{"id":5127,"date":"2021-09-08T22:04:17","date_gmt":"2021-09-08T22:04:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dartoidsworld.net\/2021\/09\/column-cm101-its-world-cup-time\/"},"modified":"2024-02-14T20:58:37","modified_gmt":"2024-02-14T20:58:37","slug":"column-cm101-its-world-cup-time","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dartoidsworld.net\/2021\/09\/column-cm101-its-world-cup-time\/","title":{"rendered":"Column #CM101 It’s World Cup Time!"},"content":{"rendered":"

Wednesday, September 8, 2021
\nColumn CM101
\nIt’s World Cup Time!<\/strong><\/p>\n

The time has come – the PDC World Cup is GAME ON!<\/p>\n

While last year the tournament had to be played due to the Corona pandemic behind the closed doors of the Salzburg Arena in Salzburg, the World Cup this year returns to Germany and will be played\u00a0with<\/em>\u00a0a crowd in Jena.\u00a0 As the pandemic is far from over the number of spectators is limited to 900 a session and there are still regulations \u2013 you have either to be tested or to be fully vaccinated or to have recovered to\u00a0be allowed in, and you must wear a mask when you don\u2019t sit at your place.<\/p>\n

Among the players we had saw only one refusal due to the pandemic \u2013 Gary Anderson decided to stay at home as he did last year.\u00a0 All other players decided to travel to Germany though some \u2013 like Paul Lim \u2013 with mixed emotions.<\/p>\n

It is the eleventh edition of the event and many of the participating countries are taking part for the eleventh time though the composition of the teams has changed over the years. But there are some players who are representing their country for the eleventh time \u2013 Simon Whitlock, Brendan Dolan, Mensur Suljovic and William O\u2019Connor.\u00a0 Team Philippines will consist this year of the two players who appeared in the first edition \u2013 Lourence Ilagan and Christian Perez.\u00a0 On other teams two debutants will stand at the oche \u2013 for example, the Chinese team includes Jianfeng Lu and Wenqing Liu.\u00a0 Not much is known about them, and they stand for the first time on an international stage.\u00a0 The same applies to the Japanese Team.<\/p>\n

Who could be a possible winner?\u00a0 One can\u2019t answer this with confidence but let\u2019s have a look on the seeded teams.<\/p>\n

To be sure, the reigning champion Team Wales with the World Champion Gerwyn Price and the Premier League winner Jonny Clayton is one of the favourites.\u00a0 This team is one others will have to beat should one intend to win the event.\u00a0 It\u2019s already known that the two players are a\u00a0real<\/em>\u00a0team.\u00a0 Both players are in good form.\u00a0 Price just won the Hungarian Darts Trophy.\u00a0 Their first-round opponent will be Team Finland.\u00a0 But though the Finn’s Marko Kantele and Veijo Viinikka are very experienced players they probably will not have a chance against the Welshmen.<\/p>\n

Team Belgium is a harmonising team as well \u2013 rarely did one see Kim Huybrechts as relaxed as at his appearances together with Dimitri van den Bergh in the PDC World Cup.\u00a0 But it\u2019s been a long time since one has seen Huybrechts in top form.\u00a0 Dimitri van den Bergh reached a semi-final in Super Series 6, and he loves the big stage and the crowd.\u00a0 Belgium will meet Team Greece in the first round which moved up for Team Croatia.\u00a0 Though John Michael played well in the Hungarian Darts Trophy it will be difficult for Team Greece to survive the first round.<\/p>\n

Whether Team Northern Ireland really works as a team I still don\u2019t know, even after all the years they have played together \u2013 since 2016 Brendan Dolan and Daryl Gurney have played for their country.\u00a0 But one\u00a0can<\/em>\u00a0say both players are in good form.\u00a0 Gurney presented himself in the Hungarian Darts Trophy near his best form.\u00a0 So, Team Northern Ireland to be sure is a serious opponent and it would be a surprise should they not at least survive the first-round match against Hong Kong.<\/p>\n

The German team is back among the seeds this year.\u00a0 As last year, Max Hopp and Gabriel Clemens will play together – and both didn\u2019t convince recently.\u00a0 Clemens and Hopp are also not as good together as Max Hopp and Martin Schindler, but German teams usually have team spirit.\u00a0 With Team Canada \u2013 Jeff Smith and Matt Campbell \u2013 the German team has drawn a strong first round opponent.\u00a0 They will need a lot of team spirit to overcome them.<\/p>\n

As well and as last year, Team Australia will come on stage \u2013 Simon Whitlock will play together with Damon Heta.\u00a0 For the Australian team it is a rather special situation \u2013 the shock over Kyle Anderson\u2019s sudden death still looms large and it will probably bind them together in a rather special way.\u00a0 To be sure they will want to show their best performance for their friend.\u00a0 Heta played better then Whitlock in the Hungarian Darts Trophy but now they have a shared objective.\u00a0 It will be difficult for Team Italy \u2013 debutants Danilo Vigato and Michele Turetta\u00a0– to oppose that.<\/p>\n

