Iceland wins first match at World Cup of Darts; hard-fought win for Canada

Iceland secured a historic victory at the World Cup of Darts. Pétur Rúðrik Guðmundsson and Arngrímur Ólafsson won their first opening match against Bahrain.

Bahrain had already lost 4-3 to the Czech Republic on Thursday, requiring a win over Iceland to have any hope of reaching the last sixteen. However, the duel between the two darts giants was won 4-0 by the Icelandic duo.

As a result, Iceland will play the Czech Republic (Karel Sedlacek and Adam Gawlas) on Friday night in a direct duel for a spot in the knockout phase of the World Cup of Darts. But whether any chance of success is realistic? The averages of both Bahrain and Iceland were very poor. Iceland came to an average of 63, compared to only 54 for Bahrain. Guðmundsson and Ólafsson won their four legs with a 20-darter, 26-darter, 27-darter and a 22-darter.

Canada also got to start the World Cup of Darts on Friday afternoon. They opened with a hard-fought 4-3 victory over Mohd-Nasr Bin Jantan and Siik Hwang Wong of Malaysia.

Thanks to a 91 finish in the fifth leg, Malaysia surprisingly gained a 3-2 lead and were briefly allowed to dream of a victory over Canadian duo David Cameron and Matt Campbell. In the sixth leg, the Asians could not create match darts within six innings, after which Canada forced a final leg with a 21-darter. In the final leg, the Canadians showed their class by ending the match with a 13-darter. Canada will play Friday night against Croatia (Boris Krcmar and Romeo Grbavac) for a spot in the next round.

Latvia won 4-2 from Denmark, after Latvians Madars Razma and Valters Melderis had lost 4-1 to France earlier. However, this victory was not wide enough to still have a chance of reaching the last sixteen. The Danes Benjamin Reus and Claus Bendix Nielsen can still advance if they win at least 4-1 against Thibault Tricole and Jacques Labre.

Gibraltar also remains in the race for a spot in the last sixteen at the World Cup of Darts. Craig Galliano and Justin Hewitt won 4-3 over Spanish duo Jose Justicia and Jesus Noguera. As a result, Sweden (Jeffrey de Graaf and Oskar Lukasiak) and Gibraltar will decide on Friday night who will make it to the last sixteen.