Philippines knock Singapore out of World Cup of Darts and force knockout duel with Belgian duo

The Philippines won the Asian showdown with Singapore in Group A of the World Cup of Darts by a wide margin. Christian Perez and Alexis Toylo triumphed 4-1 against iconic duo Paul Lim and Harith Lim, eliminating Singapore from the tournament.

Singapore's chances of a spot in the knockout stage had already been seriously dented Thursday night after losing the first game against Belgium 4-2. A 4-2 win over the Philippines was therefore the minimum needed to retain any hope of reaching the next round;

A fine 143 finish gave the Filipino team a 2-1 lead before Singapore failed to get out within seven innings in the fourth leg. With a 20-darter, Perez and Toylo doubled the lead to 3-1. In the fifth leg, Paul Lim and Harith Lim had eight more chances to win a second leg, but these chances were all missed. With a 23-darter, the victory then went to Toylo and Perez. On Friday night they will play Dimitri van den Bergh and Kim Huybrechts for a place in the last sixteen.

Norway bid farewell to this World Cup of Darts with a victory. Cor Dekker and Håkon Bjørge Helling won 4-3 against Gábor Jagicza and Nándor Major from Hungary, but after the earlier 4-2 defeat against Poland, Norway is now hopeless for a spot in the last sixteen.

The Norwegians would have had to win at least 4-2 to have any hope of reaching the final. Dekker and Helling led 3-2, but then saw Hungary throw a 17-darter to make it 3-3. Norway then decided the match with a 20-darter in the seventh leg. Hungary can still make it to the next round. They have to beat Poland (Krzysztof Ratajski and Radek Szaganski) at least 4-2 in the final group match.

For the United States, the tournament is now also over. Jules van Dongen and Danny Lauby lost 4-2 to the Italian duo Massimo Dalla Rosa and Michele Turetta. The Americans had also lost their first group match against Portugal (Jose de Sousa and David Gomes).

Van Dongen and Lauby were particularly lacking in scoring against the Italians. By throwing out 114 and 82 the score was still tied after four legs. Italy then took a 3-2 lead with an 18-darter, while the Americans were down to 190 after five innings. Dalla Rosa and Turetta then fielded the verdict over the United States with a 15-darter in the sixth leg. Italy and Portugal will battle it out Friday night in a direct duel to see who advances to the last sixteen.

Taiwan made their debut at the World Cup of Darts with a handsome victory. Teng Lieh Pupo and An-Sheng Lu won their opening match against Lithuania (Darius Labanauskas and Mindaugas Barauskas) convincingly 4-2.

In the process, the two Asians managed to record an average of 86.81. Taiwan is now equal in points and leg balance with Ireland (William O'Connor and Keane Barry). On Friday night these two countries will face each other at the World Cup of Darts.