THE bwin World Cup of Darts will be bigger than ever this year, with 32 nations set to compete in Hamburg from June 6-8 and £200,000 prize money on offer as England seek to complete a hat-trick of wins in the Doubles event.
The tournament will expand from featuring 24 nations to seeing 32 countries invited to compete this year across three days at the Sporthalle Hamburg.
Two-player teams from Norway, France, China, Hong Kong, Singapore, Thailand and India will all make their debuts in the PDC's World Cup of Darts, as the global growth of the sport continues.
They join established nations including England, the 2012 and 2013 World Cup of Darts winners, the 2010 champions Netherlands, host nation Germany and the likes of the USA, Canada, Australia, Scotland, Wales, Ireland and Northern Ireland.
England will field the same two-player team for a third successive year as Phil Taylor and Adrian Lewis line up to defend their title, while World Champion Michael van Gerwen is partnered by Raymond van Barneveld for a second successive year in the Dutch team.
World Championship finalist Peter Wright returns to the World Cup stage for Scotland alongside Robert Thornton, whose recent Players Championship double in Wigan saw him jump back into the top ten and secure a place ahead of resurgent Gary Anderson.
Welsh duo Mark Webster and Richie Burnett link up once again, with Brendan Dolan and Michael Mansell continuing their partnership for Northern Ireland and Ireland seeing Connie Finnan and William O'Connor travel to compete in Germany.
Simon Whitlock and Paul Nicholson once again represent Australia - having been the beaten finalists in 2012 - while three-time World Champion John Part is joined by emerging prospect Shaun Narain in the Canadian team.
Experienced duo Darin Young and Larry Butler will spearhead the American challenge, while last year's beaten finalists, brothers Kim and Ronny Huybrechts, will again compete for Belgium.
The growth of top-class darts in Scandinavia is shown with the inclusion of Norway - represented by Robert Wagner and Vegar Elvevoll - alongside last year's semi-finalists Finland and their rivals Sweden and Denmark.
Finland, who knocked out the Netherlands and Australia 12 months ago will again rest their hopes on Jani Haavisto and Jarkko Komula, with former World Championship qualifiers Per Laursen and Dennis Lindskjold in action for Denmark and Magnus Caris joined by Peter Sajwani in the Sweden team.
Germany are again represented by Jyhan Artut and Andree Welge, with Mensur Suljovic joined in the Austrian team by Rowby-John Rodriguez, the PDC Unicorn World Youth Championship finalist who is making his mark this year.
Spain, who reached the 2010 World Cup of Darts semi-finals, will again be represented by Antonio Alcinas and Carlos Rodriguez, while Dylan Duo and Dyson Parody once more team up for Gibraltar.
Rob Szabo, who represented New Zealand in the 2014 World Championship, will make his World Cup debut alongside Craig Caldwell, who competed in Germany last year.
World Championship star Devon Petersen will be partnered for South Africa by newcomer Graham Filby, who has been a strong performer on the domestic circuit, while Japanese pair Morihiro Hashimoto and Haruki Muramatsu team up once again.
While both Hungary and Poland have previously competed twice in the World Cup of Darts and Russia, Malaysia and Italy have on appearance apiece, seven new nations will be making their debuts in the tournament this year.
The expansion of the sport across Asia is highlighted with PDC Tour Card Holder Royden Lam spearheading Hong Kong's first World Cup of Darts event alongside Scott Mackenzie, a former World Championship qualifier.
Recent PDC Unicorn World Youth Championship qualifier Amit Gilitwala will be representing India, while the legendary veteran star Paul Lim is in action for Singapore alongside namesake Harith Lim.
The draw for the bwin World Cup of Darts will see the 16 seeded nations drawn against the other 16 teams for the knockout first round, with the tournament then progressing in a bracket format. The draw will be made on May 15 2014.
bwin World Cup of Darts
Friday June 6
Afternoon Session
2pm-6pm local time (1pm-7pm BST)
8x First Round games
Evening Session
8pm-12am local time (7pm-11pm BST)
8x First Round games
Saturday June 7
Afternoon Session
2pm-6pm local time (1pm-7pm BST)
4x Second Round games
Evening Session
8pm-12am local time (7pm-11pm BST)
4x Second Round games
Sunday June 8
Afternoon Session
2pm-6pm local time (1pm-7pm BST)
Quarter-Finals
Evening Session
8pm-12am local time (7pm-11pm BST)
Final
bwin World Cup of Darts Competing Nations
Seeded Nations
1 - England (Phil Taylor & Adrian Lewis)
2 - Netherlands (Michael van Gerwen & Raymond van Barneveld)
3 - Scotland (Peter Wright & Robert Thornton)
4 - Australia (Simon Whitlock & Paul Nicholson)
5 - Wales (Mark Webster & Richie Burnett)
6 - Northern Ireland (Brendan Dolan & Michael Mansell)
7 - Belgium (Kim Huybrechts & Ronny Huybrechts)
8 - Republic of Ireland (Connie Finnan & William O'Connor)
9 - Germany (Jyhan Artut & Andree Welge)
10 - Austria (Mensur Suljovic & Rowby-John Rodriguez
11 - Canada (John Part & Shaun Narain)
12 - Finland (Jarkko Komula & Jani Haavisto)
13 - Hong Kong (Ting Chi Royden Lam & Scott Mackenzie)
14 - Sweden (Magnus Caris & Peter Sajwani)
15 - Spain (Antonio Alcinas & Carlos Rodriguez)
16 - USA (Darin Young & Larry Butler)
Unseeded Nations
China (Yin Deng & Jun Cai)
Denmark (Per Laursen & Dennis Lindskjold)
France (Jacques Labre & Lionel Maranhao)
Gibraltar (Dylan Duo & Dyson Parody)
Hungary (Zsolt Meszaros & Nandor Bezzeg)
India (Amit Gilitwala & Nitan Kumar)
Italy (Marco Brentegani & Daniele Petri)
Japan (Morihiro Hashimoto & Haruki Muramatsu)
Malaysia (Kesava Roa & Thomat Darus)
New Zealand (Rob Szabo & Craig Caldwell)
Norway (Robert Wagner & Vegar Elvevoll)
Poland (Krzysztof Chmielewski & Krzysztof Strozyk)
Russia (Evgenii Zhukov & Evgenii Izotov)
Singapore (Paul Lim & Harith Lim)
South Africa (Devon Petersen & Graham Filby)
Thailand (Thanawat Gaweenuntawong & Watanyu Charoonroj)
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