The PDC World Cup of Darts is a team darts tournament organised by the Professional Darts Corporation, and was one of the three new tournaments introduced into the PDC calendar in 2010. It is broadcast live by Sky Sports.[1] Due to the rescheduling of the Players Championship Finals in the PDC calendar, the second edition was played in Hamburg, Germany, in February 2012.[2] In 2015, the event took place the Eissporthalle Frankfurt,[3] where it stayed until returning to Hamburg in 2019 when it moved to the Barclaycard Arena. In 2020, the event was held at the Salzburgarena in Salzburg, Austria, and in 2021, it returned to Germany, this time in the Sparkassen-Arena, Jena, and in 2022 and 2023, it returned to Frankfurt once more.
The competition succeeded the Jocky Wilson Cup; a one-off international match between England and Scotland held in Glasgow on 5 December 2009. England defeated Scotland by 6 points to 0.
Background
In October 2009, PDC chairman Barry Hearn announced his intention to buy the British Darts Organisation and inject £2 million into amateur darts, but the BDO decided not to accept the offer. In a statement, Hearn stated "The aim of our offer to the BDO was to unify the sport of darts and this remains our long-term objective despite the decision by the BDO County Associations"[4] The Jocky Wilson Cup was held in December.
But following the BDO's rejection, the PDC went on to arrange three brand new tournaments for 2010 to help the development of youth and women's darts: the PDC Under-21 World Championship, the PDC Women's World Championship, and the PDC World Cup of Darts.[1]
In the first 3 competitions (held in 2010, 2012 and 2013), the participating teams were the top 24 countries in the PDC Order of Merit at the end of October after the 2010 World Grand Prix. Each nation's top ranked player was then joined by the second highest player of that country. For seeding, the average rank of both was used.
The top 8 nations automatically started in the second round (last 16). The other 16 nations played in the first round. Matches were best of 11 legs in doubles, and the losing team threw first in the next leg. The winners of the first round played the top eight ranked teams in the second round, also in best of 11 doubles.
In 2010, the winners of the second round were drawn into two groups of four (A & B). Each team played each other once (three matches per team). Each match consisted of two singles and one doubles – all over best of five legs. 1 point was awarded for a singles win, and 2 points for a doubles win, with all points counting towards the overall league table. The top two teams in each group advanced to the semi-finals.
The semi-finals consisted of four singles games and one doubles game (if required) per match – all over best of 11 legs. Again, 1 point was awarded for a singles win, and 2 points for a doubles win. If the match score is 3–3 at the end of the games, then a sudden-death doubles leg would decide who goes through to the final.
The final was the same format as the semi-final, but each game was best of 15 legs.[5]
In 2012, the first round format remained the same, with the exception being that the matches were best of 9 doubles. The second round had games where each match consisted of two singles and one doubles – over best of seven legs in singles, and best of 9 legs in doubles. As before, 1 point was awarded for a singles win, and 2 points for a doubles win. If the score was tied 2–2, then a sudden death doubles leg took place to determine the winner. The format was the same for the quarter-finals, with the exception that the doubles matches were best of 7 legs, like the singles.
In the semi-finals, games had each match consisting of four singles and one doubles match – over best of seven legs. As before, 1 point was awarded for a singles win, and 2 points for a doubles win. If the score was tied 3–3, then a sudden death doubles leg took place to determine the winner. In the final, the match consisted of four singles and one doubles match – over best of 13 legs. As before, 1 point was awarded for a singles win, and 2 points for a doubles win. If the score was tied 3–3, then a sudden death doubles leg took place to determine the winner.
In 2013, a new format was created. The 24 teams were put into groups of 3, which each contained one of the top 8 seeds, plus two other teams. The teams played each other in best of 9 doubles matches, with the top 2 in each group progressing to the last 16. The last 16 also used the same best of 9 doubles format.
In the quarter-finals onwards, the matches began with two best of 7 leg singles matches. If one team won both singles matches, they were declared the winner, if each team won one match each, a best of 7 doubles match would decide the winner. In the final, there would be four best of 7 leg singles matches (if needed), with a point for each win, with a 7 leg doubles decider, if the singles matches ended making the score 2–2.
In 2014 and 2015, the field extended to 32 teams, with the top 16 teams being seeded, and each playing a best of 9 doubles match to begin. After that, the format was the same as the later stages of the previous tournament with two best of 7 leg singles matches. If one team won both singles matches, they were declared the winner, if each team won one match each, a best of 7 doubles match would decide the winner. In the final, there would be four best of 7 leg singles matches (if needed), with a point for each win, with a 7 leg doubles decider, if the singles matches ended making the score 2–2. In 2015, the final was tweaked, so that the doubles match would be the third match.
The format remained the same until 2023, with the only major change being in 2016, when only the top 8 teams were seeded, rather than the top 16.
