Starting Thursday, June 12, the fifteenth edition of the World Cup of Darts begins. Three players have been part of the field of participants since 2010 and have not missed a single edition of the tournament.
Simon Whitlock is the only one of this trio who has actually won the tournament. From 2010 to 2015, "The Wizard" teamed up with Paul Nicholson, with whom he lost the final to England in 2012 after a thriller. From 2016 to 2019, Kyle Anderson was his partner, before Damon Heta took over from Anderson in 2020. With Heta, Whitlock was successful for the first time, as they wrote the tournament together in 2022.
Mensur Suljovic is another player who will compete in the World Cup of Darts for the fifteenth time. He made his debut in 2010 with Maik Langendorf, while Dietmar Burger was his teammate in 2012. In 2013, Langendorf returned as Suljovic's pairing mate, before Rowby-John Rodriguez was by his side from 2014 through 2017. During this period, Suljovic and Rodriguez reached the quarterfinals twice.
Zoran Lerchbacher took over Rodriguez's spot in 2018 and 2019, before 'Little John' was allowed to return to the Austrian team from 2020 through 2024. That became a successful period, with two finals. In 2021 and 2024, Suljovic and Rodriguez lost the final to Scotland and England, respectively. Nevertheless, Rodriguez has lost his spot on the Austrian team, as in the upcoming edition his little brother Rusty-Jake Rodriguez will pair up with Suljovic.
William O'Connor has also never missed an edition of the World Cup of Darts. He has played with four different partners over the years: Mick McGowan (2010, 2012, 2016-2017), Conan Finnan (2013-2015), Steve Lennon (2018-2022) and Keane Barry (2023-2025). With Lennon, O'Connor made it to the final in 2019, in which Scotland proved too strong. That result was an outlier, however, as Ireland never got beyond the second round.
Brendan Dolan's streak is coming to an end as of the next edition. 'The History Maker' was part of the Northern Ireland team fourteen times, but now has to watch compatriots Josh Rock and Daryl Gurney instead.
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