Simon Whitlock and Damon Heta shock Belgium, England and Wales en route to landing their maiden World Cup of Darts title for Australia in Frankfurt on Sunday; they become the fifth nation to lift the coveted title with a convincing win over the 2020 winners
Monday 20 June 2022 00:35, UK
Simon Whitlock and Damon Heta claimed Australia's maiden World Cup of Darts title after shocking England and Wales en route to glory in Frankfurt on Sunday.
Heta and Whitlock produced a sensational doubles display to dump out five-time semi-finalists Belgium before defeating four-time winners and top seeds England in the semi-finals.
The green and gold then claimed the title thanks to a 3-1 victory over Welsh duo Gerwyn Price and Jonny Clayton in the final.
Ten years on from suffering World Cup heartbreak in an extraordinary 2012 finale against England, Whitlock fulfilled his darting destiny alongside Heta to scoop the £70,000 top prize at the Eissporthalle.
"It is life-changing. I have dreamt about this moment my entire life and I've finally got there," said an emotional Whitlock, one of four World Cup ever-presents.
"It feels amazing. I had a great partner. Damon has been amazing. He's a great friend, and he's the best player on the planet right now. He is going to be the next world champion."
Heta gave Australia the early impetus in the final with a stunning whitewash win over a below-par Price, before Whitlock put the fifth seeds on the brink of history after battling past 'The Ferret' 4-2.
However, Price and Clayton produced a stirring fightback to prolong the drama to clinch the pairs match and reduce the arrears to 2-1.
'The Heat' then produced a nerveless display in the biggest game of his life against Clayton, pinning double 16 to spark jubilant celebrations from the Australian duo.
"Simon dragged me through the beginning," admitted Heta, who defeated three of the world's top eight on Sunday evening.
"I'm stoked for Simon and stoked for Australia with all the support we've had back home.
"Everything we are sacrificing being here and we've got the title in the bag. It's an amazing feeling."
In quarter-final action, Price posted the second highest individual average in World Cup history to inspire 2020 champions Wales to an emphatic victory over host nation Germany.
'The Iceman' averaged an incredible 117.88 in a remarkable four-leg blitz of Martin Schindler, producing winning legs of 15, 10, 12 and 14 darts and converting sensational 170 and 120 checkouts in a phenomenal performance.
"We weren't at our best in the final but Simon and Damon played fantastic," said Price.
"I said at the beginning of the tournament we'd play Australia in the final, but I predicted that we would win, so I was wrong there!
"We didn't fire tonight, but we'll be back and we will be stronger next year."
Netherlands set up a meeting with Wales and a first World Cup semi-final since 2019 with Danny Noppert and Dirk van Duijvenbode seeing off Northern Ireland's Daryl Gurney and Brendan Dolan.
Smith and Wade then guided England through to the semi-final meeting with the Aussies with a dominant victory over Scotland's defending champions Peter Wright and John Henderson.
