World Cup of Darts 2020 preview and schedule: Saturday 7 November afternoon session with England, Belgium and Austria

We're moving into round two of the World Cup of Darts, and a change of format.

It's not the most popular of switches. After the doubles matches which formed the entirety of the first round, pairs will only team up for a deciding rubber. Two singles games will be played beforehand, and could decide the match. Hopefully there'll be plenty of to-and-fro ties to give this World Cup of Darts plenty of intrigue.

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First up is the one afternoon tie which doesn't feature a seed. Northern Ireland were expected, but were sent packing by a simply brilliant performance by Canada. Jeff Smith and Matt Campbell racked up the second-highest average of any team, and Smith provided a tournament highlight with his game-turning 154 checkout. They take on a New Zealand team which looks well-oiled; both singles rubbers should be well contested, with no obvious gaps in quality between Haupai Puha, Cody Harris and their Canadian counterparts.

The scoreline looked positive for Austria in their win over the USA, but neither Mensur Suljovic nor Rowby-John Rodriguez performed well. If anything, it was Rodriguez who looked a little more assured on the doubles. They take on Jose de Sousa and Jose Marques, the latter of whom had a great debut. If De Sousa plays Rodriguez and Suljovic takes on Marques in the singles, you'd imagine a decider is in the offing.

Belgium have got off to the right start, with Dimitri van den Bergh the catalyst. His average was the best from any player appearing in the first round - Kim Huybrechts wasn't too far off that pace himself. It's in this round where Huybrechts has historically hit top form, which poses issues for Madars Razma and Janis Mustafejevs. The pair grabbed a historic opening round win for Latvia, but you feel like this might be a bridge too far. Razma may hold the key to taking this game to the wire.

England end the session, having safely negotiated one big banana skin. Rob Cross and Michael Smith should perform better in the singles rubber - particularly Smith, who will appreciate the momentum shift from the slower pairs format. Darius Labanauskas is the key man for Lithuania, but let's not forget Mindaugas Barauskas, who kept up with Lucky D's pace in the first round and can be a bother for either Cross or Smith.

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World Cup of Darts 2020 schedule

Second round

Afternoon session (12:00 GMT)

Canada v New Zealand

Singles 1: Jeff Smith v Haupai Puha

Singles 2: Matt Campbell v Cody Harris

Austria v Portugal

Singles 1: Mensur Suljovic v Jose De Sousa

Singles 2: Rowby-John Rodriguez v Jose Marques

Belgium v Latvia

Singles 1: Kim Huybrechts v Janis Mustafejevs

Singles 2: Dimitri Van den Bergh v Madars Razma

England v Lithuania

Singles 1: Michael Smith v Darius Labanauskas

Singles 2: Rob Cross v Mindaugas Barauskas