So, we head into the last day of the 2017 WDF World Cup, and what a day it promises to be!  While the Singles events are usually the focus of attention, the spotlight is shared with the Team events, as the senior Overall gold medals have not yet been decided.  There are several possibilities depending on the outcome of both the Singles and Team Finals.  However, let us look at the Youth events first…

The Youth World Cup has gone – unsurprisingly – to the Netherlands.  The Mixed Pairs Final was an all-Dutch affair, the Boys’ Pairs gold was won by the Dutch, and the Dutch Girls took the silver.  The Boys’ Singles will be an all-Dutch affair.  Going into the final day, the Netherlands are sitting on a total of 268, 77 points clear of Iran, with the Republic of Ireland a further 7 points back in third.  What is interesting here is that the Girls’ Singles Final is between the Republic of Ireland and Iran, so Katie Sheldon needs to beat Deniz Hashtbaran to force a tie for the silver medal.  Neither Ireland nor Iran have any kind of Youth gold, so this is momentous for both countries.

At the moment, the Women’s table is headed by the Netherlands, 20 points ahead of Sweden.  The Singles Final is Netherlands versus Sweden, and so too is the Team Final!  If Sharon Prins beats Vicky Pruim for the Singles title, the Dutch cannot be caught, but should Vicky win, whoever wins the Team Final also takes the Overall!  Russia are guaranteed bronze.  Sweden have never won Women’s Singles gold, but the Dutch have two victories.  This is only the second Women’s Team event, England winning in Turkey two years ago.

It’s not too different with the men, just a three-way fight for the medals, with one of those nations being the USA!

The Men’s Singles final is an all-Smith clash, with Canada’s Jeff taking on Australia’s Raymond.  The Team Final pits the USA against Australia.

As it stands, Australia lead on 78, with the USA (63) one ahead of Canada (62).  The possibilities here are:

Raymond Smith (AUS) beats Jeff Smith (CAN)
Australia win the Overall gold, USA win silver (regardless of what happens in the Team Final), and Canada take the bronze.

Jeff Smith beats Raymond Smith
Australia beat USA
Australia win the overall gold, Canada win silver, and USA take the bronze.

Jeff Smith beats Raymond Smith
USA beat Australia
USA win the Overall gold, Australia win silver, and Canada take the bronze.

Of course, it would be a great day for North America should the latter happen!  Even if Raymond does win the Singles, it would still be wonderful for the Americans to take the Team gold for the third time (they won in 1985 and 2003), so there is still a lot riding on that match whatever happens.  As far as the Men’s Singles, neither Australia nor Canada have ever won gold, so history will be made there.

With Kobe being 13 hours ahead of us, the finals will be taking place late tonight US time, and you can watch live streams!

The Singles Finals will be streamed here

The Team Finals will be streamed here

Schedule
11.00am (10.00pm EST) – Deniz Hashtbaran (IRN) vs Katie Sheldon (IRE)
11.45am (10.45pm EST) – Justin van Tergouw (NL) vs Wessel Nijman (NL)
12.30pm (11.30pm EST) – Vicky Pruim (SWE) vs Sharon Prins (NL)
1.15pm (12.15am EST) – Jeff Smith (CAN) vs Raymond Smith (AUS)

2.00pm (1.00am EST) – Sweden vs Netherlands
3.30pm (2.30am EST) – USA vs Australia

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