Besides, we find among the seeded – Team England, Team Netherlands and Team Scotland who all will stand at the oche in new composition.<\/p>\n

For Team Netherland the World Cup-experienced Michael van Gerwen will play together with World Cup debutant Dirk van Duijvenbode.\u00a0 I\u2019ve no idea whether they will be a good team.\u00a0 But both players are too strong as individual players to lose against the Danish players Andreas Toft Joegensen and Nils Heinsoe in the first round.\u00a0 Whether they will be a good enough team to be among the favourites to win the event will only show during the event.<\/p>\n

Team Scotland has never before stood at the oche with Peter Wright and John Henderson.\u00a0 Wright was no good in the Hungarian Darts Trophy but previously won a Players Championship.\u00a0 Henderson last year played the World Cup together with Robert Thornton and they were not bad and won their first-round match.\u00a0 So, Wright\/Henderson could become a good team even though they might be not the favourite for the tournament win.\u00a0 Team Scotland meets completely unknown Team China in the first round.\u00a0 The Scotsman should be able to win that match.<\/p>\n

And finally, we have the number 1 seed Team England which consists of James Wade and Dave Chisnall this year.\u00a0 For me that really was a surprise.\u00a0 I had to read that twice\u2026 James Wade and Dave Chisnall!<\/p>\n

It is only the second time Wade will play in the World Cup.\u00a0 The first time he played together with Phil Taylor in the inaugural event, and it didn\u2019t work at all.\u00a0 They were the number 1 seed as well but lost in a sensational match in the second round against Team Spain.<\/p>\n

Well, and this time it will be Wade and Chisnall (who already played once together with Adrian Lewis and once with Rob Cross).\u00a0 It is difficult to assess whether Wade can be a team player at all, but I am sure it will work better together with Chisnall then it did with Taylor.\u00a0 It might be it will work so well that Team England will be one of the favourites for the win in the end.\u00a0 But first they must defeat Team Brazil with Diogo Portela and Artur Valle – it should be a solvable task.<\/p>\n

From the 24 unseeded teams some stand out.\u00a0 Among others we have Team Austria with Mensur Suljovic and Rowby-John Rodriguez \u2013 a well-practiced team, though in 2018 and 2019 Suljovic played together with Zoran Lerchbacher.\u00a0 It is difficult to rate the form of the team.\u00a0 Suljovic was eliminated early in the Hungarian Darts Trophy while Rodriguez was in good form on the Challenge Tour.\u00a0 In the first round they will meet Team Philippines with Lourence Ilagan and Christian Perez \u2013 a team one shouldn\u2019t underestimate.<\/p>\n

A strong unseeded team probably will be Team Canada.\u00a0 To be sure it will be difficult to overcome Team Germany in the first round.\u00a0 Matt Campbell just got his Tour Card by dominating on the European Challenge Tour.<\/p>\n

Another team which might turn out to be a threat is Team Portugal \u2013 Jose de Sousa is a very strong player and always good for a surprise.\u00a0 So, the first-round match between Team Portugal and the team from the Republic of Ireland – William O\u2019Connor and Steve Lennon – could turn out to be a highlight of the first round.<\/p>\n

On the team of the Czech Republic, one finds Adam Gawlas who was so impressive in the Hungarian Darts Trophy and who only just lost to Jose des Sousa in the quarterfinals.\u00a0 His team colleague Karel Sedlacek is not a bad player either and their match against Team Poland – Krzysztof Ratajski\/Krzysztof Kciuk \u2013 could as well be a highlight.<\/p>\n

We can look forward to a thrilling tournament which looks rather open to me.\u00a0 Such a constellation promised upsets, close matches and hopefully a lot of doubles – which for me are part of the attraction of the tournament.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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Her husband introduced her to the sport by bringing a dartboard into their marriage (or was it to their wedding?), turning her from a librarian by day into a darts fanatic by night. Charis has been writing about the sport for years and is a regular at most PDC majors, from which she provides reports and conducts player interviews. She is bilingual and cultured, with a love for literature, dance, music, cats, and the conservation movement. Charis\u2019 writings about darts and its players often transcend the typical, showcasing her class and distinction, unlike Dartoid and the Old Dart Coach."}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dartoidsworld.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5127"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dartoidsworld.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dartoidsworld.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dartoidsworld.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dartoidsworld.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5127"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dartoidsworld.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5127\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5215,"href":"https:\/\/dartoidsworld.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5127\/revisions\/5215"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dartoidsworld.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4140"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dartoidsworld.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5127"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dartoidsworld.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5127"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dartoidsworld.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5127"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dartoidsworld.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ppma_author?post=5127"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}