World Cup - Last 16

HOLLAND AMONGST FIVE SEEDS TO EXIT BETFAIR WORLD CUP OF DARTS AS ENGLAND SURVIVE - JUST!
2010 champions Netherlands were amongst five seeded teams to be knocked out of the Betfair World Cup of Darts in a night of shocks in Hamburg on Saturday, but reigning champions England narrowly made it through to the quarter-finals with a narrow 5-4 win against South Africa.

An amazing night of Last 16 action at the Alsterdorfer Sporthalle in Hamburg saw unseeded nations Belgium, Croatia, Spain, Japan and Finland all take victory over more experienced opposition with some thrilling displays.

Finland's Jani Haavisto and Jarkko Komula produced the performances of their careers as they knocked out the Netherlands' Michael van Gerwen and Raymond van Barneveld 5-3. The Finns won four of their legs in 14 darts or less, and hit seven perfect darts in one leg as they searched for the first Doubles nine-darter.
While that achievement went begging, the pair held their nerve as the Netherlands threatened a fightback from 4-2 down, with Komula landing double ten to put the Finns into the last eight.

Finland will now take on host nation Germany, as Jyhan Artut and Andree Welge delighted the Hamburg crowd with a 5-2 win over Poland's Krzysztof Kciuk and Krzysztof Ratajski.
"Anything's possible for us now," said Artut. "In this format, any team can beat anyone else but we're finding a good rhythm together as a team at the moment."

Belgian brothers Kim and Ronny Huybrechts, meanwhile, knocked out Australia, last year's beaten finalists and the number three seeds, with a sensational 5-1 victory, in which the pair averaged 101 against Simon Whitlock and Paul Nicholson. The pair dedicated the win to the memory of their late father Ludo, who passed away in December and had dreamed of seeing the pair team up to represent their country in the PDC World Cup of Darts.
"I think at the moment we're the two happiest people in the world," said Kim, the younger of the brothers. "Our father was our greatest fan, he taught us everything in the game and although losing him has been a big thing to deal with, this is for him. "We're supporting each other and so far this weekend it's going well."

Spain's Antonio Alcinas and Carlos Rodriguez evoked memories of their famous run to the 2010 semi-finals with a brilliant 5-4 win over Scotland's Gary Anderson and Robert Thornton, the number four seeds, in another huge upset.
Carlos Rodriguez said: "It's great for us. We'll look forward to tomorrow and anything can happen now. It's very important for us both when we're playing for Spain, we are very proud and every time we get results like this it gets more people in Spain playing darts."

Japan and Croatia also caused shocks with their wins over the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland as they won through to the Quarter-Finals for the first time.
Croatia's Robert Marijanovic, alongside Tonci Restovic, held his nerve to give them a 5-4 win over Northern Ireland's Brendan Dolan and Michael Mansell.
"It's unbelievable for us to have won tonight and be into the Quarter-Finals," said Marijanovic, who competed in the World Championship recently. "Yesterday Tonci hit the doubles in our group games and I wanted to pay him back today, which I've done. We're very, very proud to play for Croatia and have got this far. I was really nervous coming into the match because Brendan Dolan is an idol of mine. We're very, very proud to play for Croatia and it's unbelievable for us to have won tonight and be into the Quarter-Finals."
Tonci Restovic added: "We're enjoying this so much but at the end I couldn't watch when Robert was throwing for the winning double. I'd missed and I could hardly throw so there was no way I could look! Tomorrow is a very exciting day for us and there are so many possibilities."

Japan's Haruki Muramatsu and Sho Katsumi, meanwhile, stunned the Republic of Ireland's William O'Connor and Connie Finnan with a 5-3 victory as they progressed to the last eight.
They will now face England's Phil Taylor and Adrian Lewis, the reigning champions who defeated Japan 5-0 in the group stage on Friday night but narrowly escaped elimination in the Last 16 to South Africa's Charl Pietersen and Shawn Hogan.
After falling behind three times in the early stages, England moved 4-3 up but initially failed to close out victory as Pietersen forced a deciding leg - only for the youngster from Cape Town to miss two match darts and allow Lewis in to hit tops and edge them through.
"I thought we were going out when Charl had that shot to win the match," admitted Lewis. "It felt like his destiny and he showed how much quality is coming through now. "Thankfully I got the shot and managed to hit tops, and we can look forward to Sunday now. Japan had another good performance today and it shows how good the players are from all the nations coming through around the world."

Taylor admitted: "It was a tough, tough games and we're so pleased to be through because Charl was absolutely superb and Shawn kept battling all the way through."All the seeds had been going out so we were worried, but I knew that when Charl got to the winning double he'd not been in that position before, and we could only hope that he missed. It will be a different game tomorrow because Singles matches come into it and that will suit us better because Adrian will be able to get into his own rhythm."

Wales's Mark Webster and Richie Burnett were the night's other winners as they defeated Canada's John Part and Jeff Smith 5-2 - hitting five doubles from as many attempts as they came from 2-1 down to win in a clinical performance and set up a clash with Spain.
"That was a great game to be involved in because we knew Canada would play well and we lifted too," said Webster. "I'm pleased with how we played - we were hanging in there for the first three legs but when we got our chances we took them. The 120 was massive to get us a foothold in the game because they made an exceptional start, and it's a great bonus that we hit five out of five on the doubles, and we can kick on in the tournament now."







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