England set up meeting with Germany as Belgium win a thriller, while Wales and Scotland progress the World Cup of Darts continues at Frankfurt's Eissporthalle with a double session at 12pm on Sky Sports Arena and 6pm on Sky Sports Action on Sunday
Sunday 18 June 2023 11:17, UK
England and Wales progressed through to the quarter-finals of the World Cup of Darts as Belgium knocked out highly-fancied contenders Netherlands in a classic contest.
Top seeds England - Michael Smith and Rob Cross - began their bid to win a fifth World Cup in comfortable style by seeing off Latvia 8-4, ending the hopes of Madars Razma and Dmitriy Zhukov.
"We were trying too hard but every time I hit a bad shot, Rob stepped in and we worked as a team there," said world No 1 Smith.
"It wasn't our greatest performance, but we needed a test and we know that if we play at our best we'll win."
They will now take on host nation Germany in a mouth-watering quarter-final contest after Gabriel Clemens and Martin Schindler edged Poland's Krzysztof Ratajski and Krzysztof Kciuk 8-6 to raise the roof in Frankfurt.
Belgium stole the headlines with a sensational sudden-death leg win over Netherlands.
The opening eight legs of a captivating tie went with throw, with the Dutch duo of Danny Noppert and Dirk van Duijvenbode hitting six perfect darts in one leg only for Dimitri Van den Bergh and Kim Huybrechts to deny their rivals a break.
The Belgians took the ninth to claim that key first break of throw, and the next two also went against the darts as the tension increased before Huybrechts' classy 108 checkout moved his nation clear for the first time at 7-5.
Van Duijvenbode kept Dutch hopes alive by hitting successive doubles to force a deciding leg, but he was unable to finish 109 for glory to allow Van den Bergh in on double 16 to joyfully continue Belgium's progress.
The Belgian duo had dominated the headlines during the group stage as they put aside personal differences to put on a united front, and Huybrechts admitted: "We're representing Belgium, now I'm his best friend."
Van den Bergh added: "Kim was fantastic in scoring during this game and we never gave up. I'm feeling good, I learned so much from the Premier League and I can see the difference."
Second seeds Wales impressed with an average of almost 100 as Gerwyn Price and Jonny Clayton ended the hopes of Danish duo Vladimir Andersen and Benjamin Drue Reus.
Although the Danes took the opening leg, Price landed two 180s as the Welsh levelled with an 11-darter to spark a run of five straight legs as they took command, before combinations of 121 and 70 from the world No 4 helped seal victory.
"I thought we played pretty consistently but it was our first game in this tournament and we blew a few cobwebs away," said Price, a winner alongside Clayton in 2020.
"I think we've got a bit more in the tank so it was a good benchmark for us."
Australia and Scotland battled through to the quarter-finals, as France and Sweden reached the same stage for the first time.
Reigning champions Damon Heta and Simon Whitlock of Australia had raced through the group stage without dropping a leg but endured some nervy moments against Croatian duo Boris Krcmar and Romeo Grbavac before booking their spot in the last eight in Frankfurt.
Scotland's Peter Wright and Gary Anderson, meanwhile, defeated Philippines' Christian Perez and Lourence Ilagan by the same 8-5 margin following another tough battle.
The 2019 winners now meet France in Sunday afternoon's quarter-finals after Thibault Tricole and Jacques Labre defeated South Africa's Devon Petersen and Vernon Bouwers 8-4.
Sweden matched France by reaching the quarter-finals for the first time, with Dennis Nilsson and Oskar Lukasiak overcoming Canadian duo Jeff Smith and Matt Campbell 8-5.
Sunday sees the £450,000 tournament conclude across two sessions in Frankfurt, with the quarter-finals in the afternoon session and the semi-finals and final in the evening session.
The World Cup of Darts continues at Frankfurt's Eissporthalle on Sunday with a double session at 12pm on Sky Sports Arena and 6pm on Sky Sports Action on Sunday.
