WDF World Cup Men Teams 1997

After Brisbane, Queensland in 1985 the WDF World Cup darts goes "Down Under" for the second time this time to Perth in Western Australia. The long trip to the southern hemisphere means there are a lot less countries than two years previously in Basel, Switzerland.

But with 26 countries, the organizers cannot complain, as all the top countries are present for this event. Like in the men’s competition, there were 26 countries present in the ladies WDF World Cup in Perth. Competing in their eighth WDF World Cup from October 1 through October 4 at the Burswood Resort in Perth.

In the team event, there are no surprises in the group stages. In the eighth finals we do get the first surprise as hosts Australia with Wayne Weening, Steve Duke, Peter Hinkley & Graham Hunt loses to Serge Farrando, Laurent Saillour, Stephane Dalancon & Christian Le Borgne from France.

In the quarterfinals, England with Martin Adams, Ronnie Baxter, Andy Fordham & Steve Beaton easily beat the Norwegians Arne Sivertsen, Roy Trevland, Stein Trondsen & Thor Helmer Johansen 9-1. Raymond van Barneveld, Roland Scholten, Co Stompé & Hessel Stok from the Netherlands beat Paul Lim, Jim Widmayer, Roger Carter & Jason Lucas from the USA 9-7 in an exciting game. In the other side of the schedule, the Welsh four Sean Palfrey, Martin Phillips, Marshall James & Eric Burden win 9-4 against the Scots Bob Taylor, Peter Johnstone, Andy Wallace & Alan Brown. Finally, Marko Kantele, Ulf Ceder, Markus Jokikokko & Risto Sundgren from Finland put an end to the French dream.

In the semi-finals England and The Netherlands fight a fierce battle which is narrowly won by England 9-8. In the seventeenth and deciding leg, England puts forward the experienced Martin Adams. In the Dutch camp, no one really wants to play the last leg. The Dutch choose Co Stompé who until then had won all four of his legs in the match. After Stompé starts with 140 and the first two darts of his second turn are also in the triple 20, with his last dart he knocks out the first two and a score of 60 remains. Those darts on the ground eventually cost him and the Netherlands the leg and the match. With Stompé on 40, Adams finishes 80 and thus brings the victory to the English. In the other semi-final Wales found little resistance from the brave Finns as they beat them 9-4. Wales, which is now assured of the overall title, absolutely wanted to take revenge in the final, after losing it 9-4 to their big rival England two years ago.

The final was level at 3-3, but then Wales takes a small lead courtesy of Sean Palfrey who beats Martin Adams and Martin Phillips who defeats Steve Beaton. Andy Fordham, England's best player at that moment, reduced the Wales’ lead to 5-4. Eric Burden and James Marshall then take the score to 7-4. England comes back when Ronnie Baxter wins his leg, but then Eric Burden defeats Steve Beaton. One more leg for Wales and the title is theirs. Marshall James is close to a 12 darter for the title, but Fordham wins that leg to close the gap to 8-6. Now the captains of both teams take the stage against each other. For Wales Martin Phillips and for England Martin Adams. In an exciting leg, Martin Adams is waiting on 41 when Martin Phillips for Wales with a 60 finish in 17 darts wins the decisive leg in the team event. This time, the roles are indeed reversed and Wales wins the team event with 9-6. After the victory in the team event in 1977, this is the second time in history that the gold in the team tournament goes to Wales.

WDF World Cup Men Teams

About WDF World Cup Men Teams 1997

Competitors Of WDF World Cup Men Teams 1997

Ahmad-Fauzi Abdulmalik

Martin Adams

Bruno Barbalho

Ronnie Baxter

Steve Beaton

Jonas Bergström

Tanguy Borra

Alan Brown

Peter Brumlich

Eric Burden

John Burke

Roger Carter

Antonio Carvalho

Diogo Carvalho

Ulf Ceder

Erik Clarys

Mike Clifton-Smith

Gaudenz Coray

Paul Cullen

Stephane Dalancon

Vernon Daniels

Guilherme Dias

Pavel Dufek

Steve Duk

Richie Ebol

Yuya Evans

Serge Farrando

Andy Fordham

David Glenn

Seamus Gormley

Paddy Greenan

Wynand Havenga

Peter Hinkley

Ralf Holer

Graham Hunt

Peter Hunt

Bjarne Iversen

Marshall James

Thor-Helmer Johansen

Frede Johansen

Trevor Johnson

Peter Johnstone

Markus Jokikokko

Stig Jorgensen

Marko Kantele

Blaine Karst

Takeo Koizumi

Andreas Krockel

Bruno Ladovaz

Christian Leborgne

Paul Lim

Jason Lucas

John MaGowan

Chester MacKenzie

Mick McGowan

Jack McKenna

Gregor McQueen

Enrico Mijares

Brian Morris

Jaroslav Mottl

Stefan Nagy

Takashi Nakano

Herbie Nathan

Olle Nissen

Daniele Nocent

Maurice Outerbridge

Sean Palfrey

Celso Parfan

Warren Parry

John Part

Martin Phillips

Giuseppe Quintiero

Pascal Rabau

Colin Rice

Preston Ridd

Par Riihonen

Ronny Rohr