Northern Ireland victorious in Darts World Cup

When someone mentions the World Cup, most people’s minds turn to football, rugby, or maybe even cricket, but this June, a World Cup happened that most people probably did not know even happened: the Darts World Cup.

Between Thursday 12 June and Sunday 15 June, 40 countries played darts in teams of two in a bid to be crowned the World Cup of Darts champions. We saw some new faces like Argentina, alongside some mainstays, like five-time champions, England. But, it was Northern Ireland that prevailed, with their duo of Josh Rock and Daryl Gurney beating Wales, the second-seeded team, in a last-leg decider, winning 10–9.

The event started on Thursday 12 June like most World Cup events: with a group stage. Each group had three nations, with a nation in each group being a seeded team. The top four seeds enter the tournament after the group stage. Over the course of the Thursday and Friday, the nations battled it out in the group stages with only the top nation exiting each group. We saw some massive shocks, such as Belgium, the number 6 seeds, failing to exit the group and Argentina getting out of their group (this was their first time qualifying for the tournament). We even witnessed a unique event, where Group D – consisting of Ireland, Gibraltar and China – was determined by legs won against the throw due to all the nations having the same number of points, and same legs won and lost. This meant Ireland squeezed through their group.

We also saw some downright poor-quality games, such as the USA playing against Bahrain. The USA averaged 65.44, while Bahrain averaged 53.27. For context, Warwick Darts’ A-Team captain, Max Mclaughlin, consistently averages higher than what Bahrain mustered, averaging over 60 in a recent tournament.

Northern Ireland lifted the trophy and took home the first team prize of £80,000

We also saw some fairytale stories, epitomised by that of Hong Kong, whose duo of Lee Lok Yin and Man Lok Leung reached the quarter-finals, before losing out to second seeds Wales who eventually made the final. But, the biggest shock of all was England, the number one seeds, losing out in their first game against Germany 4-8. The English team consisted of the first and second ranked players in the world, Luke Humphries and Luke Littler, but they still succumbed to seventh seeds, Germany. Germany then went on a run to the semi-finals where, despite the backing of the home crowd, they were demolished by Northern Ireland 1-8.

The game of the tournament was the final, where Northern Ireland beat Wales 10-9, averaging 95.96 and 92.95 respectively. The game saw 16 180s, as well as massive checkouts, including a 130 checkout for Northern Ireland and a 142 checkout for Wales. Northern Ireland started the game well, gaining a 2-0 lead, but Wales managed to pull it back to 3-3. The match then continued for a while with the nations going leg for leg until Wales managed to open up a 5-7 lead.

However, Northern Ireland fought back, winning four legs on the bounce and taking a 9-7 lead. But again, Wales showed their experience and were able to claw it back from the brink of defeat, bringing the game to 9-9 and a last leg decider. Northern Ireland were then able to win the last leg, ending the game on double eight, with Daryl Gurney hitting it on his second dart.

This World Cup of Darts in Frankfurt was one of the greatest darts finals I have ever seen.

Northern Ireland kept their composure and won the final for the first time ever. They fended off Wales’ duo of Jonny Clayton and Gerwyn Price, who have won the tournament twice, in 2020 and 2023. Northern Ireland lifted the trophy and took home the first team prize of £80,000.

In their post-match interview, Northern Ireland’s Daryl Gurney admitted that it was Josh Rock who did the power scoring and then he was just there to finish up. Rock had an individual average of 107 and started six of the 19 legs with a 180, hitting nine maximums to break the record for the greatest number of 180s in a World Cup final. Meanwhile, Gurney only averaged 81 but proved vital by hitting the 180 score in the final leg to release some of the pressure on his teammate, and to get Northern Ireland closer to the finish line. Gurney then proved his worth as a quality finisher by hitting double eight under huge amounts of pressure to win the deciding leg.

Overall, the tournament proved to be a classic. We saw a new nation added to the list of champions, debutants getting out the group stages, and unexpected teams going deep into the tournament. This World Cup of Darts in Frankfurt was one of the greatest darts finals I have ever seen. It had it all: a brilliant crowd, shocking results, a new winner. Well, everything except the illusive World Cup of Darts nine-darter. This final will live long in the memory, with it potentially being one of the greatest World Cup of Darts finals of all time. And with the sport growing across the world, perhaps next year we will see more debutants enter the World Cup of Darts and potentially another new name added onto the roll of honour.