By Alex Moss
22 MAY 2017 • 7:52PM
Dave Chisnall will make his debut in the Betway World Cup of Darts for defending champions England as he partners Adrian Lewis in the pairs tournament next week.
The £300,000 tournament takes place at the Eissporthalle in Frankfurt, Germany on June 1-4, with 32 two-player nations bidding to win the title.
Reigning champions England, have won the competition in four of the past five years when represented by Lewis and Phil Taylor, but this year Lewis will be partnered by world number five Chisnall.
Chisnall recently moved above James Wade on the PDC Order of Merit to become the second highest ranked Englishman, and he was unbeaten in his final seven games of this year’s Betway Premier League.
Scotland, the 2015 finalists, are the top seeds for the event, as world number three Peter Wright returns after missing the 2016 edition to partner two-time world champion Gary Anderson.
Two-time World Cup winners Netherlands will be the number three seeds, as newly crowned Premier League champion Michael van Gerwen teams up again with Raymond van Barneveld, in a duo which went all the way to the title in 2014 and finished runners-up last year.
Welsh pair Gerwyn Price and Mark Webster team up for the second successive year as the number four seeds, while Australia’s Simon Whitlock and Kyle Anderson the fifth seeds.
Last year’s beaten semi-finalists, Northern Ireland (Daryl Gurney and Brendan Dolan) and Belgium (Kim and Ronny Huybrechts) retain the same pairings, while Austrian duo Mensur Suljovic and Rowby-John Rodriguez complete the list of eight seeded nations.
Elsewhere, Brazil will make their World Cup of Darts debut as Diogo Portela, a recent participant on the European Tour, teams up with Alexandre Sattin.
In a change to the original field of nations, Latvia have been withdrawn and will be replaced by debutants Switzerland, who are represented by Patrick Rey and Philipp Ruckstuhl.
Three-time world champion John Part and PDC Pro Tour newcomer John Norman Jnr represent 2016 quarter-finalists Canada, while the long-standing American partnership of Darin Young and Larry Butler are back again this year.
New Zealand are represented by emerging talent Cody Harris and experienced Rob Szabo, emerging youngster Martin Schindler makes his World Cup of Darts debut alongside former world youth champion Max Hopp for the hosts Germany, while established professional Devon Petersen and Deon Oliver make up the South Africa team.
Cristo Reyes and Antonio Alcinas team up again for Spain, Mick McGowan and William O’Connor represent the Republic of Ireland for a second successive year, and Weihong Li and Yuanjun Liu form the Chinese team.
Haruki Muramatsu and debutant Yuki Yamada will compete for Japan, Kai Fan Leung comes in to partner Royden Lam for Hong Kong, while both Singapore and Thailand retain their pairings from last year.
Russian qualifiers Boris Koltsov and Aleksandr Oreshkin team up again, while Magnus Caris is again partnered by Daniel Larsson for Sweden, with Kim Viljanen and Marko Kantele in action for Finland and Per Laursen joined by Alex Jensen in the Denmark pairing.
Dyson Parody and Dylan Duo will compete for Gibraltar once more, with John Michael joined by Ioannis Selachoglou in the Greece team and this year’s European Tour ever-present Krzysztof Ratajski joined by Tytus Kanik in the Poland side.
Hungary will see Janos Vegso partnered by Zoltan Mester, with Gabriel Rollo coming into the Italy team alongside Daniele Petri, while Frantisek Humpula and Karel Sedlacek teaming up for their World Cup debut for the Czech Republic.
Betway World Cup of Darts
Competing Nations
Seeded Nations
1 Scotland – Gary Anderson & Peter Wright
2 England – Adrian Lewis & Dave Chisnall
3 Netherlands – Michael van Gerwen & Raymond van Barneveld
4 Wales – Gerwyn Price & Mark Webster
5 Australia – Simon Whitlock & Kyle Anderson
6 Northern Ireland – Daryl Gurney & Brendan Dolan
7 Austria – Mensur Suljovic & Rowby-John Rodriguez
8 Belgium – Kim Huybrechts & Ronny Huybrechts
Other Nations
Brazil – Diogo Portela & Alexandre Sattin
Canada – John Norman Jnr & John Part
China – Weihong Li & Yuanjun Liu
Czech Republic – Frantisek Humpula & Karel Sedlacek
Denmark – Per Laursen & Alex Jensen
Finland – Kim Viljanen & Marko Kantele
Germany – Max Hopp & Martin Schindler
Gibraltar – Dyson Parody & Dylan Duo
Greece – John Michael & Ioannis Selachoglou
Hong Kong – Kai Fan Leung & Royden Lam
Hungary – Janos Vegso & Zoltan Mester
Italy – Daniele Petri & Gabriel Rollo
Japan – Haruki Muramatsu & Yuki Yamada
New Zealand – Cody Harris & Rob Szabo
Poland – Krzysztof Ratajski & Tytus Kanik
Republic of Ireland – Mick McGowan & William O’Connor
Russia – Boris Koltsov & Aleksandr Oreshkin
Singapore – Paul Lim & Harith Lim
South Africa – Devon Petersen & Deon Oliver
Spain – Cristo Reyes & Antonio Alcinas
Sweden – Magnus Caris & Daniel Larsson
Switzerland – Patrick Rey & Philipp Ruckstuhl
Thailand – Thanawat Gaweenuntawong & Attapol Eupakaree
United States of America – Darin Young & Larry Butler
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