29/06/2024

Sweden into quarterfinals for second year in a row; Austria stops Chinese Taipei's fairy tale at World Cup of Darts

Sweden and Austria are the first two countries to qualify for the quarter-finals at the World Cup of Darts. For Sweden, it is the second time in a row that they are in the last eight at the country tournament in Frankfurt.

Oskar Lukasiak also achieved this success last year alongside Dennis Nilsson, but Lukasiak is teaming up with Jeffrey de Graaf this time. The latter was born in Holland, but has been living in Sweden since 2018. Since 2023, therefore, De Graaf also darts under Swedish citizenship.

Sweden had already started the tournament strongly with wins over Spain (4-0) and Gibraltar (4-1). A confrontation with the Czech Republic awaited at the last sixteen. The Swedish duo fell behind early, but then managed to put things in order.

Tournament centre World Cup of Darts 2024: Schedule, all results, teams, TV Guide and prize money breakdown

Karel Sedlacek and Adam Gawlas had taken the Czech Republic to a 2-0 lead via a 20-darter and a 22-darter. Lukasiak then put Sweden on the scoreboard for the first time with a brilliant 127 finish, after which De Graaf started the fourth leg with a 180. A 16-darter then made it 2-2. After that, the Swedish duo quickly ran out to a 5-2 lead.

De Graaf and Lukasiak then allowed the Czechs to come back to 6-4, after which Sedlacek and Gawlas both missed a handful of doubles to further reduce the deficit. A 58 finish by De Graaf then put Sweden up 7-4. Again the Czechs managed to rally and come back to 7-6. A chance for 7-7 was missed, after which Lukasiak ended the match with a 38 finish.

Austria then put an end to Chinese Taipei's brilliant tournament, making their debut at the World Cup of Darts. The Asian country had added extra color to their debut by winning over Ireland in the group stage, allowing Teng Lieh Pupo and An-Sheng Lu to advance to the knockout stage.

At the last sixteen, however, Mensur Suljovic and Rowby-John Rodriguez proved to be a few sizes too big. The Austrian duo quickly jumped out to a 4-0 lead and then went on to a 7-2 lead. The two darters from Taiwan then took two more legs, before Austria decided the game with a 12-darter.