World Cup of Darts results: Scotland reach quarter-finals; England out

William O'Connor averaged over 115 in a breathtaking display to defeat former world champion Rob Cross after Steve Lennon had edged out Michael Smith.

O'Connor landed four 180s and took out finishes of 88, 70 and a match-winning 64 to seal the shock success.

Lennon had earlier survived a missed match dart by Smith before pinning double four to give Ireland the advantage ahead of O'Connor's incredible performance. 

"It's an incredible feeling," said O'Connor, who won his first PDC title just over a month ago. 

"It just clicked for us tonight. We knew we could beat them but to put in a performance like that against a former World Champion and one of the best players in the world is particularly special for me.

"We are going to take loads of confidence from this. We are enjoying ourselves and we will be dangerous on the final day." 

Michael van Gerwen and Jermaine Wattimena both won their singles ties to see off the Polish pairing of Krzysztof Ratajski and Tytus Kanik.

Van Gerwen took out a brilliant 123 finish on the bull to win a crucial fifth leg against Ratajski as the world number one went on to win 4-2.

Kanik threatened to put Poland back in the tie when he won the first leg of his match against Wattimena by following a 180 with a clinical 90 checkout.

After Wattimena levelled, Kanik went seven darts into a potential nine-darter in what proved to be a pivotal third leg as he was cruelly punished for a string of missed doubles by the Dutchman who pinned the bull to complete an 88 combination on the way to a 4-1 victory.

"I don't think either of us performed at one-hundred-percent but we hit the right shots at the right moments," said van Gerwen.

"We are not afraid of anybody and we are going to beat everybody. We are a great team and everybody knows that."

Fifth seeds Australia also suffered an upset as Simon Whitlock and Kyle Anderson both lost their Singles matches against Canada.

Canadian pair Dawson Murschell and Jim Long both won last-leg deciders to progress to the final day.

Murschell edged out Whitlock in an eventful encounter, in which the Australian skipper took out back-to-back 126 checkouts on the bull to lead 3-2 having fallen behind after his opponent had finished 109 and 89.

A 180 helped Murschell level up and the 23-year-old put Canada in front by taking out 97 in the deciding leg.

Long then came from 3-1 behind to defeat Anderson, who missed a dart in the last leg to take it to a Doubles decider. 

Austria made light work of United States of America with a brace of Singles wins to set up a last eight meeting with Republic of Ireland.

Zoran Lerchbacher defeated Darin Young 4-1 before Mensur Suljovic produced a sublime display to whitewash Chuck Puleo. 

Former Champions League winner Suljovic completed finishes of 100 and 126 as he averaged 113 in a 4-0 triumph. 

Afternoon session

Scotland moved into the quarter-finals of the BetVictor World Cup of Darts after Gary Anderson and Peter Wright both claimed singles victories to defeat Sweden on Saturday afternoon at Hamburg's Barclaycard Arena.

Anderson enjoyed a 4-0 success over Magnus Caris in the 50-year-old Swede's final game before he retires from professional darts.

Wright was less comfortable in his win against Dennis Nilsson, who took out 81 to inflict a loss of a leg on Scotland for the first time in the tournament.

Wright won the following three legs, taking out 121 to go 3-1 ahead, but was pegged back when his opponent cleaned up 63.

Nilsson missed four darts to level and force a last-leg shoot-out, allowing Wright to wrap up the victory for the number two seeds. 

Scotland will meet Belgium in the quarter-finals on Sunday afternoon after Kim Huybrechts and Dimitri Van den Bergh sent hosts Germany crashing out of the tournament.

Huybrechts edged a dramatic encounter against Martin Schindler, who missed four darts to win a nail-biting deciding leg.

Schindler fired in seven perfect darts in the game's fifth leg, which he won, but Belgian captain Huybrechts took the next two to pinch victory.

Germany never recovered as Hopp was beaten 4-0 by Van den Bergh, securing a last eight spot for the Belgian pair. 

"I was expecting Max to play a lot better but I am really pleased we're through," said Van den Bergh.

"We don't think about who we are playing. We just focus on our own games and trust in each other. That's how we won today and we'll keep that attitude going forward." 

New Zealand reached the quarter-finals for the first time after winning a topsy-turvy affair against South Africa in Saturday afternoon's opener.

Cody Harris claimed a 4-0 victory over Vernon Bouwers to put New Zealand ahead until Devon Petersen hit back with a whitewash win against Haupai Puha.

Petersen averaged almost 102 and took out a brilliant 132 checkout in a high-quality singles match but the South African captian found his team 3-0 down in the doubles decider. 

South Africa rallied back a to win the next two legs as New Zealand missed eight match darts but Puha finally landed tops to seal the win after Bouwers had missed a dart at the same target to force a deciding leg.

New Zealand will face Japan in the last eight after Seigo Asada and Haruki Muramatsu both claimed singles match victories to progress at the expense of Singapore.

Asada defeated Paul Lim, who led 3-2 after consecutive checkouts of 160 and 72 but Asada won last two legs to earn the win.

Muramatsu then enjoyed a 4-2 triumph over Harith Lim to seal Japan's place in the quarter-finals for the second consecutive year. 

Hosts Germany bowed out in a 2-0 defeat to Belgium.

Kim Huybrechts got the ball rolling with a tense 4-3 victory over Martin Schindler, before Dimitri Van den Bergh thumped Max Hopp 4-0.

Saturday Results and Sunday Schedule

Saturday June 8
Afternoon Session (1.30pm local time, 12.30pm 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)

New Zealand 2-1 South Africa
Singles One: Cody Harris 4-0 Vernon Bouwers
Singles Two: Haupai Puha 0-4 Devon Petersen 
Doubles: New Zealand 4-2 South Africa

Japan 2-0 Singapore
Singles One: Seigo Asada 4-3 Paul Lim
Singles Two: Haruki Muramatsu 4-2 Harith Lim 

Scotland 2-0 Sweden
Singles One: Gary Anderson 4-0 Magnus Caris
Singles Two: Peter Wright 4-2 Dennis Nilsson 

Belgium 2-0 Germany
Singles One: Kim Huybrechts 4-3 Martin Schindler
Singles Two: Dimitri Van den Bergh 4-0 Max Hopp

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)

Canada 2-0 Australia
Singles One: Dawson Murschell 4-3 Simon Whitlock
Singles Two: Jim Long 4-3  Kyle Anderson 

Austria 2-0 USA
Singles One: Zoran Lerchbacher 4-1 Darin Young 
Singles Two: Mensur Suljovic 4-0 Chuck Puleo

Republic of Ireland 2-0 England
Singles One: Steve Lennon 4-3 Michael Smith
Singles Two: William O'Connor 4-1 Rob Cross 

Netherlands 2-0 Poland
Singles One: Michael van Gerwen 4-2 Krzysztof Ratajski
Singles Two: Jermaine Wattimena 4-1 Tytus Kanik

Sunday June 9
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)

• New Zealand v Japan
• Scotland v Belgium
• Republic of Ireland v Austria
• Canada v Netherlands

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

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