WDF Europe Cup Men Singles 1998

From 6 to 9 August 1998, 26 countries played in Oslo in Norway during the eleventh edition of the WDF Europe Cup darts. The big question was of course whether the England men, this time with Martin Adams, Andy Fordham, Ronnie Baxter and Steve Beaton, would take home the overall title for the eleventh consecutive time. The England ladies Mandy Solomons and Trina Gulliver could win the overall Cup for the seventh time in the last eight editions. For the first time in the history of the WDF Europe Cup, two brothers play in one cup; Brian and John Elder from Ballymena play for Northern Ireland. The Faroe Islands and Iceland make their debut at a WDF Europe Cup here in Norway.

The singles had, as the last event in 1998, to decide who would win the overall title. England, Scotland and Wales were still in the running and even Belgium still had a minimal chance. That small chance quickly vanished when Luc Vriesacker lost to Andreas Kröckel from Germany in the preliminary round. The English also lost a player in the preliminary round; Ronnie Baxter lost to a direct rival, Bob Taylor from Scotland. But the Scots in turn see their chances shrink when Mike Veitch loses to Marko Kantele from Finland in the first round. In the first round England lost another player when Steve Beaton lost to Welshman Ritchie Davies. Wales is now in pole position for the overall title.

In the second round, Scotland is permanently taken out for the overall title by their direct opponent Wales. Bob Taylor and Peter Johnstone lose to Ritchie Davies and Sean Palfrey. In the last 16 Wales loses two players, Martin Phillips loses 4-1 to Englishman Andy Fordham and Sean Palfrey 4-2 to Dutchman Co Stompé. But England also loses one player. Defending champion Martin Adams goes down 4-2 against Raymond van Barneveld.

Andy Fordham is now on his own for England, he has to win the tournament and hope that neither Welshman reaches the final in order for his country to win the overall title. In the quarterfinals, no decision was reached because none of the title contenders played against each other and both players from Wales, Marshall James and Ritchie Davies won, as did Andy Fordham. Co Stompé became the fourth semi-finalist.

The semi-finals must therefore make the decision. Ritchie Davies faces Andy Fordham, a match Andy wins 4-1. In the other semi-final, the second Welshman, Marshall James also loses his match. Co Stompé averages north of 100 and wins 4-2. And thus the chances for the English team to retain the overall title were still alive. If The Viking takes the singles title, the overall victory is also for England. Co Stompé clearly thinks differently because he beats Fordham 4-2 and crowns himself WDF Europe Cup singles champion. He is the first non-Englishman to win this title and also the first Dutchman to win a gold medal at a WDF Europe Cup.

WDF Europe Cup Men Singles

About WDF Europe Cup Men Singles 1998

Competitors Of WDF Europe Cup Men Singles 1998

Godfrey Abela

Martin Adams

Ivars Adamson

Kyriakos Anastasiadis

Beat Basler

Ronnie Baxter

Steve Beaton

Tanguy Borra

Peter Brolin

John Burke

Vincent Busuttil

Brian Buur

Paris Chloros

Erik Clarys

Gaudenz Coray

Charlie Cover

Stephane Dalancon

Ritchie Davies

Tony Dawkins

John Demicoli

Terje Deras

Louis Doherty

Brian Elder

John Elder

Uldis Erkis

Luca Falseti

George Federico

David Field

Pascal Fontaine

Andy Fordham

Demetris Georgiou

Charles Ghiller

Seamus Gormley

Brendan Grace

Petur Gronagard

Thorgeir Gudmundsson

Rene Handschin

Bernd Hebecker

Boris Hristovski

Geoff Hurst

Throsdur Ingimarsson

Bjarne Iversen

Janus Jacobsen

Marshall James

Frede Johansen

Peter Johnstone

Ole Jorgensen

Marko Kantele

Blaine Karst

Tibor Kiss

Jarkko Komula

Ermos Korradou

Kristinn Kristinnsson

Andreas Krockel

Attila Kulcar

Stelios Laskaris

John MaGowan

Nils-Gunnar Manshed

Jack McKenna

Maurizio Moretti

Jean-Luc Mortelec

Mikael Mortensen

Jaroslav Mottl

Stefan Nagy

John Neale

Christos Padazopoulos

Sean Palfrey

Martin Phillips

Antreas Podilatas

Loris Polese

Attila Port

Poul Poulsen

Marko Pusa

Colin Rice

Richard Rietveld

Dzintars Salmins

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