With the World Cup just a few weeks away, the pairings are locked in for Frankfurt. The usual suspects, England, Netherlands and Wales are all heavily fancied to win the tournament but as history tells us, it's never plain sailing in this competition. So without further ado, let's take a look at five potential dark horses at the 2024 BetVictor World Cup of Darts...
Northern Ireland
Brendan Dolan is one of only four players to have featured in every World Cup since the inaugrual competition, however this year he'll be without his usual partner in crime, Daryl Gurney for the first time since 2016. His replacement, 23 year old Josh Rock, has had a good start to 2024, winning the Dutch Darts Championship and shooting up to 18th in the world rankings. If Dolan can rekindle the chemistry he had with Gurney with his new partner, the Ulstermen could be a force to be reckoned with.
Canada
Matt Campbell has played alongside Jeff Smith over the past four tournaments but this year 'The Ginger Ninja' will have a new partner. Unlike, Northern Ireland, the Canadians haven't replaced him with a young exciting talent, but have instead gone with a more conservative player, David Cameron. All jokes aside, with the experience of Cameron and the consistency of Campbell, the Canadians look a solid outfit.
Read more: Favourites Wales storm to victory - World Cup of Darts review
France
Perhaps not a nation known for their darting prowess, the French have only been involved in two previous World Cups. That being said, Les Bleus gave a good account of themselves last year, beating the likes of Northern Ireland and South Africa before eventually losing to Scotland in the quarter final. Thibault Tricole was on fire in that tournament and with the experienced, Jacques Labre by his side once again, don't be surprised if the French cause another upset.
Poland
Krzysztof Ratajski has been one of the most consistent players on the PDC tour for half a decade now and always seems to be there or there abouts towards the business end of tournaments. That being said, 'The Polish Eagle' has never got past the second round on the World Cup stage. Despite this, he and teammate, Kryzystof Kciuk did manage to beat the all time record for a pairs average against Lithuania (118.10) last year. Ratajski will be hoping his new partner Radek Szaganski is the solution to their second round curse.
Singapore
Every year we wonder whether it'll be Paul Lim's last appearance at the World Cup but he always seems to pop up at the next one. Well, this years no exeption, as he and his partner Harith Lim compete for Singapore for the tenth year in a row. With a combined age of 124, it's fair to say they go into the tournament with bags of experience and have been known to cause upsets in the past.
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