England's duo of Michael Smith and Rob Cross are through as top seeds to the second round and a meeting with Lithuania after edging past Philippines' Lourence Ilagan and Noel Malicdem.
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It was a tie which saw Smith and Cross have to contend with an excellent display from Ilagan but in the end, Malicdem didn't do enough to force them into a potential winning position.
Smith took an early break with a
66 checkout for a 1-0 lead for England. Cross hit double 10 to hold and go 2-0
up.
Malicdem kept the arrears down
though with an 84 checkout to halve the deficit. Some quality darts from Malicdem
and Ilagan saw them leave 81 but he couldn’t pin the bull.
Smith returned for a 61 checkout
but missed double 20 and Ilagan returned for a 25 checkout but only gave
himself one dart after drifting into 18. Cross pounced and hit double 10 for a
hold of throw. Ilagan continued to impress with a relentless display of scoring
and left Malicdem 32 which pinned to make it 3-2.
A 140 from Ilagan left 167 which
Malicdem missed on the bull. ‘The Gunner’ pinned double 12 from a 25 checkout
to claim a 14-dart break of throw and make it 3-3.
A 139 set up from Cross left 64
for Smith with Philippines on 132 after a poor visit from Malicdem. Smith
couldn’t pin double 20 but Malicdem couldn’t hit 92 and this allowed Cross back
for double 10 once more and a break back. A 174 and 32 saw Smith close out a
5-3 victory and move through.
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Spain are also through concluding the afternoon session after producing a comeback to see off Italy in a deciding leg shootout.
The team of Toni Alcinas and Jesus Noguera were 3-1 down and were second best throughout against Andrea Micheletti and Daniele Petri but came back to edge through.
It was a slack first leg from both
and Micheletti pinned double 12 to break throw. This confidence brought Italy a
140 to begin the leg as they looked to consolidate an early lead.
A 35 checkout saw Italy double
their lead and this lead to a massive roar from Petri. He had a golden
opportunity in going for a 97 checkout to break once more but his second and
third dart were off the mark and Alcinas who was somewhat out of sorts up to
this point pinned double 10 to halve the deficit.
Double nine made it 3-1 to Italy
and Petri let out another roar. Alcinas hit a 140 to leave 81 which Noguera
pinned for a 3-2 deficit.
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Spain began to find their range and
pinned a 118 checkout to make it 3-3 and break. It was a lead with a hold of
throw and a 68 checkout as the match was suddenly turned on it’s head.
They missed a match dart of a 100
checkout and so it went to a decider. Once more they had trouble seeing out the
match going all the way down to double one but they hit it first time to
complete the comeback.
World Cup of Darts 2020 schedule
Friday 6 November
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Afternoon session (12:00 GMT)
Lithuania (87.23) 5-3 (77.17) Gibraltar
Portugal (85.4) 5-0 (73.32) Hungary
New Zealand (86.22) 5-2 (72.85) Denmark
Northern Ireland (87.78) 2-5 (94.51) Canada
Belgium (93.53) 5-4 (90.37) Czech Republic
Austria (82.91) 5-2 (81.18) USA
England (90.32) 5-3 (89.48) Philippines
Italy (78.83) 4-5 (86.67) Spain
Portugal (85.4) 5-0 (73.32) Hungary
New Zealand (86.22) 5-2 (72.85) Denmark
Northern Ireland (87.78) 2-5 (94.51) Canada
Belgium (93.53) 5-4 (90.37) Czech Republic
Austria (82.91) 5-2 (81.18) USA
England (90.32) 5-3 (89.48) Philippines
Italy (78.83) 4-5 (86.67) Spain
Samuel GillChief Content Officer
Samuel Gill is the Chief Content Officer (CCO) of DartsNews.com, a role he has held since 2020. He is responsible for editorial governance across the platform, including setting content standards, overseeing accuracy and consistency, and guiding long-term editorial strategy across professional darts coverage. Since joining, he has contributed more than 10,000 articles and editorial pieces, playing a central role in the development and daily operation of the site.
Based in Leicester, Samuel has extensive experience in darts media and has been closely involved in coverage of the professional darts circuit for several years. Within the UK darts community, he is a recognised figure known for his consistent editorial output and ongoing reporting on major tournaments and developments across the PDC calendar.
In his current role, Samuel works closely with editors and writers to ensure content meets clear journalistic standards, with a focus on source verification, editorial consistency, and timely updates when new, confirmed information becomes available.
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