WITH the teams for the 2018 Betway World Cup of Darts poised to be confirmed next week, a number of new faces are set to compete in the 32-nation tournament.
World Champion Rob Cross heads the list of debutants, and he will partner either Dave Chisnall or Michael Smith in a new-look England team.
World Youth Champion Dimitri Van den Bergh will team up with Kim Huybrechts for Belgium in place of Ronny Huybrechts, who has featured in the last five stagings and partnered his younger brother to the 2013 final.
In-form Welshman Jonny Clayton has earned a World Cup berth over ever-present Mark Webster thanks to his Austrian Darts Open win, and he will line up alongside Gerwyn Price in Frankfurt for the 2017 finalists.
The Republic of Ireland will also feature a new face as fast-emerging Steve Lennon, who reached the last 16 of the 2017 Grand Slam of Darts, steps in for Mick McGowan.
Zoran Lerchbacher’s run to the last 32 of the World Championship helped to lift him above Rowby-John Rodriguez in the rankings, and he is the likely partner for Mensur Suljovic to represent Austria.
John Part will once again head-up the Canadian team, with his partner now confirmed as Dawson Murschell, who famously beat James Wade at the 2017 US Darts Masters and has joined the circuit full-time in 2018.
Meanwhile, 2018 PDC Qualifying School competitor Veniamin Symeonidis will team up with World Cup ever-present John Michael for Greece.
The results of this weekend’s Dutch Darts Masters could still play a big part in determining the finalised World Cup pairings.
Smith could jump above Chisnall by winning in Zwolle to feature for England, while Rodriguez could leapfrog Lerchbacher to claim an Austrian spot by reaching the final.
The field for the 2018 Betway World Cup of Darts will be confirmed following the cut-off date on Monday May 14.
The Gibraltar team will see Dyson Parody joined by either Justin Broton or Dylan Duo, with the final qualifying event being held on Friday May 11.
The Switzerland team will be confirmed following their qualifier on May 20.
The 2018 Betway World Cup of Darts will see 32 nations represented by two-player teams as they compete from May 31-June 3 at the Eissporthalle in Frankfurt, Germany, and will be televised live on Sky Sports and worldwide through the PDC's series of international broadcast partners.
For tickets, visit www.pdc-europe.tv/tickets
Betway World Cup of Darts
Current Provisional Teams (confirmed teams marked with *)
Australia - Simon Whitlock & Kyle Anderson
Austria - Mensur Suljovic & Zoran Lerchbacher
Belgium - Kim Huybrechts & Dimitri Van den Bergh
*Brazil - Diogo Portela & Bruno Rangel
Canada - John Part & Dawson Murschell
*China - Momo Zhou & Xiaochen Zong
*Czech Republic - Roman Benecky & Karel Sedlacek
*Denmark - Per Laursen & Henrik Primdal
England - Rob Cross & Dave Chisnall
*Finland - Kim Viljanen & Marko Kantele
Germany - Max Hopp & Martin Schindler
Gibraltar - Qualifying events conclude May 11
Greece - John Michael & Veniamin Symeonidis
*Hong Kong - Royden Lam & Ho Yin Shek
*Hungary - Tamas Alexits & Nandor Bezzeg
*Italy - Michel Furlani & Alessio Medaina
*Japan - Seigo Asada & Haruki Muramatsu
Netherlands - Michael van Gerwen & Raymond van Barneveld
*New Zealand - Cody Harris & Warren Parry
Northern Ireland - Daryl Gurney & Brendan Dolan
Poland - Krzysztof Ratajski & Tytus Kanik
Republic of Ireland - Steve Lennon & William O'Connor
*Russia - Boris Koltsov & Aleksandr Oreshkin
Scotland - Peter Wright & Gary Anderson
*Singapore - Paul Lim & Harith Lim
*South Africa - Devon Petersen & Liam O'Brien
Spain - Cristo Reyes & Antonio Alcinas
*Sweden - Daniel Larsson & Dennis Nilsson
Switzerland – Qualifying event May 20
*Thailand - Thanawat Gaweenuntavong & Attapol Eupakaree
United States of America* - Larry Butler & Darin Young
Wales - Gerwyn Price & Jonny Clayton