WDF World Cup VIII was held from 2 till 5 October 1991 in the Dutch seaside town of Zandvoort. Not in a hotel or resort as is usually the case, but in the Gran Dorado bungalow holiday park. No less than 32 countries were present at the oche in the men’s event, which was a record. Five countries leave their ladies at home, but with 27 the upward trend is also maintained for the ladies. Among those 32 countries were five debuting countries; Russia, Luxembourg, Greece, Austria and the African Uganda.
The England men squad had plenty of choice in players and could even leave home this fabulous foursome: World Champion Dennis Priestley, number two in the world Mike Gregory, former world champion Bob Anderson and the 1989 Winmau World Masters Peter Evison. Of course, the big question was which country could prevent the English team of claiming their seventh consecutive overall title.
In the team event, England with John Lowe, Eric Bristow, Phil Taylor & Alan Warriner qualifies for the semi-finals by winning convincingly in the quarterfinals against the Scottish foursome Jamie Harvey, Peter Masson, Ronnie Sharp, Jocky Wilson 9-2. The opponent in the semi-final is the USA. Larry Butler, Paul Lim, Tony Payne & Russ Lopez win 9-4 against Jean-Marie de Jonghe, Leo Laurens, Bruno Raes & Frans De Vooght from Belgium in the quarterfinals. In a very attractive match between England and the USA, the English favourites win 9-5 and take revenge for their 9-0 loss against team USA in the semi-final at the 1985 WDF World Cup.
In the other semi-final Eric Burden, Chris Johns, Martin Phillips, Leighton Rees on behalf of Wales face the Republic of Ireland with Jack McKenna, John-Joe O'Shea, Gerald Porter, John Dunne. Wales beat Switzerland 9-2 in the quarterfinals, while the Irish beat Australia in a 17-leg thriller. Wales quickly takes a comfortable 6-0 lead against Ireland but the Irish fight back to 6-4 and 7-5. Still, the Welshmen eventually win 9-5.
In the final, Wales takes a 2-0 lead, but the English remain close and the game is level at 6-6. Then Eric Bristow wins his only leg of the match against Leighton Rees in a sloppy 24 darts leg. Next, John Lowe beats Chris Johns in 17 darts to make it 8-6. Phil Taylor can finish the final but bumps into a strong Eric Burden who finishes in 16 darts. Finally, it is Alan Warriner who wins the team event for England in 13 darts (140, 140, 100, 97, 24 game shot).
It is the fifth time that England has won the team tournament, Wales remains on one win, the victory in 1977. Defending champion Canada did not make it through the group this year, they are surprisingly defeated by the Swiss.