England survive tense pairs decider against Austria

Sunday, 08 November 2020 at 14:39

England are the latest through to the World Cup of Darts semi-finals after surviving a tense pairs decider against host nation Austria to take it 2-1 with the second game in a row going the full distance.

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To start off, it was Mensur Suljovic against Michael Smith with the former producing a sensational comeback to come from 3-0 down to defeat Michael Smith with a brilliant 109.5 average in a 4-3 victory.

This included 50% on the doubles from 'The Gentle' as he put Austria in a great position and Rodriguez nearly made it insurmountable with a 3-1 lead but it was firmly a huge let off for England as Cross went onto survive four match darts as he made a comeback of his own.

As a result for the second match in a row, it was set for pairs. They were firmly level to begin the tie but three missed darts at doubles from Cross put them on the brink at 2-2.

Smith though returned to the foray and hit double six to make sure of going one away at 3-2. Suljovic made it even more tense with double 20 to send it all the way. Double 10 saw it through for England though as they survived.

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World Cup of Darts 2020 schedule

Quarter-finals

Canada 1-2 Belgium

Singles 1: Jeff Smith (97.57) 1-4 (108.32) Kim Huybrechts

Singles 2: Matt Campbell (97.56) 4-1 (94.42) Dimitri van den Bergh

Pairs: Smith/Campbell v Huybrechts/Van den Bergh

England 2-1 Austria

Singles 1: Michael Smith (101.54) 3-4 (109.52) Mensur Suljovic

Singles 2: Rob Cross (89.36) 4-3 (83.54) Rowby-John Rodriguez

Pairs: Smith/Cross (82.28) 4-3 (79.88) Suljovic/Rodriguez

Wales v Australia

Singles 1: Gerwyn Price v Simon Whitlock

Singles 2: Jonny Clayton v Damon Heta

Netherlands v Germany (TBC)

Singles 1: Michael van Gerwen v Gabriel Clemens

Singles 2: Danny Noppert v Max Hopp

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ENGLAND ARE INTO THE SEMI-FINALS! 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Incredible drama on stage there as all three matches go to a deciding leg but it's England who secure their place in the semi-finals! It's a fourth World Cup quarter-final exit for Austria... 📺 Up next 👉 Wales v Australia