Darts results: Northern Ireland survive scare as England battle past Brazil

The duo of Daryl Gurney and Brendan Dolan, who were tipped up on these pages at 20/1, looked in danger of being shocked out in the first round for the third year running when their opponents of Kai Fan Leung and Man Lok Leung moved 4-3 up in Jena.

But the underdogs couldn't hold their nerve in the eighth leg and both combined to miss five match darts before Gurney eventually pinned double two to force a decider, which they edged when Dolan hit tops under pressure.

They will face Portugal's Jose de Sousa and Jose Marques after they came from 2-0 and 3-1 down before snatching a dramatic 5-4 win over 2019 finalists Republic of Ireland.

William O'Connor took out 94 and double five as he secured the opening two legs for Ireland, and was supported by Steve Lennon as they took leg four for a 3-1 cushion.

Portugal, though, followed up a 96 finish from Marques in leg three with checkouts of 78 and 76 from De Sousa to level, before they edged a tense seventh leg to move 4-3 up.

Lennon pinned double four to take the game to a decider, but Portugal were first to a finish and De Sousa posted tops to complete a 14-darter as they reached round two for a second successive year.

England's brand new pairing of James Wade and Dave Chisnall were well below their best as they had to come from 2-1 down to defeat Brazil's Diogo Portela and Artur Valle 5-2.

The English duo only managed a very mediocre average of 80.95 and missed a combined 12 darts at doubles from 17 attempts so they'll be relieved to get back into singles action in Saturday's second round.

They will meet South Africa's Devon Petersen and Carl Gabriel, who overcame Spain's Jesus Noguera and Jose Justicia 5-4 in a thriller.

After Noguera took the opening leg on double 10, Petersen finished double 16 to level before Gabriel took out 76 on the bull to move South Africa 2-1 up.

Spain levelled with a 13-darter, only for South Africa to reply in kind before Gabriel - competing in his second successive World Cup - landed double eight to create a 4-2 cushion.

Spain rallied as Justicia closed out a 14-darter and Noguera finished 98 for a 12-darter to force a deciding leg, but the latter was unable to land tops for victory and Gabriel stepped in to hit the same bed for a memorable win.

"It's amazing - I'm lost for words," admitted Gauteng's Gabriel. "It didn't go that well last year but to go through to the next round is massive.

"The feeling was good and I was a bit more relaxed because I knew what to expect after last year, and Devon spoke to me through the entire game and calmed me when I got a bit anxious.

"It's one of my dreams to be on stage playing a Singles match and that's coming to fruition tomorrow, so I'm excited."

Fourth seeds Belgium, who are our headline tip, made a strong start to their challenge as Dimitri Van den Bergh and Kim Huybrechts defeated Greece's John Michael and Veniamin Symeonidis 5-2.

After the opening two legs were shared, the Belgian duo - who have teamed up to reach the semi-finals twice in the past three years - took three in a row to move 4-1 up.

Michael finished 120 to keep Greece's hopes alive, but Van den Bergh posted a 180 and then landed double five to seal Belgium's second round place against Austria.

"Playing for your country is always the best thing there is and it's amazing to be here," said Huybrechts, a World Cup finalist alongside brother Ronny in 2013.

"I want to do well for my team-mates. - I've always been a team player and I grew up with pairs competitions.

"We always have a game plan and Dimitri's ranked fifth now. If we click, then we're one of the best pairs in the world."

Next up for Belgium is Austria's Mensur Suljovic and Rowby-John Rodriguez as they came from a leg down to defeat Philippines' Lourence Ilagan and Christian Perez 5-1.

Ilagan took out 112 to claim the opening leg for the Philippines, but Suljovic finished 104 to level in an encouraging start to only his second event since April.

Rodriguez hit double 16 to secure leg three as Austria moved ahead, and the pair took the next three legs in clinical fashion to wrap up the win with five doubles from six attempts.

Host nation Germany delighted the Sparkassen Arena crowd as Gabriel Clemens and Max Hopp defeated Canada's Jeff Smith and Matt Campbell 5-3.

Campbell punished German missed doubles to claim the opening leg, and Smith then took out 107 to move Canada 2-1 up before Clemens stopped the 2020 quarter-finalists' momentum with a 118 finish.

The next two legs were traded, but Hopp landed tops in the next two legs to punish Canadian missed doubles and move the hosts through to a second round meeting with Japan on Saturday evening.

Japan's Jun Matsuda and Yoshihisa Baba impressed on their World Cup of Darts debut with a 5-1 defeat of Russia's Boris Koltsov and Evgenii Izotov.

World Cup of Darts: Daily results, schedule, format and team line-ups

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

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Friday September 10
Evening Session (7pm local time, 6pm BST)
TV Coverage: Sky Sports
First Round (Best of nine legs - doubles)

• Russia 1-5 Japan
• Spain 4-5 South Africa
• Republic of Ireland 4-5 Portugal
• Austria 5-1 Philippines
• Northern Ireland 5-4 Hong Kong
• Germany 5-3 Canada
• England 5-2 Brazil
• Belgium 5-2 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)

• Northern Ireland v Portugal
• England v South Africa
• Australia v USA
• Belgium v Austria

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)

• Scotland v Poland
• Germany v Japan
• Netherlands v Singapore
• Wales v Lithuania

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

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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