ENGLAND'S Phil Taylor and Adrian Lewis will defend their Betfair World Cup of Darts title in Hamburg next month as part of the 24-nation event, with Michael van Gerwen making his debut in the event for the Netherlands and Belgium set to be represented by the Huybrechts brothers!
Taylor and Lewis defeated Australian pair Simon Whitlock & Paul Nicholson 12 months ago to take the title at the Alsterdorfer Sporthalle in Hamburg, claiming victory in a sudden-death leg to end a thrilling final.
The pair's status as the number one and two in the PDC Order of Merit means that they will again be partners for this year's £150,000 tournament, which will be held from February 1-3 and screened live on Sky Sports HD.
Raymond van Barneveld, who led the Netherlands to victory in the inaugural World Cup of Darts alongside Co Stompe in 2010, has a third different partner in the tournament, with World Grand Prix champion Michael van Gerwen ousting Vincent van der Voort from the Dutch team.
UK Open champion Robert Thornton's rise back into the world's top 16 has seen him return to the Scotland team alongside Gary Anderson, while Andree Welge comes into the Germany team alongside Jyhan Artut and Connie Finnan makes his World Cup debut alongside William O'Connor for Ireland.
Brothers Kim and Ronny Huybrechts will create history as they represent Belgium as the first siblings to compete in the World Cup of Darts.
The 24-nation event will begin with a Group Stage, which will see the teams drawn into eight three-team groups, which will see each nation face each other once over the best of nine legs.
The Group Stage will be split across two sessions on Friday February 1 and Saturday's afternoon session, before the top two teams from each group progress to the knockout Last 16 on Saturday evening.
Sunday afternoon will see the Quarter-Finals take place, before the Semi-Finals and Final are held on Sunday evening.
The draw for the Group Stage will be made during Qualifying School this weekend, with each of the Seeded Nations being drawn with one team from Pool B and one team from Pool C, with nations ranked in order of the cumulative ranking of both players from the PDC Order of Merit.
Tickets for the Betfair World Cup of Darts can be purchased through www.pdc-europe.net.
Betfair World Cup of Darts
Seeded Nations
1. England (Phil Taylor & Adrian Lewis)
2. Netherlands (Michael van Gerwen & Raymond van Barneveld)
3. Australia (Simon Whitlock & Paul Nicholson)
4. Scotland (Gary Anderson & Robert Thornton)
5. Wales (Mark Webster & Richie Burnett)
6. Northern Ireland (Brendan Dolan & Michael Mansell)
7. Germany (Jyhan Artut & Andree Welge)
8. Republic of Ireland (William O'Connor & Connie Finnan)
Pool B
Spain (Antonio Alcinas & Carlos Rodriguez)
Belgium (Kim Huybrechts & Ronny Huybrechts)
Canada (John Part & Jeff Smith)
Finland (Jani Haavisto & Jarkko Komula)
Austria (Mensur Suljovic & Maik Langendorf)
Croatia (Robert Marijanovic & Tonci Restovic)
Gibraltar (Dyson Parody & Dylan Duo)
Denmark (Per Laursen & Jann Hoffmann)
Pool C
Sweden (Magnus Caris & Par Riihonen)
Japan (Haruki Muramatsu & Sho Katsumi)
USA (Darin Young & Larry Butler)
South Africa (Charl Pietersen & Shawn Hogan)
New Zealand (Phil Hazel & Craig Caldwell)
Hungary (Nandor Bezzeg & Meszaros Zsolt)
Poland (Krzysztof Kciuk & Krzysztof Ratajski)
Italy (Daniele Petri & Matteo Dal Monte)
Schedule of Play
Friday February 1
Afternoon Session
2.30pm-6pm Local Time (1.30pm-5pm UK Time)
8x Group Matches
Evening Session
8pm-12am Local Time (7pm-11pm UK Time)
8x Group Matches
Saturday February 2
Afternoon Session
2pm-6pm Local Time (1pm-5pm UK Time)
8x Group Matches
Evening Session
8pm-12am Local Time (7pm-11pm UK Time)
8x Second Round Matches
Sunday February 3
Afternoon Session
2pm-6pm Local Time (1pm-5pm UK Time)
Quarter-Finals
Evening Session
8pm-11pm Local Time (7pm-10pm UK Time)
Semi-Finals
Final
Format
The 24 competing nations will be drawn into eight groups of three teams, each comprising of one seeded nation, one team from Pool B and one team from Pool C. The draw will be made during the 2013 PDC Qualifying School in Wigan.
The seeded nations will be placed into groups as follows
Group A - England (1)
Group B - Republic of Ireland (8)
Group C - Scotland (4)
Group D - Wales (5)
Group E - Netherlands (2)
Group F - Germany (7)
Group G - Australia (3)
Group H - Northern Ireland (6)
All Group Matches will be played as the best of nine legs of 501 in a Doubles format, with the first team to win four legs winning the match. Players will throw alterately throughout.
Two points are awarded for a win, no points are awarded for a defeat.
In the event of a tie for positions in each Group Table, final placings will be determined by Leg Difference, followed by the overall Group Stage three-dart average of the tied nations.
Order of Matches:
Friday Afternoon Session Games
Pool B Teams v Pool C Teams
Friday Evening Session Games
Seeded Teams v Friday Afternoon Losers
Saturday Afternoon Session Games
Seeded Teams v Friday Afternoon Winners
Knockout Phase
The top two nations from each group will progress to the knockout stage from the last 16 onwards, which will be played in a bracket format as follows:
Last 16
Match One - Winner Group A v Runner-Up Group B
Match Two - Winner Group B v Runner-Up Group A
Match Three - Winner Group C v Runner-Up Group D
Match Four - Winner Group D v Runner-Up Group C
Match Five - Winner Group E v Runner-Up Group F
Match Six - Winner Group F v Runner-Up Group E
Match Seven - Winner Group G v Runner-Up Group H
Match Eight - Winner Group H v Runner-Up Group G
All matches will be played as the best of nine legs of 501 in a Doubles format, with the first team to win five legs winning the match.
Quarter-Finals
Match Nine - Winner Match One v Winner Match Two
Match Ten - Winner Match Three v Winner Match Four
Match 11 - Winner Match Five v Winner Match Six
Match 12 - Winner Match Seven v Winner Match Eight
The Quarter-Finals will be played as two best of seven leg 501 Singles matches, with both nations nominating the order in which their players play. In the event of both nations winning one Singles match apiece, a best of seven leg 501 Doubles match will be played to decide the tie.
Semi-Finals
Match 13 - Winner Match Nine v Winner Match Ten
Match 14 - Winner Match 11 v Winner Match 12
The Semi-Finals will be played as two best of seven leg 501 Singles matches, with both nations nominating the order in which their players play. In the event of both nations winning one Singles match apiece, a best of seven leg 501 Doubles match will be played to decide the tie.
Final
Winner Match 13 v Winner Match 14
The Final will be played as four best of seven leg 501 Singles matches, with both nations nominating the order in which their players play the first two matches, and then Reverse Singles following, In the event of both nations winning two Singles matches apiece, a best of seven leg 501 Doubles match will be played to decide the tie.
Prize Fund
Winners - £20,000 each
Runners-Up - £10,000 each
Semi-Finalists - £6,500 each
Quarter-Finalists - £3,000 each
Last 16 Losers - £1,500 each
Group Stage Losers - £1,000 each
Total - £150,000
* Teams updated on January 22, with Italy replacing the Philippines