Netherlands and England enter the fray on Friday at the World Cup of Darts
Day Two at the World Cup of Darts gets underway from 6pm on Friday, live on Sky Sports Action
Saturday 8 June 2019 11:05, UK
Netherlands begin the defence of their World Cup of Darts title against Spain on Friday evening, as top seeds England also enter the fray in Hamburg.
The tournament got underway on Thursday at the Barclaycard Arena as third seeds Wales and sixth seeds Northern Ireland suffered shock exits against Singapore and South Africa respectively.
Now the attention turns to the top half of the draw, as Netherlands and England begin their bids for a record fifth World Cup crown.
Live World Cup of Darts
The previous eight World Cups have been shared with four wins apiece for the Dutch and English sides, but both teams welcome debutants in 2019.
World No 1 Michael van Gerwen makes his seventh straight World Cup appearance where he will be partnered by Jermaine Wattimena.
'The Machine Gun' replaces five-time world champion Raymond van Barneveld, who had competed in all eight previous events - winning four of them.
The Dutch duo take on 2010 semi-finalists Spain in their opener, as Cristo Reyes and ever-present Toni Alcinas team up for the fifth successive year.
Top seeds England are represented by Rob Cross and World Championship finalist Michael Smith, as 'Bully Boy' features for his country for the first time.
The four-time winners have been handed a tough opener against the highly-rated Filipino duo of Lourence Ilagan and Noel Malicdem, who both competed at the recent World Championship.
Fifth seeds Australia kick off their campaign against the experienced Finland pairing of Marko Kantele & Kim Viljanen, while eighth seeds Austria - led by Premier League star Mensur Suljovic, take on Russia.
Krzysztof Ratajski and Tytus Kanik will form a potentially formidable partnership for Poland, who could meet Netherlands in round-two if they overcome Czech Republic.
Recent Players Championship winner William O'Connor teams up with Steve Lennon for the Republic of Ireland and they take on Greece, who have only registered the solitary victory in this event.
Dawson Murschell and Jim Long lead Canada's charge against Italy, as three-time world champion John Part misses out for the first time since the tournament's inception.
Elsewhere, Friday's action begins with China taking on the USA. Yuanjun Liu returns to partner Xiaochen Zong following the withdrawal of Qingyu Zhan, while ever-present Darin Young teams up with debutant Chuck Puleo.
Coverage of the World Cup of Darts continues on Sky Sports Action from 6pm on Friday. We've got every dart covered at the Barclaycard Arena, Hamburg, until the tournament comes to a close on Sunday June 9.
