Paul Lim rolled back the years as Singapore came from 4-2 down to beat Gibraltar and set up a World Cup of Darts clash with Netherlands, who beat Denmark.
The 67-year-old darting legend famously helped the Singapore Slingers stun Scotland and Wales in previous years alongside regular team-mate Harith Lim but the crowd favourites looked like they were heading for an early exit as their youthful opponents Sean Negrette and Justin Hewitt stormed into 3-0 and 4-2 leads thanks to checkouts form 81 and 100.
Although the match lacked quality with both sides averaging in the 70s, Singapore eventually made their experience tell as Harith Lim took out 108 to force a decider before Paul Lim brought the crowd to their feet with a match-winning 116 finish.
Singapore's aforementioned famous upsets came in the first-round when matches are decided by the precarious doubles rubber so their next clash against Michael van Gerwen and Dirk van Duijvenbode will clearly be a mammoth challenge.
Paul Lim did beat Rob Cross in a singles match at the 2018 World Cup only for Dave Chisnall to dig England out of trouble prior to the deciding doubles rubber, but few will expect Saturday's tie to go the distance.
MVG and van Duijvenbode got off to a slow start against Denmark, losing the opening leg, but came back to win 5-1 with an average of 92.35.
Defending champions and title favourites Wales, represented by Gerwyn Price and Jonny Clayton, overcame Finland 5-2 although it could have been a whitewash had Marko Kantele not taken out 95 for a classy 15-darter in the fifth leg.
Finland pulled another back before Kantele missed tops for a third leg in a row and that proved to be their final visit as Clayton tidied up.
The most impressive performance on the night came from Poland's Krzysztof Ratajski and Krzysztof Kciuk, who came through a high-quality affair with Czech Republic to triumph 5-2.
The Polish Eagle and his playing partner averaged a stunning 104.97, which was the second highest for a first-round doubles encounter in the tournament's history, while they also hit five of their nine attempts at doubles.
Ratajski closed out the match with a stunning 122 checkout but the Czechs, featuring Karel Sedlacek and Adam Gawlas, can be proud of their efforts having averaged 103.47 themselves while Gawlas fired in a match-high finish of 124.
Peter Wright, who lifted the World Cup alongside Gary Anderson in 2019, and his partner John Henderson hardly broke sweat as they averaged 93.94 in a 5-0 demolition of China.
Dark horses Australia, who are one of the 20/1 tips on these pages, also breezed through in similar fashion as Simon Whitlock and Damon Heta averaged 93 in a 5-0 victory over Italy, who like China averaged in the 60s and failed to earn an attempt at a double.
Lithuania's Darius Labanauskas and Mindaugas Barauskas overcame Hungary's János Végső and Patrik Kovács 5-3 in the opening match of the night while the USA duo of Danny Lauby & Chuck Puleo were far too strong for Swden's Daniel Larsson and Johan Engström as they won 5-1.
