World Cup of Darts 2017: Netherlands Top Wales to Win Competition for 3rd Time
The Netherlands won the 2017 World Cup of Darts after beating Wales 3-1 at the Eissporthalle in Frankfurt, Germany, on Sunday.
Michael van Gerwen beat Gerwyn Price in the singles, before he and Raymond Van Barneveld won against Price and Mark Webster doubles. Van Barneveld's win over Price then secured the Netherlands' third World Cup and a split the £60,000 in prize money available to the victorious pair.
Earlier, the Netherlands overcame defending champions England, represented by Adrian Lewis and Dave Chisnall, in the semi-final after Wales beat Kim and Ronny Huybrechts of Belgium.
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The full results and scores can be found at PDC.tv. The same source detailed the full prize money payouts.
Recap
Van Gerwen destroyed Price 4-0 to get the Netherlands going in the final. Mighty Mike barely missed a trick on doubles as he established an early lead, per PDC Darts:
However, as Live Darts noted, MVG's two-leg lead had come via a steady pace of scoring:
Van Gerwen stepped up the pace with an 11-dart third leg to move onto the brink of a win. He soon wrapped things up for his nation's first point.
The pressure was now on Webster to beat Barney and keep Wales in it. He got off to a great start when he pinned tops for a one-leg lead.
Yet Van Barneveld battled back, taking out this superb double to even things, per Sky Sports Darts:
Unfortunately for the Netherlands, it was as close as Barney came, as Webster rattled off three straight legs to make it 1-1 ahead of the doubles.
Van Gerwen checked out on 96 to give his nation the early advantage in the doubles. It was 2-0 after Barney broke throw by landing double-five.
MVG hit a 107 checkout to make it 3-0 before Price finally got Wales on the board with this quality finish:
Wales had briefly rallied, but a peerless Van Gerwen was unmoved, calmly hitting double-16 for the win.
When the singles resumed, Price took out tops to go one in front against Barney. However, RVB stormed back to land double-eight for a 136 checkout.
Price's response was to hit a maximum en route to landing double-five for a 2-1 lead. A 180 from RVB preceded the Dutchman finding tops to even things up.
After three misses at double-10, Van Barneveld hit double-five to break throw. Another 180 got him rolling at the start of the next leg, only for a defiant Price to match the maximum.
Yet he had only prolonged the inevitable, as Barney pinned double-four to seal the trophy and make up for last year's defeat in the final to England.
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