PDC World Cup of Darts: Wales win as Asian teams count Covid-19 cost
- Hong Kong lose in first round to China replacements Latvia while Singapore pull out because of coronavirus restrictions
- Philippines go out to top seeds and losing finalists England before Welsh team make history as fourth winners in Austria
Wales lifted the PDC World Cup of Darts on Sunday, beating rivals and top seeds England in the final at the Salzburgarena in Austria, to conclude a tournament that was beset with disappointment for Asian nations.
Hong Kong lost to Latvia on Friday, but the Europeans were only called up as late replacements for China who pulled out because of Covid-19 complications in their travel to Austria.
The Hong Kong pair of Kevin Leung Kai-fan and Royden Lam Ting-chi lost their best of nine legs doubles game 5-4 to Latvian duo Madars Razma and Janis Mustafejev, in a game that was moved to the end of the day’s schedule to allow the latecomers to prepare.
China’s team of Zhuang Di and Zheng Zizhao missed out as “an administrative technicality relating to their flight connection” with 31 teams already in Salzburg.
The duo were set to arrive Friday morning ahead of their World Cup debuts, having been granted visas and testing negative for Covid-19.