World Cup of Darts 2020 preview and schedule: Quarter-Finals, featuring the Netherlands, Wales and England

Would it be too much to ask to see some doubles action in the World Cup of Darts quarter-finals?

Saturday's play was a sad indictment of how the current World Cup format isn't playing to the unique nature of doubles play. Just one match went to a doubles decider, and that ended in a whitewash. The quarter-finals on Sunday afternoon look finely poised, which will hopefully see a few more games going to the wire.

We've only got one player out of the 16 remaining who doesn't have a Tour Card. The way he's playing, Matt Campbell will probably put that right at Q-School in January. He and Jeff Smith faced tricky opposition in Haupai Puha and Cody Harris of New Zealand, but they both proved too good for their opponents. Make no mistake, this is one of the best sides Canada has ever put out, and a semi-final appearance is definitely doable. They take on a Belgium duo that have a lot of room to improve - Dimitri van den Bergh and Kim Huybrechts will almost certainly raise their game after not needing their A-game against Latvia.

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The top seeds aren't the favourites, but maybe they should be. While some seriously strong nations battle out a nasty-looking bottom half of the draw, England have less of a torrid schedule. That being said, Michael Smith and Rob Cross won't be counting any chickens. Mensur Suljovic's victory over Jose de Sousa was a real boost to Austria's hopes - his rubber will be absolutely vital. Rodriguez might fancy a shot at an out-of-sorts Cross, though the 2018 world champion did suddenly catch fire at the end of his defeat of Mindaugas Barauskas.

Gerwyn Price looks like he can drag Wales to victory by himself. The Iceman averaged 104 against John Henderson and, after Jonny Clayton threw away the second singles rubber, he guided his nation to an average just short of 102 and an easy win in what could've been an anxiety-inducing decider. Clayton needs to meet his partner's standard, especially when both Australians are a big threat. Damon Heta, in particular, briefly threatened a record average while thrashing Krzysztof Kciuk.

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Can Germany win the World Cup? They've never got past the quarter-finals, but Gabriel Clemens and Max Hopp have lost just a single leg between them so far. That being said, there's a huge leap from playing Finland and Greece to taking on the Dutch World Cup juggernaut. Danny Noppert's jitters almost undid Michael van Gerwen's good work, but they held out to send Spain home. This is the big test for Germany - if they can beat the Netherlands, they can beat anyone.

The winner of the Canada vs Belgium tie will meet England or Austria in the semi-finals on Sunday evening, followed by Wales or Australia against the Netherlands or Germany. After that, we'll have the final, and either England or the Netherlands will win again, or we'll have a fourth ever World Cup of Darts victor.

Schedule 2020 World Cup of Darts

Sunday November 8

Quarter-Finals

Afternoon Session (12:00 GMT)

Canada v Belgium

Singles 1: Jeff Smith v Kim Huybrechts

Singles 2: Matt Campbell v Dimitri Van den Bergh

England v Austria

Singles 1: Michael Smith v Mensur Suljovic

Singles 2: Rob Cross v Rowby-John Rodriguez

Wales v Australia

Singles 1: Gerwyn Price v Simon Whitlock

Singles 2: Jonny Clayton v Damon Heta

Netherlands v Germany

Singles 1: Danny Noppert v Gabriel Clemens

Singles 2: Michael van Gerwen v Max Hopp