New Zealand win handsomely over Finland, Hong Kong superb against Japan

Hong Kong did good business in their first match at the World Cup of Darts. Lok Yin Lee and Man Lok Leung managed a relatively easy 4-1 win over Tomoya Goto and Ryusei Azemoto.

The couple from Hong Kong opened the match well and were out within 15 arrows. The next two legs also went relatively easily to Lee and Leung, giving them an early 3-0 lead. The Japanese managed to come back to 3-1 after several missed darts by Hong Kong. But with a 49-finish, Hong Kong finally took the victory.

Later tonight, Hong Kong will take on Australia. The stakes will be high there because the winner of that game will advance to the knockout stage of the tournament.

China and Guyana managed to make it a very exciting match, but in the end China walked away with the win. Xiaochen Sun and Chengan Liu won 4-2 over Norman Madhoo and Sudesh Fitzgerald.

Guyana started the match strongly, leading 0-2 via a 27-darter and a 24-darter, but the Chinese managed to fight back handsomely. With an 18-darter and two 15-darters, including a 104-finish, Sun and Liu came back and took a 3-2 lead. In the last leg, Guyana missed six darts to level the score, after which China finally decided the match and took a 4-2 victory.

Later tonight, Guyana will play Austria, but Norman Madhoo and Sudesh Fitzgerald will not be seen again in the knockout stages of this tournament.

New Zealand was able to wash away the narrow defeat against Germany (4-3) with a resounding 4-0 victory over Haupai Puha and Ben Robb, who still need a miracle to advance to the knockout stage.

Puha and Robb were close to a stunt against host Germany on Thursday, but a 124 finish by Gabriel Clemens narrowly decided that match 4-3 in favor of the Germans. Against Marko Kantele and Teemu Harju, the New Zealanders again showed their class.

With a 14-darter, two 17-darters and an 18-darter they were defeated 4-0. Finland is already eliminated by this defeat, but can still ensure that New Zealand advances to the next round with a win over Germany on Friday night.

South Africa had started the group stage of the World Cup of Darts with a 4-1 defeat against outsider Northern Ireland, requiring a big win over Switzerland to remain in the race for the group win.

The South African duo Cameron Carolissen and Johan Geldenhuys won 4-2 against Stefan Bellmont and Bruno Stöckli from Switzerland. This victory was not enough to have a chance of winning the group. Switzerland and Northern Ireland will face each other on Friday evening. Northern Ireland needs only two legs to secure first place.