In March 2023, the PDC announced a completely revamped format for the following tournament set to happen between 15–18 June 2023. This new format consisted of 40 different nations for the first time in the events history and a group stage for the first time since 2013. 12 groups of 3 countries were drawn, with the winner of each group advancing into the second round, while the top four ranked countries automatically advance into the second round. This format also consisted of doubles throughout the competition for the first time.[6]
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Richard Mark Burnett, nicknamed Prince of Wales, is a Welsh professional darts player who plays in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events. He is a former World No. 1 who won the 1995 Embassy World Darts Championship. Burnett is known for coming on to "Dakota" and dancing on stage. He is also known for his fiery personality, fighting with Adrian Lewis on stage during the 2012 Players Championship Finals.
Gary James Grant Anderson is a Scottish professional darts player playing in events of the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC). Nicknamed "The Flying Scotsman", after the famous steam train, he is a former BDO and WDF world number one, and a two-time PDC World Champion, having won the title in 2015 and 2016. He is regarded as one of the best darts players of all time.
Mark Webster is a Welsh former professional darts player. Nicknamed Webby and The Spider, he played in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events. Webster began his career on the British Darts Organisation (BDO) circuit, winning the BDO World Championship in 2008. He became a full-time professional in 2009, having previously been a fully qualified registered plumber. He now works as an analyst and commentator on Sky Sports and ITV.
Larry Thomas Butler, nicknamed The Bald Eagle, is an American professional darts player who was the winner of the 1994 PDC World Matchplay Darts Championship. This success made him the first and so far only player from the United States of America to have won a PDC Major darts tournament in Europe.
Paul Michael Nicholson is an English former professional darts player who played in events of the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC). He won a major event, the 2010 Players Championship Finals, where he defeated Mervyn King in the final. He was also the runner-up to Phil Taylor in the 2011 Championship League Darts, and part of the Australia team which lost a sudden death shoot-out to England in the 2012 PDC World Cup of Darts final.
The Jocky Wilson Cup was a professional darts team tournament that took place at the Braehead Arena in Glasgow, Scotland, on 5 December 2009. This one-off tournament, which was named after Jocky Wilson, a two-time world darts champion, was the last of the eight non-ranking Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events of the 2009 season. The tournament was contested by two nations of two players each. The winning nation was the first country to earn four points over a five-match series – four singles fixtures and one doubles game.
The 2010 Cash Converters World Cup of Darts was the first edition of the PDC World Cup of Darts which took place between 3–5 December 2010 at the Rainton Meadows Arena in Houghton-le-Spring, England.
The 2012 Cash Converters World Cup of Darts was the second edition of the PDC World Cup of Darts which took place between 3–5 February 2012 at the Alsterdorfer Sporthalle in Hamburg, Germany.
The 2013 Betfair World Cup of Darts was the third edition of the PDC World Cup of Darts which took place between 1–3 February 2013 at the Alsterdorfer Sporthalle in Hamburg, Germany.
The 2014 bwin World Cup of Darts was the fourth edition of the PDC World Cup of Darts which took place between 6–8 June 2014 at the Alsterdorfer Sporthalle in Hamburg, Germany.
The 2015 bwin World Cup of Darts was the fifth edition of the PDC World Cup of Darts which took place between 11–14 June 2015 at the Eissporthalle in Frankfurt, Germany.
The 2016 Betway World Cup of Darts was the sixth edition of the PDC World Cup of Darts. It took place between 2–5 June 2016 at the Eissporthalle in Frankfurt, Germany.
The 2017 Betway World Cup of Darts was the seventh edition of the PDC World Cup of Darts. It took place between 1–4 June 2017 at the Eissporthalle in Frankfurt, Germany.
The 2018 Betway World Cup of Darts was the eighth edition of the PDC World Cup of Darts. It took place between 31 May–3 June 2018 in at the Eissporthalle in Frankfurt, Germany.
The 2019 BetVictor World Cup of Darts was the ninth edition of the PDC World Cup of Darts. It took place from 6–9 June 2019 at the Barclaycard Arena in Hamburg, Germany.
The 2020 PDC World Darts Championship was the 27th World Championship organised by the Professional Darts Corporation since it separated from the British Darts Organisation. The event took place at Alexandra Palace in London from 13 December 2019 to 1 January 2020.
The 2020 BetVictor World Cup of Darts was the tenth edition of the PDC World Cup of Darts. It took place behind closed doors from 6–8 November 2020 at the Salzburgarena in Salzburg, Austria. The event was originally due to be held between 18–21 June 2020 at the Barclaycard Arena in Hamburg, Germany, but was postponed and relocated due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It was also relocated away from a second planned venue of the Premstättner Halle in Graz.
The 2021 Cazoo World Cup of Darts was the eleventh edition of the PDC World Cup of Darts. It took place from 9–12 September 2021 at the Sparkassen-Arena in Jena, Germany.
The 2022 Cazoo World Cup of Darts was the twelfth edition of the PDC World Cup of Darts. It took place from 16 to 19 June 2022 at the Eissporthalle in Frankfurt, Germany.
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