The third day of action in the Pairs event saw 16 nations competing across two sessions at the Eissporthalle, as the knockout phase of the tournament began.
Croatia’s Boris Krcmar and Romeo Grbavac caused a major upset with a terrific display, defying a 91 average from Welsh duo Jonny Clayton and Jim Williams to break new ground at the World Cup of Darts.
The unheralded Croatians punished some early profligacy from the number two seeds to seize the initiative, although Clayton and Williams fought back valiantly to level at six apiece.
Nevertheless, after Wales squandered four darts at double for a 7-6 advantage, Grbavac landed successive 84 and 83 combinations to cap off a famous triumph.
“This is beautiful. It’s like a dream,” reflected Croatian trailblazer Krcmar, who landed three 180s in inspiring his side to victory.
“I know that we can beat anybody, but this is a big moment for Croatia and Croatian darts and we’re very happy.”
“This is a very good feeling,” added Grbavac, who will compete in his first PDC televised quarter-final on Sunday.
“This is the biggest win of my career. Boris believed in me, and I believed in him. I’m very happy for me, Boris and all the Croatian people.”
Belgium oust Dutch rivals
However, it was former finalists Belgium who produced the performance of the day, defying six 180s and a ton-plus average from Dutch duo Michael van Gerwen and Danny Noppert to storm into the last eight.
Dimitri Van den Bergh and Kim Huybrechts dumped out Noppert and Dirk van Duijvenbode at the same stage of last year’s event, and they repeated the feat with an inspired display of finishing.
Huybrechts was the star of the show in the opening exchanges, following up an 89 kill with 129 and 121 outshots on the bull, before Van den Bergh sank a classy 86 finish to continue their charge.
Van Gerwen and Noppert scored superbly but struggled on the outer ring, and they paid a heavy price as the fifth seeds powered to a crushing 8-2 victory.
“We didn’t give them a chance. We were in total control,” declared Huybrechts, a runner-up with his brother Ronny back in 2013.
“I always say to Dimitri: ‘If we do our own thing, we are very dangerous. Tonight was a complete performance!”
Belgium will now play Italy for a place in the semi-finals, after Michele Turetta and Massimo Dalla Rosa won through an extraordinary last-leg decider against 2022 champions Australia.
The Italian duo survived six match darts in an epic finale, as Damon Heta and Simon Whitlock crashed out at the last 16 stage for the first time as a partnership.
“This is very emotional. We have worked hard to arrive here, so it’s unbelievable feeling,” reflected Turetta, who became the first Italian player to win a PDC Tour Card earlier this year.
“We know that every darts fan in Italy will be having a big party tonight, but we are still pushing to improve.”
England remain quietly on course
Elsewhere, England began their bid for a record-breaking fifth World Cup crown with an 8-3 demolition of 2023 quarter-finalists France, as world champion Luke Humphries made a winning start on his World Cup debut.
Despite Humphries’ status as world number one, it was Michael Smith who adopted the captain’s role for the top seeds, who recovered from a sluggish start to sweep aside Thibault Tricole and Jacques Labre.
France capitalised on some early profligacy from the decorated duo to establish a 2-1 lead, although Humphries and Smith soon found their feet, winning seven of the next eight legs to cap off a resounding win.
“Michael was fantastic tonight. I wasn’t at my best, but you’re not usually going to average 110 in the first round,” admitted Humphries, who is confident of an improved showing on Finals Day.
“We’re back again tomorrow which is all that matters, and if we start playing like we can, we’ll be a force to be reckoned with.
“We’re going to keep the same regime tomorrow. We will play our own game, and we believe we can win, which is the most important thing in winning big titles.”
