From 20 to 24 September, the twentieth edition of the WDF Europe Cup was held in the Dutch seaside town of Egmond aan Zee. In the men’s event 32 different countries toe the oche, which is a new record for the WDF Europe Cup. Six countries leave their ladies at home, but this still means a very strong field of 26 countries in the ladies. In hotel Zuiderduin, for years the setting for the Zuiderduin/Finder Masters the NDB and WDF put together a fantastic tournament, which runs very smoothly.
From the 2015 WDF World Cup Nick Rolls joined the WDF team as one of the officials on stage alongside “Little” Richard Ashdown and Jacques Nieuwlaat, so 2016 is his first WDF Europe Cup. The Dutch Darts Association NDB is hosting this tournament for the third time, they also organized the WDF Europe Cup in The Hague in 1984 and Veldhoven in 2000. Welshman Martin Phillips participates for the thirteenth and last time in this event and is the record holder. Malta is returning to the WDF Europe Cup family for their first Cup since 2000. There are no debutants this year.
The overall Ladies WDF Europe Cup is won for the eleventh time by the ladies of England. They win the team event comfortably and are also in the finals of the singles with Fallon Sherrock and pairs with Deta Hedman and Lorraine Winstanley. Although they lose both these finals, overall, they are unbeatable. Trina Gulliver, Deta Hedman, Lorraine Winstanley & Fallon Sherrock collect 148 points. The Netherlands finish second overall with 113 points, followed by the ladies from Wales. They take bronze with 83 points. Germany finished in fourth place with 81 points and Sweden closed the top five.
Overall ranking
1 - 148 points England
2 - 113 points Netherlands
3 - 83 points Wales
4 - 81 points Germany
5 - 42 points Sweden
6 - 39 points Finland
7 - 38 points Norway
8 - 35 points Czech Republic
9 - 27 points Ireland Republic
10 - 24 points Scotland
11 - 19 points Italy
12 - 16 points Denmark/ Switzerland
14 - 14 points Belgium/ Hungary
16 - 11 points Poland/ Romania/ Serbia
19 - 9 points France
20 - 8 points Turkey
21 - 4 points Latvia
22 - 3 points Isle of Man
23 - 2 points Greece
24 - 1 point Northern Ireland
25 - 0 points Iceland/ Lithuania