Friday 3 June 2016
Darts Weekly
BETWAY WORLD CUP OF DARTS
Scotland avoid first round scare Report and day two preview pages 2-5 ●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●● ●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●● ●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●
Record broken as Ashton keeps title Page 6
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Friday 3 June 2016 Darts Weekly
Late comeback from Scotland helps overcome a huge scare, while the Dutch also progress Alex Moss CHIEF DARTS WRITER Scotland avoided a huge scare to beat New Zealand on the first night of this year’s Betway World Cup of Darts in Frankfurt yesterday. World champion Gary Anderson and Peter Wright reached the final last year, but the Scottish team of Anderson and Robert Thornton looked in real danger of an early exit last night. The New Zealand pairing of Warren Parry and Cody Harris impressed as they established a 3-1 lead in their first round clash, with Harris particularly catching the eye with a 125 checkout in the first leg. Staring down the barrel of a first round defeat, the Scots fought back with 12, 15, 16 and 14 dart legs to sneak through as 5-3 winners. Thornton started the comeback with a 124 checkout on the bull, before Anderson hit tops to take out 95 to level the match. The number two seeds then took the next two legs to book their place in the last 16 and a meeting with Norway tomorrow. “Once the draw came out we knew we were in for a tough game because Warren and Cody are very good darts players,” Anderson said. “Pairs is a different format for us and it’s a hard game to get into because you only get one throw in four so you’ve got no rhythm. “It was a hard battle and at 3-1 down they were on a finish and the 124 got us back into the game. “It was a sweet shot from Robert but he’s playing well and we can look forward to the rest of the weekend now.” Pre-tournament favourites the Netherlands were also made to work for their place in the last 16, as the Dutch pairing of Michael van Gerwen and Raymond van Barneveld beat Russia 5-3. At 3-1 up the two-time World
Cup champions looked to be cruising into the next round, but Boris Koltsov and Aleksandr Oreshkin took two of the next three legs to close the gap to 4-3. Van Barneveld then made sure there would be no nervy deciding leg, hitting double 10 to close out the win and a second round clash with the Philippines on Saturday. “The Russians were good and Boris Koltsov played really well,” van Gerwen said. “But we didn’t play as well as we can. It’s a bit strange for us as it’s the only pairs event each year, but we won and we’re into the next round on Saturday. “We want to win but we want to play a little bit better than this and it will come.” Former World Cup finalists and sixth seeds Australia also booked their place in the last 16 yesterday,
“It was a sweet shot from Robert and we can look forward to the weekend now” as the new pairing of Simon Whitlock and Kyle Anderson ended the host nation Germany’s hopes with a 5-3 win. Jyhan Artut and Max Hopp had enjoyed a run to the quarter-finals for Germany 12 months ago and made a solid start by holding their throw twice to go 2-1 in front. But Whitlock landed the winning double in the next three legs for the Aussies to put them 4-2 up, with debutant Anderson sealing the win in the eighth leg. “It was tough playing against the Germans and the crowd,” Whitlock said. “But I’m proud of Kyle. “It was his first time and he was nervous but he did the job. We can improve a bit because we threw a lot of loose darts and missed a few doubles here and there. “But it was a good performance I think for the first round. It’s a
Safely through: Anderson and Whitlock celebrate their win great start for us two together. I felt good with Kyle and I feel as though we can go deep in this tournament.” Belgium, the 2013 World Cup finalists, also moved into the second round last night, as the Huybrechts brothers, Kim and Ronny, eased past Poland 5-1. A last 16 meeting with Hungary now awaits the Belgians on Saturday, after Nandor Bezzeg and Patrik Kovacs came from 3-2 down to beat Thailand 5-3 in the opening match of the tournament. World Cup debutant Cor Dekker impressed for Norway in their 5-2 win over Gibraltar, while the Philippines also produced a late comeback, winning three legs in a row to beat the USA 5-3. Australia will face Denmark in the second round tomorrow, with the pairing of Per Laursen and 20year-old debutant Daniel Jensen seeing off Sweden 5-2 last night.
