SCOTLAND will be the number one seeds for the 2018 Betway World Cup of Darts following the confirmation of the 32 teams for the event, with Rob Cross to make his debut for England.
The 32-nation World Cup of Darts will be held from May 31-June 3 at the Eissporthalle in Frankfurt, and broadcast live on Sky Sports.
Reigning champions Netherlands – three-time winners since the event’s introduction in 2010 – will be represented once again by Michael van Gerwen and Raymond van Barneveld as they bid to retain the title.
However, with seedings based on the cumulative PDC Order of Merit ranking of players, Scotland’s Peter Wright and Gary Anderson – ranked second and fourth in the world – will be top seeds as they bid to erase the memory of a first round exit to Singapore in 2017.
England, four-times winners, will have a new-look side as 2017 representative Dave Chisnall is joined by debutant Cross, whose World Championship win lifted him up to third in the world.
Former finalists Australia will be seeded fourth as Simon Whitlock teams up again with Kyle Anderson, while two-time runners-up Wales will see Gerwyn Price joined by another debutant, Jonny Clayton.
World Grand Prix champion Daryl Gurney partners Brendan Dolan for number six seeds Northern Ireland, who were semi-finalists in 2014 and 2016.
Seventh seeds Belgium will see former finalist Kim Huybrechts partnered by reigning PDC Unicorn World Youth Champion Dimitri Van den Bergh, who makes his debut in the event.
Austria’s Mensur Suljovic and debutant Zoran Lerchbacher complete the eight seeds, with the remaining 24 nations being drawn at random in the first round draw.
The two surprise packages of the 2017 event, following runs to the quarter-finals, will retain the same pairings as Singapore once again see Paul Lim and Harith Lim in action and Russia are represented by Boris Koltsov and Aleksandr Oreshkin.
Host nation Germany, also quarter-finalists in 2017, will again be represented by youngster Max Hopp and Martin Schindler, while recent Development Tour event winner Dawson Murschell makes his debut alongside three-time World Champion John Part for Canada.
Chinese youngster Xiaochen Zong is partnered by Momo Zhou, who becomes the second female competitor to take part in the event after qualifying recently.
Justin Broton edged out Dylan Duo to earn the right to partner Dyson Parody for Gibraltar, with new faces Alexander Fehlmann and Andreas Bless set to team up for Switzerland.
The draw for the Betway World Cup of Darts will be made on Thursday May 17.
The first round will be split across Thursday May 31 and Friday June 1, with the second round on Saturday June 2. The quarter-finals will begin the final day of action on Sunday June 3, with the semi-finals and final in the evening session.
For tickets, visit www.pdc-europe.tv.
2018 Betway World Cup of Darts Competitors
1 Scotland – Peter Wright & Gary Anderson
2 England – Rob Cross & Dave Chisnall
3 Netherlands – Michael van Gerwen & Raymond van Barneveld
4 Australia – Simon Whitlock & Kyle Anderson
5 Wales – Gerwyn Price & Jonny Clayton
6 Northern Ireland – Daryl Gurney & Brendan Dolan
7 Belgium – Kim Huybrechts & Dimitri Van den Bergh
8 Austria – Mensur Suljovic & Zoran Lerchbacher
Brazil – Diogo Portela & Bruno Rangel
Canada – John Part & Dawson Murschell
China – Momo Zhou & Xiaochen Zong
Czech Republic – Roman Benecky & Karel Sedlacek
Denmark – Per Laursen & Henrik Primdal
Finland – Kim Viljanen & Marko Kantele
Germany – Max Hopp & Martin Schindler
Gibraltar – Dyson Parody & Justin Broton
Greece – John Michael & Veniamin Symeonidis
Hong Kong – Royden Lam & Ho Yin Shek
Hungary – Tamas Alexits & Nandor Bezzeg
Italy – Michel Furlani & Alessio Medaina
Japan – Seigo Asada & Haruki Muramatsu
New Zealand – Cody Harris & Warren Parry
Poland – Krzysztof Ratajski & Tytus Kanik
Republic of Ireland – Steve Lennon & William O’Connor
Russia – Boris Koltsov & Aleksandr Oreshkin
Singapore – Paul Lim & Harith Lim
South Africa – Devon Petersen & Liam O’Brien
Spain – Cristo Reyes & Antonio Alcinas
Sweden – Daniel Larsson & Dennis Nilsson
Switzerland – Alexander Fehlmann & Andreas Bless
Thailand – Thanawat Gaweenuntavong & Attapol Eupakaree
United States of America – Larry Butler & Darin Young