Tough draws for England and Netherlands in first round World Cup of Darts

England will have a new pairing of Rob Cross and Michael Smith at the World Cup of Darts but face a seriously tough test in the first round in in Noel Malicdem and Lourence Ilagan. Netherlands similarly will have a new pairing with Michael van Gerwen, the seasoned veteran in the tournament to pair with Jermaine Wattimena, who has earned his place after some superb performances to rise up the rankings. They will face two of the most experienced players in the World Cup though with Toni Alcinas and Cristo Reyes, the Spanish pairing able to cause them serious problems. Scotland who reached the World Cup of Darts final last year, will face Per Laursen and Niels Heinsøe with the former well known and the latter making his debut in the tournament. Another big tie sees Wales' new pairing who are into their second year together of Jonny Clayton and Gerwyn Price face the surprise package and the team no-one ever wants to draw in Singapore. Paul Lim always has the ability to roll back the years as shown against Scotland previously at the World Cup of Darts and with Harith Lim, one of the best soft-tip players in the world and a player that is used to playing with the Singapore Slinger, it could be a tough first round for the duo. Other ties to look out for include New Zealand vs Lithuania with Cody Harris and Darius Labanauskas the standout names from both teams but in Haupai Puha for New Zealand, a player who on the World Series last year showed some class; the Kiwi's could go under the radar. Japan were one of the best teams last time out and like Philippines have two of the best players from the Asian Tour in Seigo Asada who gets better and better and Haruki Muramatsu who similarly you shouldn't count out. Not forgetting home heroes Max Hopp and Martin Schindler who will likely get a raucous reception in Hamburg and they will take on Hungary. The World Cup of Darts will be held from June 6-9 at the Barclaycard Arena in Hamburg, Germany. to view the team selections.

(1) England v Philippines
Republic of Ireland v Greece
(8) Austria v Russia
China v United States of America
(5) Australia v Finland
Italy v Canada
(4) Netherlands v Spain
Poland v Czech Republic
(2) Scotland v Denmark
Brazil v Sweden
(7) Belgium v Hong Kong
Hungary v Germany
(6) Northern Ireland v South Africa
New Zealand v Lithuania
(3) Wales v Singapore
Gibraltar v Japan