The final day of the PDC World Cup of Darts begins with the quarter finals of the event on Sunday afternoon before the four winners go back in the evening session to finish of the tournament in Frankfurt.
Saturday went largely as expected so we have seven of the eight seeds remaining in the tournament which should make for some exciting darts on Sunday afternoon. The format remains the same as Saturday with two best of seven singles and then a best of seven pairs match to decide the tie if needed.
Canada vs Northern Ireland
The quarter finals begin with the only non-seeded nation left in the competition as Canada take on Northern Ireland. Canada played some nice darts in getting rid of Wales on Saturday and you get the feeling if they can get this into the doubles they would have every chance.
Northern Ireland came through against the Republic of Ireland on Saturday but they didn’t really impress although when they had to hold their nerve they were able to which will give them a bit of confidence.
You feel this tie is on John Part. If he can win the singles Canada have every chance. Whether he’ll put himself up against Brendan Dolan remains to be seen. There’s certainly some value to be had in the Canadians but Ken MacNeil just isn’t quite strong enough to lure me in. Part played well on Saturday but he isn’t as consistent as he once was so this is a ‘sit out’ match for me.
England vs Austria
England haven’t been at it at all in this tournament but they edged out Spain in the first round and could really have beaten China with two darts not the three they actually used. I suspect they will be properly tested here though.
I say that because Mensur Suljovic has been playing some nice stuff this weekend so far. Rowby-John Rodriguez hasn’t been far behind either. In their singles wins over Singapore on Saturday both Austrians averaged over 95, indeed Suljovic was over the ton mark and if they play like that again they have every chance.
You would think England would improve with the competition getting better but they will need to. Neither averaged 90 in their wins over China. I’ll let Adrian Lewis off because his opponent was a bit of a lunatic but there was no excuse for Taylor. You would think England will come through this but those who are tempted by Austria I wouldn’t put them off.
Scotland vs Belgium
This one is the most interesting matches of all the quarter finals I think. I say that because Belgium have probably been the best team in the tournament to date while Scotland have scraped over the line twice and surely can’t get away with being so poor again.
Scotland beat Norway 2-0 on Saturday and you would think it was plain sailing but it wasn’t. In the first match Cor Dekker was sat on a two dart finish in the deciding leg to beat Gary Anderson before the world champion took out a 160 to win the match and then Thornton trailed Robert Wagner at one point before turning things around.
Belgium were in absolute cruise control against Hungary. Both Huybrechts brothers averaged over 95 and if they need the pairs they are strong in that too as we saw in the opening round. Scotland have plenty of improvement in them but if Belgium are clever and Kim Huybrechts continues his good form I think there is an upset in the making here.
Australia vs Netherlands
This is a battle of another side who have looked alright in this tournament against a team who have laboured through but like the English, while the Dutch have looked pretty ordinary so far they are still in it and have plenty of improvement in them.
Australia will need to be clever here but if they can single out Barneveld and get him under pressure there could well be a route into the semi-final off the back of it. That will probably be up to Simon Whitlock but Kyle Anderson can play and if he has three or four strong legs this tie could be wide open.
I’m on Australia outright so I’ll sit back and hope they come through here but those who aren’t on them in any way might steal a few quid with a small punt on them delivering the goods.
Tips
Back Austria to beat England for a 2/10 stake at 5.00 with Betfred
Back them here:
WON – Back Belgium to beat Scotland for a 3/10 stake at 3.25 with Coral
Back them here:
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