Hong Kong stun Belgium on opening night at World Cup of Darts

Belgium suffered a shock defeat on the opening night at the 2026 World Cup of Darts, as they were beaten 4-2 by Hong Kong in Frankfurt.

The 2013 finalists boast strong pedigree in the team tournament, having also reached a further seven semi-finals.

However, Mike De Decker and Dimitri Van den Bergh bowed out in the group stage 12 months ago, as a 4-3 defeat by the Philippines sealed their fate.

And the current Belgian pairing are in danger of another early exit this time around, after coming unstuck against Man Lok Leung and Lok Yin Lee.

Belgium must now beat Slovenia in their second Group B clash on Friday, while hoping the 2025 quarter-finalists fail to beat the latter later in the day.

Australia were also beaten in their opening match, Damon Heta and Adam Leek going down 4-3 against USA.

The 2022 champions are without the previously ever-present Simon Whitlock for the first time in this year.

They recovered from 3-1 down to force a deciding leg in their Group G opener, but Adam Sevada pinned double 10 to secure victory for the two-time quarter-finalists.

There were no such problems for two-time champions Wales, who were four-from-four on doubles, with Jonny Clayton taking out 146 and 100 as he and Nick Kenny were commanding 4-1 winners over Lithuania.

Germany also enjoyed a statement victory, with Martin Schindler and Ricardo Pietreczko averaging 101.9 as the host nation romped to a 4-0 whitewash of the Philippines.

Former finalists Austria averaged 97 as Mensur Suljovic and Rusty-Jake Rodriguez defeated China 4-1 – the same scoreline by which the Republic of Ireland and Poland beat Paul Lim’s Singapore and Portugal respectively.

The Japanese duo of Motomu Sakai and Haruki Muramatsu edged out Croatia in a deciding leg, as did Norway against 2013 semi-finalists Finland.

Karel Sedlacek and Adam Gawlas helped Czechia to a comfortable 4-0 success over India, whose maiden for a maiden World Cup victory continues, while Sweden and Latvia were 4-2 winners against South Africa and Italy respectively.

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World Cup of Darts 2026 Results

Thursday June 11

Group Stage

Czechia 4-0 India (H)
Croatia 3-4 Japan (K)
Finland 3-4 Norway (L)
Ireland 4-1 Singapore (D)
Poland 4-1 Portugal (E)
Sweden 4-2 South Africa (F)
Latvia 4-2 Italy (J)
Belgium 2-4 Hong Kong (B)
Germany 4-0 Philippines (A)
Wales 4-1 Lithuania (C)
Austria 4-1 China (I)
Australia 3-4 USA (G)