Australian duo of Damon Heta and Simon Whitlock begin title defence with an emphatic win as Belgium overcome personal issues The World Cup of Darts continues at Frankfurt's Eissporthalle with a double session at 11am and 6pm on Friday - live on Sky Sports Arena
Friday 16 June 2023 01:35, UK
France and Denmark caused opening night shocks at the World Cup of Darts, while defending champions Australia made a winning start and Belgium overcame personal issues.
The opening night of the revamped £450,000 tournament saw 12 group stage ties take place on Thursday, with Australia's reigning champions amongst the high-profile nations to triumph.
French duo Jacques Labre and Thibault Tricole enjoyed a dream debut, courtesy of an emphatic 4-1 rout against Northern Ireland's Brendan Dolan and Daryl Gurney.
Labre and Tricole dominated their more experienced opponents, and a 114 checkout from Tricole capped off a terrific display, as Northern Ireland's miserable recent record at this event continues.
Danish debutant Benjamin Reus produced the performance of the night, boasting an astonishing individual average of 114.7 to stun 2021 runners-up Austria in Group F.
Reus also landed four 180s and conjured up a match-winning 116 finish as he and Vladimir Andersen condemned Mensur Suljovic and Rowby-John Rodriguez to a shock 4-2 defeat.
"I don't know what just happened. I was completely in the zone," reflected Reus, who featured in January's Nordic Darts Masters.
"I was totally relaxed and everything went perfectly tonight. We played two really good PDC players, so we knew we needed to find something extra tonight."
Australia's Damon Heta and Simon Whitlock began their defence with a whitewash win over debutants Guyana.
"It wasn't a great performance but we got the job done," said Australia's No 1 Heta, who warmed up for this event by scooping a Players Championship title on Tuesday.
"We move on to bigger and better things tomorrow night and hopefully we get the job done against Gibraltar.
"We have grown up in Australia playing Pairs, so I think this format suits us. We fancy our chances.
"We won this title last year and it's up to the other players to try and beat us, and that's how we are going to approach it."
Germany also opened their challenge with a whitewash win over Hong Kong, as Gabriel Clemens and Martin Schindler dispatched Man Lok Leung and Lok Yin Lee in four straight legs.
Belgium were the highest seeds in group stage action on Thursday's opening night, and Dimitri Van den Bergh and Kim Huybrechts began their campaign with a 4-0 demolition of Finland.
After the match, Huybrechts admitted he no longer gets on with team-mate Van den Bergh.
Huybrechts, the world No 31, told Online Darts: "It was a professional victory. We did a job but that's about it.
"For me it's the first time playing a doubles tournament with someone you don't get along with now."
Huybrechts added there was "something personal" between him and world No 10 Van den Bergh.
Krzysztof Ratajski inspired Poland to a deciding-leg win over Portugal's Jose de Sousa and debutant Luis Ameixa in their Group G opener, in a thrilling contest featuring seven maximums.
Elsewhere, Keane Barry impressed on his World Cup bow alongside ever-present William O'Connor, as 2019 finalists Ireland brushed aside Thailand 4-1 in their Group E opener.
Meanwhile, Michele Turetta and Massimo Dante led Italy to a landmark first win on the World Cup stage in the evening's opener, after they fended off a late fightback from Switzerland to claim a 4-3 success.
The losing nations from Thursday's matches will play the third team from each group in Friday's afternoon session, as Northern Ireland and Austria battle to preserve their qualification hopes.
England, Wales, Netherlands and Scotland - the top four seeded teams - do not enter until the second round on Saturday.
The World Cup of Darts continues at Frankfurt's Eissporthalle on Friday with a double session at 11am and 6pm - live on Sky Sports Arena.