Darts Weekly Friday 3 June 2016
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Alcinas relives Spain’s shock win ahead of England clash England get their bid for a fourth Betway World Cup of Darts title started tonight against a nation they will know plenty about. The first staging of the PDC’s World Cup back in 2010 saw top seeds England, then comprised of Phil Taylor and James Wade, take on Spain in the second round. Taylor and Wade took a 4-2 lead and looked on course for victory, before an 83 checkout on the bull by Spain’s Antonio Alcinas and a 125 checkout by Carlos Rodriguez in successive legs turned the tide. In the decider, an 11 darter saw Spain pull off the upset, and six years on from that famous game, the two nations meet again on the World Cup stage tonight. “It was incredible and very
exciting because it was my first year playing in the PDC,” Alcinas recalled. “The win against England was something I never thought we could do, but in the end we played very well and we also had a bit of luck to get the win. “We play England again this year and they are the favourites along with the Netherlands. But the x
Big upset: Spain beat England in the first World Cup in 2010
important thing is to concentrate in the first round. Whoever you play in the first round is difficult.” After knocking out England, Alcinas and Rodriguez went on to reach the semi-finals of that year’s World Cup. A quarter-final appearance followed in 2013, while last year the new pairing of Alcinas and Cristo Reyes were knocked out by Belgium in the second round. Mallorca-based Alcinas has struggled to reach the heights of his pairs career on the main PDC tour, with Reyes having taking over the mantle as the number one Spanish player in the organisation. After winning the Iberian qualifier to earn a place at the 2015 William Hill World Championship, 28-year-old Reyes has been rising in the PDC and heads into this year’s World Cup in 43rd spot on the Order of Merit. “Cristo can play and if we beat England again it would be quieter because people know he can play very well,” Alcinas added.
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Friday 3 June 2016 Darts Weekly
EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW
“Playing pairs on the TV is new to me but we’re the fourth seeds and want to go deep in the World Cup”
Daryl Gurney chats with Alex Moss ahead of his debut in the Betway World Cup of Darts tonight
orthern Ireland have had plenty of success in recent years in the Betway World Cup of Darts, but this weekend the new pairing of Brendan Dolan and Daryl Gurney head to Frankfurt with their country’s highest ever seeding in the competition. Alongside previous partners John MaGowan and Michael Mansell, Dolan and the Northern Irish team have been seeded sixth. Now with Derry high flyer Gurney, Northern Ireland are the fourth seeds and are among the nations who could cause an upset against the leading pack. “Brendan is still well up in the rankings and I’ve done well this year,” Gurney said. “It’s good to see that the three countries in front of us are the top three in the world, and that’s England, Scotland and Holland. “So it just shows we are good players and the only ones who are beating us in the rankings are your world champions, world number ones and the best players about. “We’re going to be up there trying to fight against these top nations. “Whenever somebody says we’re the fourth seeds then me and Brendan are obviously
“We’re going to be up there trying to fight against these top nations” back from 3-1 down to beat Luke
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doing something right in the rankings. It’s a proud stat to be number four, just behind the top three in the world.” Since fully switching over to the PDC and winning his tour card at Q-School in 2013, Gurney has been a player who many predicted would have a bright future. In the last 12 months the 30year-old, nicknamed Super Chin, has seen his results start to match his undoubted potential. After reaching two semi-finals in the Players Championship floor events, Gurney continued that momentum to knock out both Kim Huybrechts and Gary Anderson in the Players Championship Finals to progress to his first major quarter-final on the PDC circuit. Anderson would get his revenge on the Northern Irishman with a 4-1 win in the second round of the World Championship at the Alexandra Palace, in a match which Gurney had chances to win the second and third sets. That disappointment on the big stage was forgotten about in February this year when Gurney got to the final of the Dutch Masters, his first PDC final. Currently ranked 28th in the Order of Merit, and catching up with Dolan in 21st, Gurney is eager to succeed. “I’m pleased with
Darts Weekly Friday 3 June 2016
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how the year has gone so far,” he said. “But there’s still room for improvement. “I’m still trying to get another couple of percentage on my throw and trying to throw even better than I am. “I still want to improve. I’m 28th in the world but I’d rather be in the top 16, or even higher.” Gurney makes his debut in the
“I’m 28th in the world but I’d rather be up in the top 16, or even higher” PDC’s World Cup tonight when he partners up with Dolan to take on Japan in the first round. The two nations have met once before, with Dolan and Mansell getting the better of Japan 2-0 in the second round two years ago. Haruki Muramatsu and Keita Ono make up the Japanese team this year, and both have experience playing on the big stage, which
Debut: Northern Ireland’s Daryl Gurney PICTURES: LAWRENCE LUSTIG/PDC means Gurney is not expecting to ease through his debut tonight. “It’s a long time since I played pairs,” he admits. “It’s probably been a year. “I need to get into the swing of it quickly because we’re playing a good team in Japan. “I’ve never played in a televised pairs tournament before so it’s all going to be new to me. “Hopefully me and Brendan can get through a few rounds and see where we go from there. “It’s just the same as every other competition in that the first round is always the hardest. “You never know what’s going to happen after that. The aim is to get past the first round and then move on from there. “If we can beat Japan we can get more confidence playing together and play better, and hopefully go deep in the competition.”
