For USA, the 2024 World Cup of Darts ended in a big disappointment. After previously losing their opening match 4-2 to Portugal, Jules van Dongen and Danny Lauby also lost their second group match 4-2 to Italy. As a result, they finish bottom of their group and were handed a swift elimination as a result.
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Whereas in their opening match they were still below 70 average, Van Dongen and Lauby showed some signs of improvement with an average of 78.37. Still, it proved insufficient to beat the Italy of Michele Turetta and Massimo Dalla Rosa.
Afterwards, Viaplay reporter Arjan van der Giessen shared a remarkable story about Van Dongen. "Jules just told me that after the lost match against Italy, he received more than 40 death threats, in addition to all kinds of other threats. These were addressed to himself, but also to his wife and children," Van der Giessen said.
Jules van Dongen is a native of the Netherlands who has lived in the USA for many years
"All because several gamblers had bet a lot of money on a USA victory," Van der Giessen continued. "I have read several of those reports, it defies any imagination."
Van Dongen immediately forwarded the messages all to the PDC. "This is going way, way too far," Van der Giessen said. "That you get something like this thrown at you is something nobody wants. I therefore hope that the PDC will do something about this."
Kieran Wood is a sports journalist based in Wales and has been active in journalism since 2022. He contributes to DartsNews.com, where he covers professional darts through news, match reports, analysis, and live coverage across the PDC calendar and major tournaments.
A key part of his work is on-site reporting from leading events. Kieran has covered the PDC World Darts Championship in person, reporting daily from the venue and providing first-hand insight from the tournament. During his coverage, he has conducted interviews with leading players including Luke Littler, Luke Humphries, and Gerwyn Price.
He is also one of the leading voices of the English-language Dartsnews Podcast, contributing regular analysis and discussion on developments across the professional darts circuit.
In his reporting, Kieran places strong emphasis on careful sourcing, editorial accuracy, and updating articles when new, verified information becomes available.