Belgium produced an incredible fightback to beat the Republic of Ireland 5-4 in one of the greatest ever World Cup of Darts matches in Frankfurt.
The 32-nation tournament continued at the Eissporthalle with the final eight first round games, as Kim Huybrechts and World Cup debutant Dimitri Van den Bergh found themselves trailing 3-0 after a blistering start from Irish pair William O'Connor and Steve Lennon.
Van den Bergh hit a crucial 130 checkout to pull it back to 4-3, and the seventh seeds then struck an 11-dart leg to break throw and take the tie all the way.
A high-quality last leg saw O’Connor fire in a 180, only for Van den Bergh to reply with a maximum of his own, before Huybrechts found double 18 with his third dart to set up a meeting with Finland in Saturday’s second round.
"I think it was an all-time classic World Cup game," said Huybrechts.
DARYL GURNEY, INCREDIBLE!
— PDC Darts (@OfficialPDC) June 1, 2018
A captain's performance from the World Grand Prix champion as he digs deep to take Northern Ireland through.
What a finish to win it 🔥 pic.twitter.com/ESCCwl29HU
"Before the draw was made we knew Ireland was one of the teams we wanted to avoid and they gave us a hard game as we knew they would.
"Obviously it’s different for me this year playing with Dimitri but he is one of the best players in the world – a future world star.
"If we can play to our best level then we’ve got a real chance of doing some damage here."
Sixth seeds Northern Ireland also produced a stunning fightback as they came from 4-2 down to beat Poland in a nine-leg thriller.
Polish pair Krzysztof Ratajski and Tytus Kanik more clinical on the doubles than Daryl Gurney and Brendan Dolan as they went within a leg of victory.
However, with the Polish duo waiting on a finish, Gurney stepped up to take out a 101 under immense pressure to book Northern Ireland’s place in round two, where they will have the chance to avenge last year’s first round defeat to hosts Germany.
RECAP!
— PDC Darts (@OfficialPDC) June 1, 2018
First Round ✅
Here's tonight's @betway World Cup of Darts results... #RealWorldCup pic.twitter.com/8TiUAPYZQc
"We kept on fighting to stay in the game and it was such a great feeling to take out the 101 at the end," said Gurney, whose side will face Germany in the second round.
"In the last leg I said to myself ‘if Brendan hits a 140 I will take out the 101’ and sure enough that’s what I did.
"In that situation you really don’t want to let down your partner but we got the win, and now we want to play better in the rest of the tournament and go a long way."