Anderson ends MVG’s reign in Dubai with late comeback win Gary Anderson produced a fine comeback to beat Michael van Gerwen 11-9 and win the Dubai Duty Free Darts Masters for the first time last Friday. The defending champion van Gerwen had won all three stagings of the World Series event since its inception in 2013, and with an 8-4 lead in the final looked on course to claim a fourth successive title at the Dubai Tennis Centre. Anderson missed eight darts at doubles to cut MVG’s lead down from 7-4 to 7-5, with the world number one opening up a four-leg lead in the best of 21 legs final. The Flying Scotsman hit back though with a run of four straight legs to level at 8-8, before the next two legs were shared to leave the decider finely poised at 9-9. A missed dart at double 12 from van Gerwen was punished in the 19th leg, as Anderson stepped in to take the lead for the first time. And after the Dutchman missed six more darts at doubles in the next leg, the reigning world champion hit double five to clinch a maiden title in Dubai. “This is a brilliant win,” the Scot said. “It was hard but I could see Michael tiring at the end. He took his foot off the gas a little and missed a couple of doubles. “This is my second time here and it’s a fantastic place. Last year I came here and I didn’t know what to expect, and I learned a lot. I came here with a heavier set of darts and they went a lot better.”
Title success: Gary Anderson (DUBAI DUTY FREE)
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Friday 3 June 2016 Darts Weekly DAVID GILL
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Dazzler shines to pick up first major title on British soil
Lisa Ashton retained her BDO Sports Direct World Trophy title on a Bank Holiday weekend which saw her also break the ladies world record TV average. The Lancashire Rose denied world number one Deta Hedman her first title on the Lakeside stage on Monday night, winning the final 7-4 to become the first lady to retain the World Trophy. But the previous day Ashton wrote her name into the record books after finishing with a 98.84 three-dart average in her quarterfinal with Corrine Hammond. The record was previously held by Trina Gulliver, who averaged 97.56 against Francis Hoenselaar in the 1999 World Masters final. That 17-year record was eclipsed by Ashton, who eased to a 5-1 win over Hammond averaging 98.84.
“I was so happy with that game, it was absolutely brilliant,” she said. “I couldn’t ask for anything more than that. “I’m over the moon with it. My first game I was struggling a lot and I thought if I actually get my game together, and it did and all clicked together there.” Ashton started her recordbreaking display with a 12 dart leg, before Hammond made the most of missed doubles from the 45year-old to level up at 1-1. But the 2014 and 2015 world champion kicked on again by winning four legs in a row, in 15, 17, 14 and 15 darts, which included checkouts of 118 and 120 to finish with an historic 98.84 average. “I can’t believe I’ve retained it,” Ashton said after winning the final. “I couldn’t be happier.”
