Northern Ireland defy the bookies to win Darts World Cup

This year’s Darts World Cup looked like it was there for the taking for England, whose pairing consisted of world numbers 1 and 2 Luke Humphries and Luke Littler. However, the largely unfancied Germans put paid to the English pair’s chances, knocking them out in the round of 16. The final was still a Home Nations affair, however, with Northern Ireland staving off Wales to pick up the £80,000 first prize and the World Cup title.

England’s team for this year’s World Cup looked highly formidable. It consists of Luke Humphries, current world number 1, and teenage sensation and reigning World Champion Luke Littler. Between them, the pair currently hold four major titles. 

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It was hardly surprising that the two Lukes, who have also formed a strong friendship despite so often being matched as rivals in the game, went into the World Cup as strong favourites. Bookmakers had priced England as 2/5 favourites to lift the cup. 

While the pair may have been celebrating being given MBEs in the King’s Birthday Honours, they missed a series of doubles in their last-16 round match against Germany. Teenage Littler was especially guilty during the match and it ultimately led to them losing. 

Before the match, German Martin Schindler had described the pair as being “beatable”, and so it proved. After the unexpected win, Schindler said: “I was right because we believed in ourselves. We believed in ourselves, and that was the key.

“The double 16s from Ricardo when it mattered just went in, so we’re really happy. This is a big win for us. German darts is in good shape right now, and we’re pushing forward as much as we can.”

While it wasn’t to be for England, the home nations, as a whole, performed well. Welsh pair Gerwyn Price and Jonny Clayton went into the tournament 11/2 second favourites, having won twice before, and must have felt they were going to win for a third time after dispatching Hong Kong in the quarter-finals and then defeating Netherlands 8-5 in the semis. 

But, having beaten the Republic of Ireland 8-5 in the quarters and thrashing England’s victors Germany 8-1 in the semi-final, Northern Ireland staged an impressive comeback in the final, to take the victory. Northern Ireland were 20/1 outsiders for the tournament before an arrow had been thrown. 

Wales fought back from 3-1 behind to draw the match level at 3-3 before going on to build a 7-5 lead before the Welsh pairing rallied and took the next four for a 9-7 lead. Wales did level again at 9-9 but with the benefit of throwing first in the final leg, Gurney hit a double-eight to complete an 11-dart finish and take the victory. 

It is the first time Northern Ireland have won the World Cup, and the first time the tournament has seen a debut winner since Australia in 2022. 

After the match, 24-year-old Josh Rock said: “Me and Daryl said when we team up for the World Cup, we’ll win it and we did. We’ve won for our country, we’ve made history.” 

Teammate Daryl Gurney went on to say: “Josh’s power scoring was amazing and I was there to clean up the finishing. I’ve never been so proud of this man and myself.”