The Russian ace caught up with to give his thoughts ahead of the tournament. For him he is looking forward to it and sees it as the second biggest stage on the PDC calendar. ‘Yes, I’m looking forward to the World Cup as usual, as for me it is the second biggest stage and every time it is a huge journey and a new experience!’ He has a returning partner this time around in Alexey Kadochnikov who he says is a strong player and one he hopes he can succeed with. ‘We are going to play with Alexey this year. As for me Alexey is a strong Russian player and I hope we will succeed together. Anyway we’ll see.’ They will face Austria in the first round and for Koltsov due to their seeding he isn’t expecting an easy tie and so he admits they will go full throttle from the outset. ‘This team is eighth seeded, that’s why I’m not waiting for an easy game. We will play maximum from the very beginning.’