Darryl Fitton claimed his first major title in the UK after beating unseeded Australian finalist Peter Machin 13-9 in the final of the BDO Sports Direct World Trophy on Monday night. The Dazzler had previously won the Zuiderduin Masters in Holland back in 2009, but before last weekend had never got over the line in a major BDO tournament held on British soil. Fitton reached the final after wins over Craig Caldwell, Martin Phillips, Darius Labanauskas and Jamie Hughes, while World Trophy debutant Machin saw off reigning world champion Scott Waites on his way to the final. The decider saw Stockport’s Fitton open up two-leg leads on several occasions, only for Machin to respond and get back level. With the best of 25 legs final locked at 9-9, the Dazzler won four legs in succession to win 13-9 and take home the £20,000 prize. “It’s been really difficult but I just tried to pace myself out,” Fitton said after lifting the trophy. “I just couldn’t get into the game at all and I think Peter was the same. It’s my first major trophy over here so I’m happy, and at the Lakeside as well. “I hit the notes at the right time so I’m really happy with that. I got a couple of good scores and my finishing was a little bit better in the last few legs.”
Aussie duo book spots
Petri’s slice of history
HD2 makes TV debut
Damon Heta and Corey Cadby both earned a spot at upcoming PDC World Series events. Heta beat John Weber 6-1 in the final of the DPA Australian Singles to win a place at the Auckland Darts Masters later this month. While Cadby overcame Darren Herewini by the same scoreline in the DPA Australian Open final, which qualified him for August’s Ladbrokes Sydney Darts Masters.
Daniele Petri made history by becoming the first Italian to qualify for a PDC European Tour event on Wednesday. The Udine thrower beat Daniel Jensen, Marko Kantele and then Bryan de Hoog in the European Qualifier to clinch a place at the European Darts Open next month. Before that, Petri and Michel Furlani will represent Italy in the World Cup of Darts this weekend.
The new Unicorn Eclipse HD2 dartboard was used for the first time in competition in the opening night of the PDC Betway World Cup of Darts yesterday. Using the finest “grade A” sisal, the HD2 dartboard also features the new Spider2 radial wires and super thin bullseye. In addition, a new-look invisible number ring also uses injection moulded replaceable numbers.
Ashton breaks record in World Trophy defence
Darts Weekly Friday 3 June 2016
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Will we ever see darts in the Olympics? The WDF (World Darts Federation) moved one step closer to Olympic compliance following a Memorandum of Understanding in Switzerland earlier this week. AIMS (Alliance of Independent Members of Recognized Sport), who have 23 sporting international federations as full members, including the WDF, signed an agreement with the IOC (International Olympic Committee) in Lausanne on Tuesday. The ceremony was witnessed by four vice presidents from the IOC, Sweden’s Tony Alanentalo won his first title on the BDO circuit and IOC directorhis general Christophe after beating fellow countryman Daniel Larsson 6-4 in the De Kepper, which is a testament final of the Winmau FinnishofOpen on Saturday. The next day the importance of the signing. saw Dennis Nilsson, also of Sweden, win the Finnish Masters. crown. Database
Tony tops the pile in Finland Open
PDC DUBAI DUTY FREE DARTS MASTERS (Dubai Tennis Centre) Semi finals - M van Gerwen (105.09) 11-7 D Chisnall (97.35), G Anderson (97.29) 11-7 P Taylor (101.65). Final - M van Gerwen (100.95) 9-11 G Anderson (97.98).
(69.51), USA (72.35) 3-5 Philippines (77.36), Norway (76.36) 5-2 Gibraltar (71.49), Denmark (84.67) 5-2 Sweden (79.90), Belgium (91.78) 5-1 Poland (79.44), Scotland (93.50) 5-3 New Zealand (90.80), Netherlands (82.52) 5-3 Russia (80.01), Australia (85.40) 5-3 Germany (80.24).
PDC UNICORN CHALLENGE TOUR (Robin Park Tennis Centre, Wigan)
BDO SPORTS DIRECT WORLD TROPHY (Lakeside Country Club, Surrey)
Event Five quarter finals - R Cross 5-2 K Parry, A Hunt 5-2 S March, N Fullwell 5-4 R Harrington, M Hylton 5-4 R Sudale. Semi finals - R Cross 5-3 A Hunt, N Fullwell 5-2 M Hylton. Final - N Fullwell 5-1 R Cross.
