What a shocker!
England were the odds-on favourite to win the first ever PDC World Cup of Darts, but Phil Taylor and James Wade fell at the first hurdle – beaten by the Spanish duo of Carlos Rodriguez and Antonio Alcinas in a huge upset.
The Unicorn pair were put through the ‘Spanish Inquisition’ on a remarkable night….England losing to Spain must go down as one of the biggest shocks in darting history.
It really was a stunning upset, but take nothing away from the Spanish pair, who kept pressurising their illustrious rivals….and in the end, the World No.1 and World No.2 were sunk without a trace.
Spain won a thrilling deciding leg, after England had been 4-2 in front.
“Of course I am disappointed,” said Taylor. “But I have to say Spain played superbly as a team. We missed a few doubles and they didn’t. Their finishing was fantastic.”
Wade agreed. “Yes, they took their chances and we didn’t. It’s as simple as that.”
England averaged just shy of a 100 but they missed eight crucial doubles, while Spain hit six doubles from seven attempts.
Taylor added: “I suppose the only consolation is that James and I can start preparing for the World Championship, but we both desperately wanted to do well here.”
Wade by the way, plays Antonio Alcinas in the 1st Round at the Alexandra Palace.
Rodriguez hit a 104 finish to win the opening leg, before England looked to take control.
And when Taylor took out 100 (20, double top, double top) to put England 4-2 in front, nobody could have guessed at the drama to come.
Spain won the 7th leg and after Taylor missed two darts to establish a 5-3 lead, Rodriguez brilliantly checked out 125 to level the match! In the next leg, it was Wade’s turn to miss two darts at ‘tops’ and Alcinas gave Spain an unlikely lead.
England forced the decider, but the Spanish pair threw first and what a leg it was….first Alcinas hit a 180, then Rodriguez followed with another maximum to leave 42 for the match.
Alcinas hit D16 for an 11 darter and that was that…..England, Taylor and Wade were out!
Well, the experts now reckon Holland will now be the team to beat!
And the Dutch came through comfortably to win 6-2 against Germany, with Raymond van Barneveld having some fun on the World Cup stage with Co Stompe.
In the early stages, Stompe did the scoring and Barney did the finishing! The Unicorn man hit four doubles, as the Netherlands established a 4-0 lead.
The Dutch pair missed doubles in the next two legs, as the German pair of Andree Welge and Jyhan Artut briefly threatened a comeback….and it was left to Stompe to hit the match winning double to get Holland up and running.
Australia are the new second favourites….and Unicorn’s Paul Nicholson, together with Simon Whitlock, will be mighty relieved as well.
Nicholson hit two 180s as he and ‘The Wizard’ ended the run of Unicorn’s Mick McGowan and his partner William O’Connor.
But it was mighty close in the end….too close for comfort!
The Aussie team raced 4-1 in front and then kept the Irish in it by missing a stack of doubles. Ireland clawed their way back and incredibly it went to a deciding leg after Australia missed six darts to win.
Nicholson was just pleased to get over the line after what happened to England and it was left to him to hit D16 as they stuttered over that finishing line.
Barrie Bates produced a great exhibition of finishing to carry Wales through a tough test against New Zealand….the Unicorn man hit the double to win every leg for the Welsh, as they came from 3-1 down to beat the Kiwis 6-4
The No.5 seeds were certainly in a spot of bother, especially after Philip Hazel nailed a 141 finish to give New Zealand that 3-1 advantage.
But Bates was brilliant on the doubles. He took out 126 on the bull and then hit the bull again for an 88 finish to win the match and a place in the group stages on Saturday.
Unicorn’s three-times World Champion John Part made it difficult for himself and Canada, before eventually scraping over the line!
Canada beat Belgium in a last leg decider! But Part and Ken McNeill missed six darts to win the game 6-4, only to watch the Patrick Bulen miss one dart at D16 to cause a major upset in the 11th leg!
In the end, McNeill hit D10 and the Canadians were left thanking their lucky stars as they took their place in Saturday’s group stages.
Part hit a couple of 180s and a 103 finish along the way, but he knows that he will have to up his game is Canada are to mount a serious challenge for a semi-final berth.
Sadly, it was the end of the road for Anastasia!
She still played really well, as Russia lost 6-2 to the might of Scotland. It was always going to be a huge ask against Gary Anderson and Robert Thornton.
But Ana and Roman Konchikov still put up a good show – losing 6-2. Anastasia started the match with a 180 and also hit four 140s and won one of the legs for Russia on D16.
She loves the bright lights and big stages of world darts and hopefully, it won’t be long before we see her shine in a TV ‘Major’ again.
Friday 2nd Round results (best of 11 legs pairs):
Canada 6-5 Belgium
USA 6-4 Sweden
Northern Ireland 3-6 Austria
Wales 6-4 New Zealand
Scotland 6-2 Russia
Netherlands 6-2 Germany
England 5-6 Spain
Australia 6-5 Republic of Ireland
Saturday – World Cup Group stage (top 2 in each group qualify for the semi-finals):
Group A
Netherlands
Canada
Austria
Australia
Group B
Spain
USA
Wales
Scotland
By STUART PYKE at the Rainton Meadows Arena
Photo courtesy Lawrence Lustig / PDC