Scotland win World Cup of Darts following victory over Ireland

Scotland have lifted the 2019 World Cup of Darts following a 3-1 victory over Ireland in the final in Hamburg, Germany. The pairing of Gary Anderson and Peter Wright proved too strong for Steve Lennon and William O’Connor in the final match of the tournament as the Scots lifted the trophy for the first time in the history of the tournament.

It was third time lucky for Scotland as they were beaten in the final by England in 2015, while 12 months ago, they had to settle for being runners-up behind the Netherlands team that consisted of Michael van Gerwen and Raymond van Barneveld.

Scotland are just the third country to win the World Cup, as England and the Netherlands have shared the trophy with four wins each since its inauguration in 2010.

It was Ireland who got off to the best start in the final when Lennon beat Anderson 4-2 in the opening singles match. Scotland soon hit back in the second tie, though, as Wright defeated O’Connor 4-2 to level the scoreline.

The Flying Scotsman and Snakebite were unstoppable in the doubles match as they whitewashed their Irish opponents 4-0, while victory was sealed by Wright as he got the better of Lennon 4-1 in their singles contest.

The success gives Wright his first trophy of 2019. Snakebite is the 6/1 favourite in the darts betting for the Danish Darts Open later this month in a field which includes Rob Cross, Ian White, James Wade, Gerwyn Price and Michael Smith. Wright reached the last eight in Copenhagen 12 months ago where he lost to the eventual winner Mensur Suljovic.

Anderson and Wright will also hope to take their form into the next major next month, the World Matchplay in Blackpool. After winning the final 21-19 in 2018, Anderson is the defending champion there, while Wright was a finalist two years ago when he lost to Phil Taylor 18-8.

Ireland celebrate best-ever World Cup

Although it ended in defeat for Ireland in the World Cup Final, this tournament was their best ever appearance at a World Cup. They produced one of the biggest surprises of the competition in the second round when Lennon and O’Connor eliminated an England team which featured Cross and Smith 2-0 to advance into the quarter-finals.

The Irish pair then defeated the number eight seeds Austria 2-1. Lennon got Ireland off to a good start with a 4-1 win over Zoran Lerchbacher but when Suljovic levelled the contest with a 4-0 victory against O’Connor, it looked as though Austria were back in control; however, it was Ireland who won the doubles game 4-0.

Ireland continued their impressive run with a 2-1 success against the defending champions, the Netherlands, in the semi-final. World number one van Gerwen was part of the Dutch side and won the opening singles match 4-3 against Lennon. O’Connor hit back for Ireland with a 4-1 win over Jermaine Wattimena, while in the doubles contest, the Irish player whitewashed their opponents 4-0.

Ireland will be hoping to go one step further next year when the tournament returns to Hamburg.