Men’s last 32 - G Durrant (86.43) 6-2 A Fordham (80.49), D Labanauskas (88.05) 6-2 B Lynn (78.36), D Fitton (92.70) 6-4 C Caldwell (85.59), M Phillips (81.93) 6-3 T Hankey (81.60), W Harms (85.62) 3-6 N Kenny (84.39), M McGeeney (86.88) 6-2 J Event Six quarter finals - A Hunt 5-2 S Smith (86.07), J Hughes (91.98) 6-3 R Joyce Brown, P Smith 5-3 R North, E White 5-4 L (84.63), G de Vos (88.47) 6-4 R Janssen Evans, J Bain 5-4 B de Hoog. Semi finals - (80.97), M Adams (88.92) 6-1 M Razma A Hunt 5-2 P Smith, J Bain 5-4 E White. (78.33), D Reynolds (85.29) 6-1 D Cameron Final - A Hunt 5-3 J Bain. (74.79), S Mitchell (91.32) 6-5 R Montgomery (96.84), D Noppert (89.79) 6-3 Event Seven quarter finals - R Searle 5-1 S Asada (85.41), J Williams (87.06) 4-6 P D Portela, B Kirk 5-1 S Groen, M Dudbridge Machin (94.32), R Veenstra (79.80) 4-6 T 5-0 M Lukeman, A Smith-Neale 5-4 N O’Shea (83.25), S Waites (88.62) 6-4 K Fullwell. Semi finals - R Searle 5-0 B Kirk, Ratajski (86.19), B Dawson (87.69) 6-3 J M Dudbridge 5-3 A Smith-Neale. Final - R Widmayer (82.62). Last 16 - G Durrant Searle 5-2 M Dudbridge. (104.55) 3-7 D Labanauskas (101.43), D Fitton (91.26) 7-3 M Phillips (81.90), N Event Eight quarter finals - S Taylor 5-0 Kenny (93.51) 6-7 M McGeeney (94.01), J A Hajimina, M Todd 5-3 P Coughlin, B Lynn Hughes (92.55) 7-6 G de Vos (97.17), M 5-2 R Burnett, R Cross 5-2 J Marriott. Semi Adams (86.62) 5-7 D Reynolds (84.90), S finals - S Taylor 5-1 M Todd, B Lynn 5-3 R Mitchell (95.04) 6-7 D Noppert (89.67), P Cross. Final - S Taylor 5-4 B Lynn. Machin (87.54) 7-6 T O’Shea (84.87), S Waites (84.81) 7-1 B Dawson (79.02). PDC BETWAY WORLD CUP OF Quarter finals - D Labanauskas (92.00) DARTS (Eissporthalle, Frankfurt) 7-8 D Fitton (87.17), M McGeeney (83.96) 1-8 J Hughes (95.06), D Reynolds (92.86) Last 32 - Hungary (72.51) 5-3 Thailand 8-5 D Noppert (95.97), P Machin (92.20)
Burnett enjoys run to quarterfinals on return to PDC circuit Richie Burnett marked his return to action in the PDC with a run to the quarter-finals of one of the Unicorn Challenge Tour events on Sunday. The former world champion’s 18month ban from competing in the sport ended last month, with this past weekend seeing the Welshman back playing on the PDC circuit. After losing his first game in the sixth and seventh events, Burnett claimed four 5-0 whitewash wins in a row on route to the quarter-finals of the eighth event, before losing to Braintree’s Barry Lynn 5-2. Nick Fullwell, Adam Hunt, Ryan Searle and Scott Taylor each won an event on the tour over the weekend.
