josh Rock told Sky Sports’ Love the Darts Podcast that representing Northern Ireland alongside Brendan Dolan in the World Cup is a ‘massive achievement’

Competing nations and pairings

Seeds 1-4 – Through to round two
(1) England – Luke Humphries, Michael Smith
(2) Wales – Jonny Clayton, Jim Williams
(3) Netherlands – Michael van Gerwen, Danny Noppert
(4) Scotland – Peter Wright, Gary Anderson

Seeds 5-16 – Seeded for group stage
(5) Belgium – Dimitri Van den Bergh, Kim Huybrechts
(6) Northern Ireland – Josh Rock, Brendan Dolan
(7) Germany – Martin Schindler, Gabriel Clemens
(8) Australia – Damon Heta, Simon Whitlock
(9) Republic of Ireland – William O’Connor, Keane Barry
(10) Austria – Rowby-John Rodriguez, Mensur Suljovic
(11) Poland – Krzysztof Ratajski, Radek Szaganski
(12) Czechia – Adam Gawlas, Karel Sedlacek
(13) Croatia – Boris Krcmar, Romeo Grvabac
(14) France – Jacques Labre, Thibault Tricole
(15) Sweden – Jeffrey de Graaf, Oskar Lukasiak
(16) USA – Danny Lauby, Jules van Dongen

Non-Seeded nations
Bahrain – Basem Mahmood, Duda Durra
Canada – Matt Cnampbell, David Cameron
China – Xiaochen Zong, Chengan Liu
Chinese Taipei – Teng-Lieh Pupo, An-Sheng Lu
Denmark – Benjamin Reus, Claus Bendix Nielsen
Finland – Marko Kantele, Teemu Harju
Gibraltar – Justin Hewitt, Craig Galliano
Guyana – Norman Madhoo, Sudesh Fitzgerald
Hong Kong – Lok Yin Lee, Man Lok Leung
Hungary – Gabor Jagica, Nandor Major
Iceland – Arngrimur Olafsson, Petur Gudmundsson
Italy – Michele Turetta, Massimo Dalla Rosa
Japan – Tomoya Goto, Ryusei Azemoto
Latvia – Madars Razma, Valters Melderis
Lithuania – Darius Labanauskas, Mindaugas Barauskas
Malaysia – Siik Hwang Wong, Mohamad Nasir
New Zealand – Haupai Puha, Ben Robb
Norway – Cor Dekker, Hakon Bjorge Helling
Philippines – Christian Perez, Alexis Toylo
Portugal – Jose de Sousa, David Gomes
Singapore – Paul Lim, Harith Lim
South Africa – Johan Geldenhuys, Cameron Carolissen
Spain – Jose Justicia, Jesus Noguera
Switzerland – Stefan Bellmont, Bruno Stockli

Group stage draw

Group A
(5) Belgium
Singapore
Philippines

Group B
(6) Northern Ireland
South Africa
Switzerland

Group C
(7) Germany
New Zealand
Finland

Group D
(8) Australia
Japan
Hong Kong

Group E
(9) Republic of Ireland
Lithuania
Chinese Taipei

Group F
(10) Austria
China
Guyana

Group G
(11) Poland
Norway
Hungary

Group H
(12) Czech Republic
Bahrain
Iceland

Group I
(13) Croatia
Malaysia
Canada

Group J
(14) France
Latvia
Denmark

Group K
(15) Sweden
Spain
Gibraltar

Group L
(16) USA
Portugal
Italy

World Cup of Darts fixtures and results

Thursday, June 27 (6pm BST)
Group Stage – Opening Matches results

Belgium 4-2 Singapore (A)
Northern Ireland 4-1 South Africa (B)
Germany 4-3 New Zealand (C)
Australia 4-3 Japan (D)
Republic of Ireland 4-2 Lithuania (E)
Austria 4-0 China (F)
Poland 4-2 Norway (G)
Czech Republic 4-3 Bahrain (H)
Croatia 4-0 Malaysia (I)
France 4-1 Latvia (J)
Sweden 4-0 Spain (K)
USA 2-4 Portugal (L)

Friday, June 28
Afternoon Session (11am BST)

Group Stage – Second Matches

Spain 3-4 Gibraltar (K)
Bahrain 0-4 Iceland (H)
Latvia 4-2 Denmark (J)
Malaysia 3-4 Canada (I)
Lithuania 2-4 Chinese Taipei (E)
Norway 4-3 Hungary (G)
USA 2-4 Italy (L)
Singapore 1-4 Philippines (A)
South Africa 4-2 Switzerland (B)
New Zealand 4-0 Finland (C)
Japan 1-4 Hong Kong (D)
China 4-2 Guyana (F)

Evening Session (6pm BST)
Group Stage – Final Matches

Sweden 4-1 Gibraltar (K)
Czechia 4-0 Iceland (H)
France 4-3 Denmark (J)
Croatia 4-2 Canada (I)
Republic of Ireland 3-4 Chinese Taipei (E)
Poland 4-1 Hungary (G)
Portugal 3-4 Italy (L)
Belgium 4-0 Philippines (A)
Northern Ireland 4-3 Switzerland (B)
Germany 4-1 Finland (C)
Australia 4-2 Hong Kong (D)
Austria 4-1 Guyana (F)

Saturday, June 29
Afternoon Session (12pm BST)

Second Round

(12) Czech Republic 6-8 Sweden (15)
(10) Austria 8-4 Chinese Taipei
(4) Scotland 8-2 Poland (11)
Italy 8-7 Australia (8)

Evening Session (6pm BST)
Second Round

(6) Northern Ireland 8-7 Germany (7)
(1) England 8-3 France (14)
(2) Wales 6-8 Croatia (13)
(3) Netherlands 2-8 Belgium (5)

Sunday, June 30
Afternoon Session (12pm BST)

Quarter-Finals

Croatia v Austria
Belgium v Italy
England v Northern Ireland
Scotland v Sweden

Evening Session (6pm BST)
Semi-Finals

Croatia/Austria v Belgium/Italy
England/Northern Ireland v Scotland/Sweden

Final

England/Northern Ireland/Scotland/Sweden v Croatia/Austria/Belgium/Italy

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