The group stage has drawn to a close in the World Cup of Darts and now it is knockout darts all the way with the last 16 being played over two sessions of tasty looking action out in Frankfurt on a sizzling looking Saturday.
This is the day that the four seeded sides come to the party so we get to see the likes of Luke Littler, Luke Humphries, Gerwyn Price and Gary Anderson for the first time. The format is up to the best of 15 now which should make for even better darts.
Afternoon Session
It is a huge day for the first four sides onto the stage as there is a massive chance to make a major televised quarter final and who knows what else from there. Malaysia have impressed in this competition so far and might fancy their chances against Czechia for whom their pairing have really had to battle. Hong Kong and Sweden would have gone down as dark horses prior to a dart being thrown with all four players having plenty of stage experience. They meet in a very intriguing game two. Republic of Ireland made it out of the group stage on legs won against the throw. Their reward is a clash against Switzerland where they will be favourites to progress. The first seeds onto the stage are Northern Ireland who round off the day session when they meet South Africa.
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Evening Session
We have a cracking looking evening session awaiting us as well and the former champion Wales get us up and running when they take on the nation who caused the biggest shock of the tournament so far in Philippines. They dumped Belgium out and will be eyeing up another scalp here. The match of the second round takes place in the second game of the evening when Scotland take on the Netherlands where a potential tournament winner is going to exit the competition. That is the case in the penultimate match of the evening too where the defending champions England begin their title defence against the host nation Germany in a real blockbuster contest. We conclude a really good looking day of darts with the debutants Argentina taking on the former champions Australia.
Betting
I’ll go with a couple of bets on Saturday and they both come in the afternoon session, which makes sense with my two remaining outright bets both competing in the evening. The first bet I like is Hong Kong at odds against when they take on Sweden. To be fair, Sweden were on my shortlist as dark horses going into the week but Oscar Lukasiak hasn’t really played like he can. He might free up now that the format is extended but Hong Kong are playing with a pair of players rather than one and both men are heavy scorers too. I think there will be a lot of pressure on Lukasiak throughout this match and I think the Swedes will crack. They were beaten by France in their final group game and I think a progressive Hong Kong pair can get the better of the Swedes too.
Republic of Ireland looked horrible against China on Friday evening and can thank their lucky stars that they have made it through to this knockout stage and I think Switzerland will put up a decent showing against them. The Swiss were good winners against Japan on Friday night where they averaged 91.34 which is almost 10 points more than Ireland averaged against China. William O’Connor and Keane Barry both have high ceilings but they also have low floors and if the Swiss catch them on a struggling day then they can run the Irish close. All the pressure is on Ireland here but Stefan Bellmont is a PDC tour card holder and has made the semi-final of a Players Championship event this season where Josh Rock and Gerwyn Price were among his victims. He also has a win over Nathan Aspinall to his name so if he goes well and drags his partner along then Switzerland can stay within a couple of legs of Ireland here.
Tips
Back Hong Kong to beat Sweden for a 3/10 stake at 2.10 with William Hill
Back them here:
Back Switzerland (+2.5 legs) to beat Republic of Ireland for a 3/10 stake at 2.00 with Sky Bet
