Sky Sports Duo: Scots Deserved Title

BetVictor World Cup of Darts (Stefan Strassenberg, PDC Europe)

SKY SPORTS pundits Mark Webster and Wayne Mardle have praised Scotland as worthy winners of the 2019 BetVictor World Cup of Darts.

Scotland's Peter Wright and Gary Anderson scooped glory at the World Cup, erasing the memory of defeats in the 2015 and 2018 finals by going all the way in Hamburg on Sunday.

They were in dominant mood throughout the 32-nation event, whitewashing Denmark in their first round tie and claiming 2-0 wins over Sweden, Belgium and Japan to reach the final.

Steve Lennon gave the Republic of Ireland the lead by defeating Anderson 4-1 in the opening Singles tie, but Wright stepped up to defeat William O'Connor to level.

They then secured a 4-0 win in the Doubles before Wright saw off Lennon 4-1 to secure the £70,000 top prize and glory for a first time for their nation in the event.

"It was the right result," said Webster, a World Cup finalist for Wales in 2010. "Scotland have been superb from start to finish and they showed their class.

"In that final it was the first time they were probably pushed throughout the tournament but responded.

"They're true champions, that's why they're ranked in the top five in the world. It was a class performance and they are deserving winners."

Mardle admitted that Wright's inconsistent Premier League campaign and Anderson's absence for much of 2019 had meant that they were an unknown quantity entering the event, but that the victory was fully deserved.

"I said at the start that they could be the best pairing in it," said Mardle. "Peter Wright has picked up that little bit of confidence, he's been playing better and showed it.

"Gary Anderson, believe it or not, was an unknown quantity. We didn't know what kind of form he was going to be in, but if he was going to play well then you felt that they had a great chance.

"He played well, they did have a great chance and they showed their dominance."

Webster also voiced his admiration for Irish pair Lennon and O'Connor, who showed their potential at the top level by reaching their first televised finals at the Barclaycard Arena.

O'Connor have averaged 115 in a win over Rob Cross as they knocked out England in Saturday's second round, while Lennon took out finishes of 131 and 128 in their 4-0 Doubles whitewash of the Netherlands in the semi-finals.

"They were fantastic," Webster added. "When we have a surprise finalist it's normally because the draw's opened up.

"They did it all themselves; they got rid of the number one seed England, the eighth seeds Austria, the fourth seeds Holland. They just couldn't quite get rid of Scotland, but what a performance.

"They showed some real class and that pairs performance against the Netherlands is one of the best I've ever seen."

The next PDC tournament on Sky Sports will be the Betfred World Matchplay from July 20-28.

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