After surviving a scare against the Americans in Round Two, the Dutch pairing of Michael van Gerwen and Raymond van Barneveld experienced a few more on finals day, but did what they needed to emerge as champions.  Both Germany and Wales (the beaten finalists) gave the Dutch something to think about, but quite honestly, it never looked like being enough.

The day started with some incredible darts in the Belgium vs Singapore quarter-final.  On Saturday, Ronny Huybrechts produced scintillating performance to record the highest ever average (115.62) by a Belgian in a televised event.  Twenty-four hours later, it was younger brother Kim’s turn…

Kim needed just 12 darts (100, 180, 180, 41) to break Paul Lim – who was sitting on 44 after 12 – in the first.  He needed just 12 more (100, 140, 180, 81) to double his lead.  Lim was down to 180 after nine darts.  In the third, Paul posted a 13-darter of his own, after the Belgian had wired a 161 out for his third 12!  A 14 from Kim made it 3-1, but the averages at this stage were Huybrechts 118.74, and Lim 106.82.  A cracking 11-darter (180, 140, 145, 36) gave Huybrechts the win, the new Belgian record, and the second highest televised average of all time.

Harith Lim then beat Ronny Huybrechts to force a decider, which went to Belgium 4-2.

Wales dropped only one leg against Russia, but England bounced back from a surprising 4-0 defeat of Adrian Lewis by Mensur Suljovic to take a narrow win over the Austrians.  The Netherlands were never able to relax against Germany, and MVG only just got the win against Martin Schindler.  Max Hopp followed by beating Barney, and it took another good display in the doubles to keep the Dutch afloat.

In the semis, both Gerwyn Price and Mark Webster took their singles in six legs, and the tournament was over for the remarkable Huybrechts brothers.  It was a similar result in the other semi, with van Gerwen inflicting Lewis’ second defeat of the day (4-2), while Dave Chisnall managed to force a seventh leg against van Barneveld.

The final didn’t start well for the Welsh, with Price failing to win a leg against the reigning World Champ.  Webster leveled the match with a 4-1 victory over Barney.  Although the format for the final included reverse singles after the doubles (if necessary – which it was now), the result of the doubles was always going to be the turning point.  This time, it turned favorably for the Dutch with a comfortable 4-1 win.  Gerwyn Price fought hard against Barney, even forging a 2-1 lead, but one missed dart at tops (for a 120 check) in the fifth leg was to prove costly for the Welshman.

A fabulous weekend, with some incredible darts, a few shocks, an enthusiastic audience, and proof that the World Cup of Darts is here to stay.

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