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Scotland's John Henderson 'feeling good' about chances of retaining World Cup of Darts title

John Henderson, World Cup of Darts, Scotland

After winning the 2021 tournament with the pairing of John Henderson and Peter Wright, Scotland head into this week's World Cup of Darts as the defending champions.

The World Cup of Darts is just hours away, with play starting in Frankfurt on Thursday before Sunday's grand finale.
Last year's tournament was claimed by Scotland, with the pairing of John Henderson and Peter Wright pipping Austria to the trophy with a 3-1 victory in the final.
But while the reigning champions boast current world No.1 Peter Wright, teammate Henderson has slumped to No.67 in the PDC rankings, leaving them as the eighth seed heading into the event.
However, poor form wasn't enough to dampen Henderson's spirits, and the 49-year-old spoke optimistically of Scotland's chances in the knockout tournament.

"I am feeling good," insisted Henderson. "I am actually playing really well. I am averaging well over the 90s in every game, so my form going into the World Cup is really good.

"And obviously I am keeping an eye on Peter as well. He has had a wee dip in form, but he has found it again just in time, so we are looking good."

Henderson struggled to build on his World Cup triumph, only reaching the last 16 in three events since last year's big win.

He admitted that the title didn't change his career as much as he hoped.

"To get a first title in a major on the TV - did it change my life? I wouldn't say so," Henderson added.

"I use Jonny Clayton as an example. When he won the World Cup, his career just went through the roof, he ended up winning everything after that and I just used to think 'well, if I can get half of that', but it hasn't gone my way."

However, Henderson revealed that Wright and previous world champions Michael van Gerwen, Adrian Lewis and Gary Anderson have all offered the 49-year-old some advice - "just persevere, you will get there, you just need a bit of luck".

Henderson will hope luck is on his side this weekend, with team Scotland facing fierce competition from Dutch pair Danny Noppert and Dirk van Duijvenbode, Wales' Clayton and Gerwyn Price, Belgium's Dimitri Van den Bergh and Kim Huybrechts, plus local German pair Gabriel Clemens and Martin Schindler.

But to start off their World Cup campaign, Wright and Henderson will be strong favourites to see off unseeded Hong Kong pair Lee Lok Yin and Ching Ho Tung on Friday.

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