Saturday at the World Cup of Darts
Written by News on 02/06/2018
Defending champions Netherlands, top seeds Scotland and four-time winners England will all feature in an action-packed double-session in the second-round of the World Cup of Darts on Saturday.
The second round is played as two best of seven leg singles matches and in the event of both nations winning one match apiece, the tie will be decided by a best of seven legs doubles clash.
Top seeds Scotland will headline Saturday’s afternoon session, as Peter Wright and Gary Anderson take on Brazil’s Diogo Portela and Bruno Rangel for a place in the quarter-finals.
The Scots avoided a repeat of last year’s shock first-round exit as they cruised past the United States of America 5-1 with a 94.66 average – the highest of the opening night.
The Samba stars from Brazil defeated Denmark by the same 5-1 scoreline to reach round two for the second straight year, but Anderson was in bullish mood after Scotland’s opening-round triumph.
“Even though we hit a decent average we never played well, but that shows we must be a strong team,” he said.
“It’s been a while since I’ve enjoyed it so much up there, our practice was going really well and we had a good laugh so I’m confident we can bring that onto stage in the rest of the tournament.”
Two-time finalists Wales will kick off proceedings on Saturday against the Swiss pairing of Alexander Fehlmann and Andreas Bless, who claimed their country’s first World Cup win against China on Thursday night.
Fifth seeds Wales were given a minor scare by Thailand, but Gerwyn Price and Jonny Clayton recovered to book their spot in round-two, and they will be hoping to secure a spot in Wales’ sixth World Cup of Darts quarter-final.
Australia, the 2012 finalists, will take on former semi-finalists Spain in another eye-catching tussle on Saturday afternoon.
Simon Whitlock and Kyle Anderson won five legs on the spin as they dispatched Hong Kong 5-1 in their opening match, while Spain’s Cristo Reyes and Toni Alcinas edged out Russia in a decider, with Alcinas taking out huge 141 and 136 finishes.
Elsewhere, Canada – led by three-time world champion John Part and debutant Dawson Murschell will face Japan for a place in the last eight.
Canada eased past Italy in the tournament’s curtain-raiser, while Seigo Asada and Haruki Muramatsu caused the upset of the tournament so far to dump out eighth seeds Austria in a dramatic deciding leg.
The focus then switches to Saturday’s evening session, with defending champions Netherlands, four-time winners England and host nation Germany all in action.
Netherlands headline Saturday’s night action, as they collide with South Africa in the second round.
Michael van Gerwen and Raymond van Barneveld averaged 102.95 as they breezed to a whitewash win over Gibraltar, whilst South Africa battled past Hungary, thanks to an impressive cameo from debutant Liam O’Brien.
Second seeds England will take on 2017 quarter-finalists Singapore in round two, after both teams recorded hard-fought 5-3 victories in Friday’s first round.
England’s new-look pairing of Rob Cross and Dave Chisnall averaged 93.27 as they saw off the Czech Republic’s Roman Benecky and Karel Sedlacek, fending off a late fightback to book their progression.
Cross admitted: “I was a bit nervous but it’s great to represent my country.
“It’s weird, I’ve never played pairs before but it was a decent start and we’ll be better for this now that I’ve had the experience of the stage and won the game. I feel really good at the minute and I’m enjoying this so far.”
Singapore, represented by Paul Lim and Harith Lim, recovered from 2-0 down to dump out New Zealand and they will be hoping to cause another upset against England – having knocked out Scotland in round one 12 months ago.
Host nation Germany will take on Northern Ireland for a place in the quarter-finals, in a repeat of last year’s first-round tussle.
Max Hopp and Martin Schindler produced a fine display to see off Sweden 5-3, whilst Daryl Gurney and Brendan Dolan fought back from 4-2 down to edge out the Poles, with Gurney taking out a nerveless 101 finish in the decider.
Seventh seeds Belgium will kick off Saturday’s evening session when they lock horns with Finland’s Kim Viljanen and Marko Kantele, who eased past Greece 5-1 on Friday evening.
However, Belgium’s progression against the Republic of Ireland was far from serene, as Kim Huybrechts and Dimitri Van den Bergh fought back from 4-2 down to prevail in one of the most dramatic first-round ties in World Cup history.
Our live action from Frankfurt continues on Saturday with eight second-round matches, including England, the Netherlands and Scotland- coverage is underway from 12:30pm on Sky Sports Action
Keep up to date with the latest darts news, previews, reports, reaction and expert analysis. Get all the latest at www.skysports.com/darts and join in the conversation @SkySportsDarts– don’t forget to use #LoveTheDarts
(c) Sky News 2018: Saturday at the World Cup of Darts