8-4 S Waites (88.76). Semi finals - D Fitton (89.57) 11-9 J Hughes (87.95), D Reynolds (90.14) 9-11 P Machin (86.48). Final - D Fitton (87.84) 13-9 P Machin (81.19) Ladies last 16 - L Ashton (73.56) 4-1 C Gallagher (61.98), C Hammond (69.24) 4-1 A Zijlstra (65.85), A de Graaf (77.31) 4-2 L Turner (72.48), A Dobromyslova (72.48) 4-1 S Prins (69.57), D Hedman (77.07) 4-0 A-L Peters (71.46), T Gulliver (65.79) 4-3 P Jacklin (66.18), F Sherrock (81.63) 3-4 R Griffiths (78.75), L Winstanley (72.06) 4-2 Z Jones (71.70). Quarter finals - L Ashton (98.84) 5-1 C Hammond (79.08), A de Graaf (70.29) 2-5 A Dobromyslova (72.30), D Hedman (81.33) 5-1 T Gulliver (65.40), R Griffiths (72.54) 5-2 L Winstanley (73.38). Semi finals - L Ashton (75.29) 6-2 A Dobromyslova (71.15), D Hedman (84.66) 6-1 R Griffiths (73.30). Final - L Ashton (83.54) 7-4 D Hedman (77.13). BDO WINMAU FINNISH OPEN (Rantasipi Airport Hotel, Vantaa) Men’s quarter finals - J Hurrell 2-5 T Alanentalo, V Viinikka 5-2 S Lennon, D Nilsson 0-5 D Larsson, O Lukasiak 5-1 M Andersson. Semi finals - T Alanentalo 5-3 V Viinikka, D Larsson 5-2 O Lukasiak. Final - T Alanentalo 6-4 D Larsson.
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Friday 3 June 2016 Darts Weekly
SEAN McCORMICK TOTAL ECLIPSE OF THE DART x
Coverage from Dave has given the BDO real momentum It was a brilliant weekend for everybody associated with the BDO as the World Trophy finally took to our television screens. Forget age-old stigmas, forget the PDC-BDO divide, forget the laughable ‘pub darts’ jibes, the 2016 BDO World Trophy was an overwhelming success. Three days of pulsating tungsten tussling brought about a new ladies world record average, countless upsets, an unseeded finalist, knowledgeable crowds, light-hearted celebrity exhibition matches and a new winner of the men’s competition. While the averages don’t match up to the PDC, the unpredictability of BDO competitions is an endearing characteristic which eternally entertains its followers. Since the first post-split World Championship at Lakeside there have been 17 unseeded finalists, with the World Trophy itself having three different winners since its return in 2014. This year saw the emergence of Australian ace Peter Machin, who had never played in a televised BDO major prior to the weekend. But he surged through to the final knocking out the much fancied Jim Williams, former World Championship finalist Tony O’Shea, reigning world champion Scott Waites and talented Welsh
youngster Dean Reynolds. Another triumph was the quality of coverage provided by the UKTV channel Dave during the weekend. Its production was clean and current. The commentary team impressed throughout and Dave completely put their own stamp on
‘The BDO are riding the crest of a wave of optimism right now after last weekend’ the Lakeside stage, making it almost unrecognisable from the World Championship set up which graced the BBC for many years. Let’s not forget it was only a matter of weeks ago when people were questioning the BDO’s position moving forward. The first
DAVID GILL
two events of the much heralded ‘new era’ both fell through, and the BBC announced it was ending its 38-year association with the BDO World Championship. After the Victoria Warehouse in Manchester pulled out of hosting the World Trophy, Lakeside was announced as the new venue. The lack of communication and the lingering doubts about the tournament going ahead were a huge concern, yet following its success the BDO finally has a chance to leave a dismal few months behind and build for the future. The BDO are riding the crest of a wave of optimism right now after Lakeside proved its versatility in hosting different events, and in Dave it has a fresh broadcaster who seem in it for the long haul.
Darts Weekly Quiz 5 1 Who partnered Antonio Alcinas to help Spain reach the semi-finals of the first PDC World Cup of Darts in 2010? 2 In the 2012 World Cup, which
Canadian duo recorded singles wins over England’s Phil Taylor and Adrian Lewis in the last 16? 3 How many different runner-ups have there been in the World Cup? the PDC World Championship? 4 What was the last TV title James
4 Which country did England beat in last year’s World Cup final? Last week’s answers - 1. James Wilson; 2. Alan Norris; 3. Jeffrey de Graaf (10-9); 4. Fallon Sherrock.