It’s coming home.
Australia has taken out the World Cup of Darts with the team of Damon Heta and Simon Whitlock winning the trophy for the nation’s very first time.
Whitlock and Heta sealed the victory with a 3-1 final defeat over Wales with Heta hitting a 180 in the final round and rounding it off with a double 16 to send the crowd into raptures.
It signals the end of a decade of agony for Simon Whitlock who was part of the Australian team that lost to England in the 2012 World Cup final in Hamburg.
Following the victory, Whitlock spoke of the emotional victory, saying: “It is life-changing. It feels amazing - I have dreamt about this moment my entire life and I’ve finally got there.”
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The Wizard paid tribute to his partner and the crowd, adding: “Damo’s been amazing, great partner, great friend, and the crowd have been amazing. Unbelievable, thank you so much.”
Despite being the one to pull through at the finale for the Australians, Heta was full of praise for Whitlock.
“Simon dragged me through the beginning,” Heta said.
“I’m stoked for Simon and stoked for Australia with all the support we’ve had back home.
“Everything we are sacrificing being here and we’ve got the title in the bag. It’s an amazing feeling.”
The Wizard had previously partnered with Australian darts player Kyle Anderson who tragically passed at 33 years of age in August 2021.
The pair paid tribute to their former World Cup tournament teammate and good friend following the victory.
Whitlock said: “I was thinking about Kyle the whole time we played, we miss him and he was a great guy and a great dart player.”
Heta added: “Before I went on for the first game against Belgium, I played his walk-on song and yeah, it added a bit of inspiration.”
The World Cup-winning duo maintained their hopes that the victory would help propel the sport of darts in Australia.
Heta said: “We have so much support back home, and hopefully this can help build the game in Oz, which is something we’ve tried to strive for.”
Whitlock agreed, saying: “Hopefully it inspires Aussies to get good at the sport.”
It was an extraordinary performance for the Australians on the final day of the tournament who ousted Belgium 2-1 in the quarter-finals, and then got their 2012 World Cup final revenge in the semi-finals, defeating England 2-0.
Jayden Collins