THE format for the World Cup of Darts, to be held in Hamburg from February 3-5, has been confirmed.
The 24-nation, £150,000 tournament is being played at the Alsterdorfer Sporthalle in Hamburg from Friday February 3-Sunday February 5.
The 24 nations are seeded from 1-24 based on a cumulative total of the competing players' ranking position, with the lowest total seeded 1 and the highest total seeded 24. For example, England's Phil Taylor (1) and Adrian Lewis (2) have a cumulative total of 3.
The top eight seeds will come in at the Second Round stage, with the countries ranked 9-24 competing in the first round on Friday afternoon.
The Second Round onwards will be played in a bracket format, with the draw for the Second Round to be made during the PDC ProTour Qualifying School from January 19-22, and the schedule of play to follow that.
Games will be played as a mixture of Singles and Doubles matches throughout the tournament.
World Cup of Darts Format
All times local (GMT+1)
Friday February 3
Afternoon Session (2pm-6pm)
First Round x8 Games
Best of nine legs, 501 Doubles, loser throws first.
Knockout between teams 9-24
First Round Draw
Canada (9) v Hungary (24)
Republic of Ireland (10) v Malaysia (23)
USA (11) v Philippines (22)
Austria (12) v New Zealand (21)
Sweden (13) v Japan (20)
Spain (14) v South Africa (19)
Finland (15) v Croatia (18)
Gibraltar (16) v Denmark (17)
Order of Matches still TBC
Second Round
Play split across Friday night & Saturday afternoon sessions
Draw Bracket - to be used from Second Round onwards
England (1) v
Germany (8) v
Wales (5) v
Scotland (4) v
Australia (2) v
Belgium (7) v
Northern Ireland (6) v
Netherlands (3) v
Second Round draw to be made during Qualifying School. Order of Matches TBC
Evening Session (8pm-12am)
16 x Singles matches. Top ranked player from each team plays second ranked player from opposing team.
Best of seven legs, 501 Singles, loser throws first.
One point awarded for each match winner.
Saturday February 4
Afternoon Session (2.30pm-6.30pm)
Second Round
8x Doubles matches. Best of nine legs, 501 Doubles, loser throws first.
Two points awarded for each match winner. In the event of this resulting in a 2-2 tie between countries, a sudden death doubles leg will take place with the team who threw first in the doubles match throwing first for the bull in the sudden death leg.
Evening Session (8pm-12am)
Quarter-Finals
4x Quarter-Final ties. Play proceeds in bracket order from the Second Round onwards.
Same format as Second Round, with Doubles match immediately following second Singles match in each tie.
Sunday February 5
Afternoon Session (3pm-6.30pm)
Semi-Finals
2x Semi-Final ties.
Semi-finals consist of four best of nine leg Singles games followed by a best of nine leg Doubles match (if required).
One point is awarded per singles match won, two per doubles. Loser throws first.
If the match finishes all square (3-3), a sudden-death Doubles leg will be played with a bull-up on stage to determine who throws first. Once a team has an unassailable lead, the tie is over and no further matches shall be played.
Evening Session (8pm-11.30pm)
Final
Same format as semi-finals but matches played over the best of 15 legs.
Tickets for the tournament are already proving highly popular and can be purchased through www.pdc-europe.net. Tickets range from €8.90-€24.90 per session, with combination tickets available for both daily sessions and/or all sessions throughout the event.
The World Cup of Darts session times are (German times):
Friday February 3 - 2pm-6pm, 8pm-12am
Saturday February 4 - 2.30pm-6.30pm, 8pm-12am
Sunday February 5 - 3pm-6.30pm, 8pm-11.30pm
UK Times are:
Friday February 3 - 1pm-5pm, 7pm-11pm
Saturday February 4 - 1.30pm-5.30pm, 7pm-11pm
Sunday February 5 - 2pm-5.30pm, 7pm-10.30pm
World Cup of Darts Teams
1 - England (Phil Taylor & Adrian Lewis)
2 - Australia (Simon Whitlock & Paul Nicholson)
3 - Netherlands (Raymond van Barneveld & Vincent van der Voort)
4 - Scotland (Gary Anderson & Peter Wright)
5 - Wales (Mark Webster & Richie Burnett)
6 - Northern Ireland (Brendan Dolan & Michael Mansell)
7 - Belgium (Kim Huybrechts & Kurt Van De Rijck)
8 - Germany (Jyhan Artut & Bernd Roith)
9 - Canada (John Part & Ken MacNeil)
10 - Republic of Ireland (William O'Connor & Mick McGowan)
11 - USA (Darin Young & Gary Mawson)
12 - Austria (Mensur Suljovic & Dietmar Burger)
13 - Sweden (Magnus Caris & Dennis Nilsson)
14 - Spain (Antonio Alcinas & Carlos Rodriguez)
15 - Finland (Petri Korte & Marko Kantele)
16 - Gibraltar (Dylan Duo & Dyson Parody)
17 - Denmark (Per Laursen & Jann Hoffmann)
18 - Croatia (Boris Krcmar & Tonci Restovic)
19 - South African (Devon Petersen & Shawn Hogan)
20 - Japan (Haruki Muramatsu & Morihiro Hashimoto)
21 - New Zealand (Warren French & Preston Ridd)
22 - Philippines (Christian Perez & Lourence Ilagan)
23 - Malaysia (Lee Choon Peng & Amin Bin Abdul Ghani)
24 - Hungary (Nandor Bezzeg & Kristian Kaufmann)
The 24-nation, £150,000 tournament is being played at the Alsterdorfer Sporthalle in Hamburg from Friday February 3-Sunday February 5.
