Danny Noppert and Gian van Veen were eliminated in the semi-finals of the World Cup of Darts on Sunday. The Dutch duo lost 5-8 to the Welshmen Gerwyn Price and Jonny Clayton in Frankfurt.
Van Veen and Noppert made a convincing start to their match against Price and Clayton. The Dutchmen won the first two legs and maintained that lead until 4-2. After that, the engine faltered more and more often, while the level of the Welsh darters increased.
Due to the defeat, the unofficial World Championship for countries is over for Van Veen and Noppert. The two had made an impression on Saturday by thrashing the Scottish former world champions Gary Anderson and Peter Wright 8-0. On Sunday, the Netherlands won 8-2 against the Czechs Karel Sedlácek and Petr Krivka in the quarter-finals.
Price and Clayton will later face the Northern Irish duo Josh Rock and Daryl Gurney in the final. They swept the Germans Martin Schindler and Ricardo Pietreczko off the floor in the semi-final (8-1).
The Netherlands has won the World Cup of Darts four times, most recently in 2018. Then Michael van Gerwen and Raymond van Barneveld appeared on the oche. Both players are not present this year. ‘Mighty Mike’ has temporarily stopped playing darts and ‘Barney’ has fallen too far down the rankings.