World Cup of Darts: Netherlands triumph as MVG and Barney defeat Peter Wright and Gary Anderson in the final

The defending champions only dropped one point during the whole tournament - and that came during their 3-1 victory in Sunday night's final.

It's the third time MVG and Barney have teamed up for glory having previously done so in in 2014 and 2017 while the latter triumphed with Co Stompe back in the inaugural staging of the pairs tournament in 2010.

This triumph also means they've tied England for the most World Cup victories with four out of the eight times it's been held, with Phil Taylor and Adrian Lewis teaming up in 2012, 2013, 2015 and 2016.

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In Sunday's final at the Eissporthalle in Frankfurt, MVG won the opening singles match of the final as he defeated Peter Wright 4-2 thanks to his clinical finishing that more than made up for his below-par scoring.

The world number one averaged 'just' 97 and hit just a single 180 but he nailed four of his five darts at doubles as well as taking out two 100+ checkouts, including a 143 in the opening leg.

Scotland promptly levelled the scores when Gary Anderson crushed Barney 4-1 as he hit five 180s and averaged 97 compared to his opponent's measly 84.

The defending champions again seized the initiative in the pairs match, combining for an average of 100 in a 4-1 romp, as the Scots were made to pay for three missed darts at a double.

MVG finished the job in the first reverse singles match, defeating Anderson 4-0 with a rampant display.

MVG said: "I think we both played phenomenal. Everything we had to do we did at the right time and that's what makes you champions."

Barney added: "I don't know what's the key to us but playing with this guy - he's the number one in the world and makes it look so easy. We're really proud."

Anderson, who was playing in his second World Cup final with Wright having previously managed the feat back in 2015, said: "It's been great. To me, the player of the tournament has been young Dimitri, he's been fantastic. You won't see these two teams in the final of the football!"

Snakebite added: "We had a really good time, it should have been ours but I mucked up. I'll be back next year and practicing double 16!"

Netherlands' success was also great news for followers of our darts tipster Chris Hammer, who backed the Dutch dream team at evens as well as correctly tipping Australia and Belgium to win their respective quarters of the draw. (Click here for his preview)

Earlier in the night, Scotland edged past Australia in a deciding leg of the decisive pairs match to win 2-1 and book their place in the final.

Peter Wright beat Simon Whitlock 4-3 in a nail-biting singles encounter before Kyle Anderson produced a classy display against Gary Anderson to claim a 4-3 victory and level the scores, sealing the win with a 15-dart deciding leg despite suffering two bounce-outs.

A thrilling doubles decider saw Scotland race into a 3-0 lead, before Australia showed their fighting qualities to level the match, only for the Scottish pairing to produce a solid 15-dart deciding leg to wrap up the win.

Australia had been tipped up by our darts expert Chris Hammer to win their quarter but also at 6/1 to reach the final, so it was a mixed news for his followers.

The Netherlands put on a show in their semi-final clash with the impressive Belgians, who were also backed by Chris Hammer to win their quarter, as they won 2-0 to reach the final for a third successive year.

Michael van Gerwen continued his sublime World Cup form, posting a 105.78 average in his 4-2 triumph over Kim Huybrechts to give the Dutchmen the advantage.

Not to be outdone, Raymond van Barneveld produced an incredible 113.38 average, the third highest the tournament has ever seen, in his 4-2 win over Dimitri Van den Bergh to seal the Netherlands place in the final.

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Earlier in the day, the quarter-finals saw Belgium produced a fine display to dump four-time winners England out of the tournament with a 2-1 win.

Rob Cross posted a world-class 107.48 average in the opening singles game as he beat Huybrechts 4-2 only for World Youth champion van den Bergh to hit back for Belgium, breaking the Dave Chisnall throw in the final leg to win 4-3 and force a pairs game.

The Belgian pair produced a superb doubles display, limiting England to just one dart at double in the match to record a 4-0 whitewash and progress to their semi-finals for a second consecutive year where they will face the Netherlands.

The Netherlands silenced the Frankfurt crowd with a comfortable 2-0 victory over Germany in a repeat of last year’s quarter-final.

Michael van Gerwen had to be at his best as he defeated Martin Schindler 4-1 in the opener, despite the young German averaging 110 while Raymond van Barneveld sealed the deal for the Dutchmen with a 4-0 whitewash of Max Hopp.

Scotland romped into the semi-finals with a 2-0 win over surprise package Japan without dropping a single leg while Australia battled their way to a 2-1 win over Wales thanks to some clinical double-hitting.

Simon Whitlock got off to a blistering start in his 4-2 win over Gerwyn Price but Jonny Clayton hit back to keep Wales in the tournament with an impressive 4-0 whitewash of Kyle Anderson.

Wales took the first leg in the pairs, before Anderson hit a crucial double 18 with his last dart in hand to level and hit three more winning doubles including a 121 on the bullseye.

World Cup of Darts: Tournament Results

Thursday May 31
First Round (Best of nine legs - doubles)

• Italy 1-5 Canada
• Russia 4-5 Spain
• Switzerland 5-2 China
• Denmark 1-5 Brazil
• Wales 5-3 Thailand
• Australia 5-1 Hong Kong
• Scotland 5-1 United States of America
• Austria 4-5 Japan

CLICK HERE FOR DAY ONE REVIEW

Friday June 1
First Round (Best of nine legs - doubles)

• New Zealand 3-5 Singapore
• Greece 1-5 Finland
• Northern Ireland 5-4 Poland
• Hungary 3-5 South Africa
• Belgium 5-4 Republic of Ireland
• England 5-2 Czech Republic
• Sweden 3-5 Germany
• Netherlands 5-0 Gibraltar

CLICK HERE FOR DAY TWO REVIEW

Saturday June 2
Afternoon Session
Second Round (Best of 3 points)
(Two best-of-7-leg singles matches & one best of 7 doubles decider if required)

• Wales 2-1 Switzerland
• Australia 2-1 Spain
• Japan 2-0 Canada
• Scotland 2-0 Brazil

Evening Session
Second Round (Best of 3 points)
(2x best-of-7-leg singles matches & one best-of-7-leg doubles decider if required)

• Belgium 2-0 Finland
• England 2-1 Singapore
• Northern Ireland 1-2 Germany
• Netherlands 2-0 South Africa

CLICK HERE FOR DAY THREE REVIEW

Sunday June 3
Afternoon Session
Quarter-Finals (Best of 3 points)
(2x best-of-7-leg singles matches & one best-of-7-leg doubles decider if required)

• Wales 1-2 Australia
• Japan 0-2 Scotland
• Belgium 2-1 England
• Germany 0-2 Netherlands

Evening Session
Semi-Finals (Best of 3 points)
(2x best-of-7-leg singles matches & one best-of-7-leg doubles decider if required)

• Scotland 2-1 Australia
• Netherlands 2-0 Belgium

Final (Best of 5 points)
(2x best-of-7-leg singles matches, one best-of-7-leg doubles, then reverse singles)

• Scotland 1-3 Netherlands

CLICK HERE FOR FULL TEAM LINE-UPS & EVENT INFO

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