Austria through to second World Cup of Darts final after rout of Belgium

Austria became the first country to advance to the final of the World Cup of Darts. In the first semifinal, Mensur Suljovic and Rowby-John Rodriguez won 8-3 over Belgian duo Dimitri van den Bergh and Kim Huybrechts. Later in the evening, the Austrians face the winner of the England-Scotland duel in the final.

Van den Bergh left a finish of 20 for his teammate in the first leg with a 180, and with the second arrow Huybrechts then took the first leg. Suljovic failed to put Austria at 1-1 with a 120 finish, but Rodriguez did so later via double 10. A 41 finish brought Belgium back into the lead before Van den Bergh recorded the first break of the match via a 109 finish. A 120 finish for a 4-1 lead failed before Suljovic cut the deficit to 3-2 with a 96 finish. 'The Gentle' started the sixth leg with a 180 and then also secured the sixth leg himself with a fine 64 finish. The Austrians then went into the break with a 4-3 lead after Huybrechts and Van den Bergh together missed nine chances on the outer ring.

After the break, the break pf throw was cashed in. It was Suljovic again, who managed to throw out 78 for a 5-3 lead. A second break for Austria followed in the ninth leg with a 40 finish from Rodriguez. The sixth leg in a row for the Austrians was then also a fact, leaving Suljovic and Rodriguez needing only one more leg to reach the final. After Huybrechts missed three chances to reduce the deficit, Rodriguez secured his country a final place with a 16-darter.

It is the second time in the history of the World Cup of Darts for Austria to reach the final. Previously, Suljovic and Rodriguez reached the final of the 2021 tournament. Then the Austrians lost 3-1 to the Scottish duo Peter Wright and John Henderson in the final.