Wales wins the 2023 World Darts Team Championship

Gerwyn Price and Jonny Clayton have done it. Wales has won the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) World Cup of Darts for the second time since 2020. In the final, the number two seeded team defeated Scottish duo Peter Wright and Gary Anderson 10:2. Their path to the title had previously taken them through Denmark (8:2), Sweden (8:5) and Belgium (8:7). For the German-speaking teams, things only went really well for one participant.

The German duo of Martin Schindler and World Championship semi-finalist Gabriel Clemens had every chance of reaching the final. However, too many mistakes on the doubles sealed the 5:8 defeat against Scotland and their exit in the semi-finals in front of their home fans in Frankfurt am Main. In the quarter-finals, they had previously surprisingly beaten the number one seeds from England, led by current world champion Michael Smith, 8:3.

Switzerland and Austria

In contrast, things did not go so well for Austria and Switzerland. Both nations were seeded as group leaders in their respective groups, but were eliminated at this stage. Stefan Bellmont and Marcel Walpen, the Swiss participants, were defeated by Italy (3:4) and Sweden (1:4). The two Austrians Mensur Suljovic and Rowby-John Rodriguez at least managed to win their match against the USA 4:2, but lost the opener against Denmark by the same score.

I wrote an article last week to preview the tournament, which included the participants from each nation and the rule changes.

The storyline

The storyline of the tournament, however, belonged to the Belgian duo Dimitri Van den Bergh and Kim Huybrechts. Formerly good friends and mentor and mentee respectively, the two didn't even look at each other during their first match on Thursday. Other professional players hinted at a dispute between the two, but did not give any details. In a joint statement, the Belgians said that they had sat down together to discuss their differences. Together they wanted to do their best for their country and win the trophy.

In very exciting matches, Van den Bergh and Huybrechts were able to prevail in the deciding leg against the weakened Netherlands in the round of 16 and the defending champions Australia in the quarter-finals. Dutch superstar Michael van Gerwen had to withdraw at short notice and was replaced by Dirk van Duijvenbode. In these close matches, the two players pulled themselves together and were visibly able to push themselves. In the end, however, it was not enough for them to reach the final. In the decider, the deciding leg of the match, they lost to the Welshmen.

The surprises

The new mode and the focus on team matches meant there were a few surprises at the World Cup of Darts. The French reached the quarter-finals in only their second participation, but were knocked out by finalists Scotland. The Swedes suffered the same fate against the eventual winners Wales. As unseeded nations, Croatia, South Africa, Denmark and the Philippines also made it through to the round of 16.

All in all, the new mode seemed to have been very well received not only by me, but also by the players and fans on site. "The game format was perfect for a small country like ours. We were able to spring surprises more easily, even though we suffered a very heavy defeat against two legends in our last game," wrote French participant Thibault Tricole in a tweet. "This new format has proved to be a great success," said Wayne Mardle, Sky Sports pundit, in his summary. "The players have praised it and when they enjoy the games, the standard is very high."

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