Pairings Confirmed for World Cup of Darts 2023
A host of big names saw their places confirmed at this summer's new-look My Diesel Claim World Cup of Darts, with Damon Heta and Simon Whitlock set to defend their title for Australia.
Nations who will be represented by players from the PDC Order of Merit saw their team pairing confirmed at the conclusion of last weekend's European Darts Grand Prix (ET9), with the top two ranked players invited to compete for their country.
World Cup ever-present Whitlock and world number 15 Heta will once again don the famous green and gold having claimed a historic first win for Australia in 2022.
Rob Cross' victory in Sindelfingen last weekend saw him seal a return to the event following a two-year absence, and he will partner world number one Michael Smith for four-time winners England.
The Netherlands, who have also won the title on four occasions, will be represented by newly-crowned six-time Premier League champion Michael van Gerwen and world number eight Danny Noppert, who reached the quarter-finals together in 2020.
Gary Anderson will make his first appearance in a Scotland shirt in four years, re-forming his 2019 World Cup winning partnership with world number two Peter Wright.
2020 champions Wales will be represented by world number four Gerwyn Price and five-time TV title winner Jonny Clayton for a sixth successive year.
Brendan Dolan, William O'Connor and Mensur Suljovic will maintain their ever-present records for Northern Ireland, Republic of Ireland and Austria alongside Daryl Gurney, Keane Barry and Rowby-John Rodriguez respectively.
2013 runners-up Belgium will be represented by Dimitri Van den Bergh and Kim Huybrechts for a sixth consecutive year, while Gabriel Clemens and Martin Schindler will once again team up for host nation Germany.
Nations with qualifiers from the PDC Nordic & Baltic region will see their players confirmed on June 5 following the PDCNB weekend in Finland.
The 2023 World Cup of Darts will be staged at Frankfurt's Eissporthalle from June 15-18, with an expanded tournament featuring 40 teams and a £450,000 prize fund.
A revamped format which will feature a group and knockout stage of all Doubles matches across four days of action, as Australia defend the title they won for the first time in 2022.
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. 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 17 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.
Tickets for the World Cup of Darts are available now through PDC Europe.
2023 World Cup of Darts
Competing Nations & Pairings
Australia - Damon Heta, Simon Whitlock
Austria - Mensur Suljovic, Rowby-John Rodriguez
Bahrain - Basem Mahmood, Abdulnasser Yusuf
Belgium - Dimitri Van den Bergh, Kim Huybrechts
Canada - Matt Campbell, Jeff Smith
China - Xiaochen Zong, Lihao Wen
Croatia - Boris Krcmar, Romeo Grbavac
Czech Republic - Adam Gawlas, Karel Sedlacek
Denmark - Vladimir Andersen, TBC
England - Michael Smith, Rob Cross
Finland - Marko Kantele, TBC
France - Thibault Tricole, Jacques Labre
Germany - Gabriel Clemens, Martin Schindler
Gibraltar - Craig Galliano, Justin Hewitt
Guyana - Norman Madhoo, Sudesh Fitzgerald
Hong Kong - Man Lok Leung, Lok Yin Lee
Hungary - Patrik Kovács, Levente Sárai
Iceland - TBC, TBC
India - Prakash Jiwa, Amit Gilitwala
Italy - Michele Turetta, Massimo Dante
Japan - Jun Matsuda, Tomoya Goto
Latvia - Madars Razma, Dmitriy Zhukov
Lithuania - Darius Labanauskas, TBC
Netherlands - Michael van Gerwen, Danny Noppert
New Zealand - Ben Robb, Warren Parry
Northern Ireland - Brendan Dolan, Daryl Gurney
Philippines - Christian Perez, Lourence Ilagan
Poland - Krzysztof Ratajski, Krzysztof Kciuk
Portugal - Jose de Sousa, Luis Ameixa
Republic of Ireland - William O'Connor, Keane Barry
Scotland - Peter Wright, Gary Anderson
Singapore - Paul Lim, Harith Lim
South Africa - Devon Petersen, Vernon Bouwers
Spain - Jose Justicia, Tony Martinez
Sweden - Dennis Nilsson, Oskar Lukasiak
Switzerland - Stefan Bellmont, Marcel Walpen
Thailand - Attapol Eupakaree, Yong Gaweenuntavong
Ukraine - Vladyslav Omelchenko, Illia Pekaruk
USA - Jules van Dongen, Leonard Gates
Wales - Gerwyn Price, Jonny Clayton
Schedule of Play
Thursday June 15 (1900 local time, 1800 BST)
Group Stage – Opening Matches
Friday June 16
Afternoon Session (1200 local time, 1100 BST)
Group Stage – Second Matches
Evening Session (1900 local time, 1800 BST)
Group Stage – Final Matches
Saturday June 17
Afternoon Session (1300 local time, 1200 BST)
Second Round x4
Evening Session (1900 local time, 1800 BST)
Second Round x4
Sunday June 18
Afternoon Session (1300 local time, 1200 BST)
Quarter-Finals
Evening Session (1900 local time, 1800 BST)
Semi-Finals
Final
Format
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 games will be played in a Doubles format.
Prize Fund (Per Team)
Winners - £80,000
Runners-Up - £50,000
Semi-Final Losers - £30,000
Quarter-Final Losers - £20,000
Last 16 Losers - £9,000
Second in Group - £5,000
Third in Group - £4,000
Total - £450,000