The Republic of Ireland a winning start at the World Cup of Darts in Frankfurt by beating Lithuania 4-2 in their opening group game.
The 2019 tournament runners-up got off to flying start as Keane Barry and Willie O'Connor secured the win, Barry wrapping up the match with double 20.
IRELAND OFF AND RUNNING! 🇮🇪
— PDC Darts (@OfficialPDC) June 27, 2024
2019 runners-up Republic of Ireland are off and running in Frankfurt, as Keane Barry and World Cup ever-present William O'Connor celebrate a 4-2 success against Lithuania!
📺 https://t.co/nh8y246ePn#WorldCupofDarts | Group E pic.twitter.com/8TlqodApKX
The top four ranked nations, England, reigning champions Wales, Netherlands and Scotland, will enter the tournament in the second round on Saturday.
The other 36 teams will contest the 12 round-robin groups of three, with the winner from each group progressing to the last 16.
Northern Ireland also made a winning start by getting the better of South Africa 4-1.
Josh Rock and Brendan Dolan, the tournament's sixth seeds, registered a statement win at the Eissporthalle in the first of their three round-robin first-round matches.
Home favourites Martin Schindler and Gabriel Clemens raised the venue's roof with a deciding-frame 4-3 win against New Zealand and Australia breathed a sight of relief as they also won their decider to edge past Japan.
Belgium's Dimitri Van den Bergh and Kim Huybrechts were given a scare before beating Singapore 4-2, while Portugal upset the United States and Poland overcame Norway, both by the same score.
Boris Krcmar and Romeo Grbavac sealed a 4-0 win for Croatia against Malaysia with a 12-dart final leg and last year's quarter-finalists France opened with a 4-1 defeat of Latvia.
Sweden and 2021 runners-up Austria white-washed Spain and China respectively and the Czech Republic edged to a 4-3 win against Bahrain.
