PDC World Cup of Darts draw: England against Czech

The international tournament, and the PDC's sole team event, kicks off in Frankfurt on May 31. The Dutch duo of Michael van Gerwen and Raymond van Barneveld have won the event twice together. Their quest to defend their title begins against the European minnows, for whom Dyson Parody makes his eighth successive appearance. England are the only nation other than the Netherlands to have won the World Cup of Darts. Made up of world champion Rob Cross and world number seven Dave Chisnall, England begin against the Czech Republic. Intriguingly, the two nations are set to meet in the semi-finals - if both progress that far. Top seeds Scotland, made up of Peter Wright and Gary Anderson, have been drawn against the veteran USA team of Darin Young and Larry Butler. Brazil, who captured the hearts and minds of darts fans the world over last year, will play Denmark. Mensur Suljovic has a new Austrian partner. He and Zoran Lerchbacher face a potential banana skin in the form of Japan, represented by Haruki Muramatsu and Seigo Asada. John Part and Dawson Murschell have seemingly landed a plum first round draw, with Canada pitted against Italy. Gerwyn Price suffered the agony of defeat in the 2017 final. He's joined by Jonny Clayton this year in the quest to go one better, and their tournament starts against Thailand. China will capture plenty of attention, as Momo Zhou becomes the second woman after Anastasia Dobromyslova to play in the World Cup of Darts. She and Zong Xiaochen, who played in the World Championship, meet Switzerland. Former finalists Australia begin against Hong Kong while Russia, surprise quarter-finalists last year, take on Spain. Singapore also won plenty of admirers as they reached the last eight in 2017, knocking out Scotland in the first round. Paul Lim and Harith Lim begin their 2018 campaign against New Zealand. Kim Huybrechts is partnered by Dimitri van den Bergh rather than older brother Ronny for Belgium this year. Their first assignment as a team is to overcome Steve Lennon and William O'Connor of the Republic of Ireland. Greece meet Finland in the first round, while Northern Ireland face one of the toughest unseeded opponents in Poland, replete with a Tour Card holder and a Pro Tour tournament winner in Tytus Kanik and Krzysztof Ratajski respectively. The host nation, Germany, battled through to the quarter-finals last year. The Frankfurt crowd will be hoping for more of the same in 2018. Max Hopp and Martin Schindler kick off against Dennis Nilsson and Daniel Larsson of Sweden. Hungary and South Africa were the last two teams drawn together.

Scotland vs USA
Denmark vs Brazil
Austria vs Japan
Italy vs Canada
Wales vs Thailand
Switzerland vs China
Australia vs Hong Kong
Russia vs Spain
England vs Czech Republic
New Zealand vs Singapore
Belgium vs Republic of Ireland
Greece vs Finland
Northern Ireland vs Poland
Sweden vs Germany
Netherlands vs Gibraltar
Hungary vs South Africa