World Cup of Darts 2019 Day Three preview and order of play: Second Round takes centre stage
Gary Anderson and Peter Wright join forces (credit:Kelly Deckers/PDC Europe)
Focus switches to the singles format on Day Three of the 2019 PDC World Cup in Hamburg as the Second Round ties take place across two unmissable sessions.
Six of the eight seeded nations have safely made it through to the Last 16 at the Barclaycard Arena and will be aiming to stamp their authority over the more familiar format.
Four-time champions England, represented by 2018 World Champion Rob Cross and 2019 world finalist Michael Smith, made light work of the Philippines with a 5-1 victory in Round One and step up their title quest with a show-down against Republic of Ireland.
European Tour event finalists Willie O’Connor and Steve Lennon brushed aside Greece in their opener and will be quietly confident of causing an upset and reaching the Quarter-Finals for the first time.
Netherlands, meanwhile, resume their title defence with a clash against dangerous outsiders Poland in the final match of the evening.
Jermaine Wattimena underlined his calibre with a fine display on his debut as the Dutch pair whitewashed Spain 5-0 on Friday, and he will aim to carry that form into the singles format alongside world number one Michael van Gerwen – who is on course for a third straight World Cup success.
Tour Card holders Krzysztof Ratajski and Tytus Kanik overcame Czech Republic 5-2 and now have their sights set on a major scalp to reach the Last Eight for the first time.
The evening session commences with a clash between fifth seeds Australia and the unseeded Canada as 2012 finalist Simon Whitlock and Kyle Anderson face off against Dawson Murschell and Jim Long.
Austria’s Mensur Suljovic and Zoran Lerchbacher battled back from behind to avert a potential scap at the hands of Russia, and they now come up against World Cup veteran Darin Young and debutant Chuck Puleo of USA.
The afternoon session sees two-time finalists Scotland, the new tournament favourites, take on Sweden, as two-time World Champion Gary Anderson and Peter Wright look to overpower retiring stalwart Magnus Caris and Dennis Nilsson without the need for a doubles decider.
Singapore aim to follow up their First Round giant-killing of Wales by overcoming fellow soft-tip specialists Japan as the legendary Paul Lim and left-hander Harith Lim meet Seigo Asada and Haruki Muramatsu in what promises to be a close-run contest.
Max Hopp and Martin Schindler carry the hopes of the host nation on their shoulders as they join forces for Germany to take on neighbours Belgium – represented by former finalist Kim Huybrechts and World Youth Champion Dimitri van den Bergh.
The opening tie of the day sees South Africa take on New Zealand as Devon Petersen and his debut partner Vernon Bouwers aim to build on Thursday’s scalp of Northern Ireland when they collide with Cody Harris and Haupai Puha.
The action gets underway from 12pm BST, with Scecond Round matches to be contested as two best of seven legs singles matches.
In the event of both nations winning one singles match apiece, a best of seven-leg Doubles match will be played to decide the tie.
World Cup of Darts 2019 Match Schedule
All times BST (Local time one hour ahead)
Saturday June 8
Second Round
Afternoon Session (12pm-4pm)
South Africa v New Zealand
Singapore v Japan
Scotland v Sweden
Belgium v Germany
Evening Session (6pm-10pm)
Australia v Canada
Austria v USA
England v Republic of Ireland
Netherlands v Poland