The 24 nations are seeded from 1-24 based on a cumulative total of the competing players' ranking position, with the lowest total seeded 1 and the highest total seeded 24. For example, England's Phil Taylor (1) and Adrian Lewis (2) have a cumulative total of 3.
The top eight seeds will come in at the Second Round stage, with the countries ranked 9-24 competing in the first round on Friday afternoon.
The Second Round onwards will be played in a bracket format, with the draw for the Second Round to be made during the PDC ProTour Qualifying School from January 19-22, and the schedule of play to follow that.
Games will be played as a mixture of Singles and Doubles matches throughout the tournament.
World Cup of Darts Format
All times local (GMT+1)
Friday February 3
Afternoon Session (2pm-6pm)
First Round x8 Games
Best of nine legs, 501 Doubles, loser throws first.
Knockout between teams 9-24
First Round Draw
Canada (9) v Hungary (24)
Republic of Ireland (10) v Malaysia (23)
USA (11) v Philippines (22)
Austria (12) v New Zealand (21)
Sweden (13) v Japan (20)
Spain (14) v South Africa (19)
Finland (15) v Croatia (18)
Gibraltar (16) v Denmark (17)
Order of Matches still TBC
Second Round
Play split across Friday night & Saturday afternoon sessions
Draw Bracket - to be used from Second Round onwards
England (1) v
Germany (8) v
Wales (5) v
Scotland (4) v
Australia (2) v
Belgium (7) v
Northern Ireland (6) v
Netherlands (3) v
Second Round draw to be made during Qualifying School. Order of Matches TBC
Evening Session (8pm-12am)
16 x Singles matches. Top ranked player from each team plays second ranked player from opposing team.
Best of seven legs, 501 Singles, loser throws first.
One point awarded for each match winner.
Saturday February 4
Afternoon Session (2.30pm-6.30pm)
Second Round
8x Doubles matches. Best of nine legs, 501 Doubles, loser throws first.
Two points awarded for each match winner. In the event of this resulting in a 2-2 tie between countries, a sudden death doubles leg will take place with the team who threw first in the doubles match throwing first for the bull in the sudden death leg.
Evening Session (8pm-12am)
Quarter-Finals
4x Quarter-Final ties. Play proceeds in bracket order from the Second Round onwards.
Same format as Second Round, with Doubles match immediately following second Singles match in each tie.
Sunday February 5
Afternoon Session (3pm-6.30pm)
Semi-Finals
2x Semi-Final ties.
Semi-finals consist of four best of nine leg Singles games followed by a best of nine leg Doubles match (if required).
One point is awarded per singles match won, two per doubles. Loser throws first.
If the match finishes all square (3-3), a sudden-death Doubles leg will be played with a bull-up on stage to determine who throws first. Once a team has an unassailable lead, the tie is over and no further matches shall be played.
Evening Session (8pm-11.30pm)
Final
Same format as semi-finals but matches played over the best of 15 legs.
Tickets for the tournament are already proving highly popular and can be purchased through www.pdc-europe.net. Tickets range from €8.90-€24.90 per session, with combination tickets available for both daily sessions and/or all sessions throughout the event.
The World Cup of Darts session times are (German times):
Friday February 3 - 2pm-6pm, 8pm-12am
Saturday February 4 - 2.30pm-6.30pm, 8pm-12am
Sunday February 5 - 3pm-6.30pm, 8pm-11.30pm
UK Times are:
Friday February 3 - 1pm-5pm, 7pm-11pm
Saturday February 4 - 1.30pm-5.30pm, 7pm-11pm
Sunday February 5 - 2pm-5.30pm, 7pm-10.30pm
World Cup of Darts Teams
1 - England (Phil Taylor & Adrian Lewis)
2 - Australia (Simon Whitlock & Paul Nicholson)
3 - Netherlands (Raymond van Barneveld & Vincent van der Voort)
4 - Scotland (Gary Anderson & Peter Wright)
5 - Wales (Mark Webster & Richie Burnett)
6 - Northern Ireland (Brendan Dolan & Michael Mansell)
7 - Belgium (Kim Huybrechts & Kurt Van De Rijck)
8 - Germany (Jyhan Artut & Bernd Roith)
9 - Canada (John Part & Ken MacNeil)
10 - Republic of Ireland (William O'Connor & Mick McGowan)
11 - USA (Darin Young & Gary Mawson)
12 - Austria (Mensur Suljovic & Dietmar Burger)
13 - Sweden (Magnus Caris & Dennis Nilsson)
14 - Spain (Antonio Alcinas & Carlos Rodriguez)
15 - Finland (Petri Korte & Marko Kantele)
16 - Gibraltar (Dylan Duo & Dyson Parody)
17 - Denmark (Per Laursen & Jann Hoffmann)
18 - Croatia (Boris Krcmar & Tonci Restovic)
19 - South African (Devon Petersen & Shawn Hogan)
20 - Japan (Haruki Muramatsu & Morihiro Hashimoto)
21 - New Zealand (Warren French & Preston Ridd)
22 - Philippines (Christian Perez & Lourence Ilagan)
23 - Malaysia (Lee Choon Peng & Amin Bin Abdul Ghani)
24 - Hungary (Nandor Bezzeg & Kristian Kaufmann)