Ireland stunned by Chinese Taipei; Belgium convincingly to next round at World Cup of Darts

Dimitri van den Bergh and Kim Huybrechts comfortably qualified for the last sixteen at the World Cup of Darts. After a convincing performance, the Filipino duo of Christian Perez and Alexis Toylo were defeated 4-0.

Belgium had started the World Cup of Darts Thursday night with a 4-2 win over Singapore. Because the Philippines also won over Singapore, the game between Belgium and the Philippines was a straight duel for a spot in the next round. The Belgians took the lead with a 17-darter, then doubled it with a 13-darter. Another 13-darter then made it 3-0. The job was then completed with a 20-darter, bringing the Belgian duo's average to 95.43.

Chinese Taipei provided a resounding surprise by knocking Ireland out of the tournament. In the deciding match in Group E, Teng Lieh Pupo and An-Sheng Lu were 4-3 too strong for experienced top darters William O'Connor and Keane Barry. It was not that the Irish played badly either, as they threw an average of 94. That was matched by the darters from Taipei with a 95 average.

Poland will also return to the last sixteen at the World Cup of Darts. Krzysztof Ratajski and Radek Szaganski needed three legs against Hungary to secure a group win. However, Gábor Jagicza and Nándor Major could only take one leg away from the two Poles.

Italy advanced to the last sixteen of the Nations Cup for the first time in history. Massimo Dalla Rosa and Michele Turetta proved superior against Portugal, beating Jose de Sousa and David Gomes 4-3.