We will begin the knockout phase of the World Cup of Darts on Saturday afternoon starting at 12:00 pm. The format goes up considerably; from best of 7 legs in the group stage to best of 15 legs for this round.
The past two days saw the group stage of the World Cup of Darts. England, Wales, the Netherlands and Scotland had already been directly admitted to the knockout phase, but 12 more countries had to be added. The remaining 36 participating countries were divided into 12 groups of three countries each. The twelve winners of these groups have now been allowed to join the last sixteen.
The first match is between the Czech Republic and Sweden, two countries that remained unbeaten in the knockout phase. The Czech Republic started with a difficult 4-3 win over Bahrain, before Karel Sedlacek and Adam Gawlas were 4-0 too strong for Iceland. Swedish duo Jeffrey de Graaf and Oskar Lukasiak won easily over Spain (4-0) and Gibraltar (4-1).
Chinese Taipei emerged as the surprise of the group stage. The debutant country pulled off a huge shock by beating both Lithuania (4-2) and outsider Ireland (4-3). Teng Lieh Pupo and An-Sheng Lu now get to take on former finalist Austria. Mensur Suljovic and Rowby-John Rodriguez conceded just one leg in their matches against China (4-0) and Guyana (4-1).
Scotland will start the tournament Saturday afternoon. Last year’s losing finalist faces Poland. Krzysztof Ratajski and Radek Szaganski triumphed in their pool against Norway (4-2) and Hungary (4-1).
The last match of the afternoon is between Italy and Australia. For the first time in the history of this tournament, Italy managed to make it to the last sixteen. Massimo Dalla Rosa and Michele Turetta were responsible for that with wins over the United States (4-2) and Portugal (4-3). Australia withstood two difficult matches against Japan (4-3) and Hong Kong (4-2).
Format at World Cup of Darts
The revamped format, which was successfully introduced last year, will return in 2024. The tournament will begin with a group stage before moving into a knockout phase. In addition, all matches will consist of pairings.
All group matches will be played on Thursday, June 27, and Friday, June 28. The group winner of each pool advances to the last sixteen. The second round, with the last remaining sixteen countries, compete on Saturday, June 29, for a spot in the quarterfinals. These will take place on Sunday afternoon, June 30. The semifinals and finals are scheduled for Sunday evening.
The tournament was won in 2023 for the second time by Gerwyn Price and Jonny Clayton, after they won in 2020 >they were the best duo. However, due to health reasons, Price cannot participate in the upcoming edition of the World Cup of Darts. His place will be taken by Jim Williams. Four-time champion England will be represented by world champion Luke Humphries – making his debut at the World Cup – and world number three Michael Smith. Peter Wright and Gary Anderson make up the Scottish team. On behalf of the Netherlands, Michael van Gerwen and Danny Noppert will play at the World Cup of Darts.
TV Guide and live stream
The tournament will be broadcast by Sky Sports. On Friday afternoon at 11:00 the second series of group matches will already begin. The evening session will then start again at 18:00, when the final matches of the group stage will be played.
The 12 group stage winners will advance to the last sixteen. Then the four top nations also advance into the tournament. The first four duels of the second round will be played from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday, June 29. Consequently, the format has gone up considerably. From best of 7 legs in the group stage to best of 15 legs in the knockout stage.
On Saturday night, June 29, from 7:00 p.m. to 11:00 p.m., the last four matches of the second round will be played. After that, it will be known which eight countries will advance to the final day of the World Cup of Darts. The quarter-finals will take place on Sunday, June 30, from 12:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. The semifinals and final of the World Cup of Darts are scheduled on Sunday evening from 6pm.
Distribution of prize money
A total of 450,000 pounds of prize money will be distributed at the World Cup of Darts. All participants in the pool phase will receive at least 2,000 pounds per person. The players from the top four countries will receive £9,000 per person anyway.
Only after that does it get really lucrative. The quarter-finalists each receive £10,000 credited to their bank accounts. The semi-finalists each receive 15,000 pounds for their performance. The losing finalists both receive £25,000 in prize money, while the winners go home with £40,000 each. The prize money won does not count toward the world rankings, by the way.
Playing schedule World Cup of Darts 2024
Saturday, June 29
Afternoon session (from 12p.m.)
Second round
Czech Republic v Sweden
Austria v Chinese Taipei
Scotland v Poland
Italy v Australia
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