England destroy France at World Cup of Darts after Northern Ireland end German hopes to charge into quarter-finals

England easily cleared the first hurdle toward a possible fifth title at World Cup of Darts. Top favourites Luke Humphries and Michael Smith won their opening game against France 8-3.

Unlike their opponents Thibault Tricole and Jacques Labre, the English had not yet played a match at this tournament. As one of the top four countries, England had been directly admitted to the last sixteen. France had won in a group against Latvia (4-1) and Denmark (4-3).

After a tight opening exchange, Humphries and Smith broke in the sixth leg with a 12-darter and also won the next three legs, making it 7-2 in favour of the English duo after nine legs. The French then managed to take one more leg before Smith gave his country the victory.

For Germany however, it was more World Cup disappointment. The host country was defeated by Northern Ireland, which qualified for the last eight at the World Cup of Darts for the third time in four years. This year, Northern Ireland plays with a different team. Whereas Brendan Dolan and Daryl Gurney did the honours for the Northern Irish for many years, this time it was Josh Rock who got to play with Dolan. 'Rocky' made the difference, as he was by far the best scorer of the four players on stage.

Rock threw a duo of 180s in the first leg as an 11-darter gave Northern Ireland a 1-0 lead. The next four legs also went with the darts. That trend was broken by a break from Northern Ireland in the sixth leg. Rock took his country to a 4-2 lead with a double 5. Martin Schindler and Gabriel Clemens managed to break right back in the seventh leg, the Germans then delivered their own leg again. The Northern Irish then ran out to a 7-4 lead. After missed matchdarts in the thirteenth leg, Germany came back to 7-7. However, Northern Ireland started the last leg and with a 15-darter they decided the game.