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World Cup: Thursday results and tournament schedule
Thursday September 9
Evening Session
(7pm local time, 6pm BST)
TV Coverage: Sky Sports
First Round (Best of nine legs - doubles)
- Hungary 3-5 Lithuania
- Czech Republic 2-5 Poland
- Gibraltar 4-5 Singapore
- USA 5-1 Sweden
- Scotland 5-0 China
- Netherlands 5-1 Denmark
- Wales 5-2 Finland
- Australia 5-0 Italy
Friday September 10
Evening Session (7pm local time, 6pm BST)
TV Coverage: Sky Sports
First Round (Best of nine legs - doubles)
- Russia v Japan
- Spain v South Africa
- Republic of Ireland v Portugal
- Austria v Philippines
- Northern Ireland v Hong Kong
- Germany v Canada
- England v Brazil
- Belgium v Greece
Saturday September 10
Afternoon Session (2pm local time, 1pm BST)
TV Coverage: Sky Sports
Second Round (Best of 3 points)
(Two best-of-7-leg singles matches & one best of 7 doubles decider if required)
- Four matches
Evening Session (7pm local time, 6pm BST)
TV Coverage: Sky Sports
Second Round (Best of 3 points)
(2x best-of-7-leg singles matches & one best-of-7-leg doubles decider if required)
- Four matches
Sunday September 11
Afternoon Session (1pm local time, 12pm BST)
TV Coverage: Sky Sports
Quarter-Finals (Best of 3 points)
(2x best-of-7-leg singles matches & one best-of-7-leg doubles decider if required)
- Four matches
Evening Session (7pm local time, 6pm BST)
Semi-Finals (Best of 3 points)
(2x best-of-7-leg singles matches & one best-of-7-leg doubles decider if required)
- Two matches
Final (Best of 5 points)
(2x best-of-7-leg singles matches, one best-of-7-leg doubles, then reverse singles)
- Winner SF 1 v Winner SF 2
World Cup of Darts: Team line-ups
With nations represented by two-player teams, competitors are initially selected based on the PDC Order of Merit, where two or more players are ranked. If players do not wish to enter, then their fellow countrymen next on the Order of Merit will get called up.
With seedings based on the cumulative PDC ranking of the two players, England are the top seeds going into this year's event.
Seeded Teams (provisional):
- (1) England - James Wade & Dave Chisnall
- (2) Wales - Gerwyn Price & Jonny Clayton
- (3) Netherlands - Michael van Gerwen & Dirk van Duijvenbode
- (4) Belgium - Dimitri Van den Bergh & Kim Huybrechts
- (5) Northern Ireland - Daryl Gurney & Brendan Dolan
- (6) Scotland - Peter Wright & John Henderson
- (7) Australia - Simon Whitlock & Damon Heta
- (8) Germany - Gabriel Clemens & Max Hopp
Unseeded:
- Austria - Mensur Suljovic & Rowby-John Rodriguez
- Brazil - Diogo Portela & Artur Valle
- Canada - Jeff Smith & Matt Campbell
- China - Jianfeng Lu & Wenqing Liu
- Czech Republic - Karel Sedlacek & Adam Gawlas
- Denmark - Andreas Toft Jørgensen & Niels Heinsøe
- Finland - Marko Kantele & Veijo Viinikka
- Gibraltar - Sean Negrette & Justin Hewitt
- Greece - John Michael & Veniamin Symeonidis
- Hong Kong - Kai Fan Leung & Man Lok Leung
- Hungary - János Végső & Patrik Kovács
- Italy - Danilo Vigato & Michele Turetta
- Japan - Matsuda Jun & Yoshihisa Baba
- Lithuania - Darius Labanauskas & Mindaugas Barauskas
- Philippines - Lourence Ilagan & Christian Perez
- Poland - Krzysztof Ratajski & Krzysztof Kciuk
- Portugal - Jose de Sousa & Jose Marques
- Republic of Ireland - William O’Connor & Steve Lennon
- Russia - Boris Koltsov & Evgenii Izotov
- Singapore - Paul Lim & Harith Lim
- South Africa - Devon Petersen & Carl Gabriel
- Spain - Jesus Noguera & Jose Justicia
- Sweden - Daniel Larsson & Johan Engström
- USA - Danny Lauby & Chuck Puleo
* Greece replaced Croatia due to Boris Krcmar's withdrawal through illness.
World Cup of Darts Format
- First Round
Best of nine legs - doubles. All players take part in every leg of the match, in an alternative visit format.
- Second Round, Quarter-Finals & Semi-Finals
These matches will be played as two best of seven leg 501 singles matches, with both nations nominating the order in which their players play.
In the event of both nations winning one singles match apiece, a best of seven leg 501 doubles match will be played to decide the tie.
- Final
This will be two best-of-seven-legs 501 singles matches, with both nations nominating the order in which their players play the first two matches, followed by a best of seven leg 501 doubles match and then reverse Singles matches. The first team to win three games is declared the winner.
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