WDF World Cup – Day Two

Updated: September 27, 2023

After a disappointing opening day in Esbjerg, we were hoping for an improvement on all fronts.

The Youth event continued with the Mixed Pairs, with the partnerships of Cyndi Kelley/Kaden Anderson and Kellie-May Buzzell/Seth Patenaude in action. Sadly, neither duo were able to progress from the Round-Robin Group Stage, but Cyndi and Kaden were able to give a dominant performance against their Swedish opponents.

The Youth World Cup continues tomorrow with the Girls’ Singles and Boys’ Pairs.

The Women’s Team Round-Robin started this morning, and they had high hopes of advancing to the Knockout. The Americans had a tough little bracket. The first three matches proved no problem, and they dispatched India 9-1, Lithuania 9-2, and then Malta 9-0. Next up was a tricky contest against Spain, but this too turned out well as we emerged 9-5 winners.

The last group match was the decider, with the two undefeated teams – USA and Sweden – facing off. Carolyn Mars got us off to the perfect start, and after six legs, we were 4-2 ahead. The vastly experienced Vicky Pruim edged out Cali West, but Paula Murphy immediately restored our two-leg leg. Then, it all started to go wrong, and from this point, only Carolyn (for her third win of the day) and Marlise Kiel were able to find the winning doubles. A little disappointing, but a 9-7 loss was enough to secure second place in the group, and a place in the Last 16.

The Men couldn’t rely on their team-mates today, as it was Singles time!

Joe Chaney was the first to play, and what a match it was, as he took on 2015 BDO World Champ, Scott Mitchell. It was definitely a high-quality clash, but somewhat bizarre as the first six legs were all won against the darts. Mitchell kicked off with a 14-darter, only for Chaney to break back in 13. The Englishman responded with a even better 12 (140, 100, 140, 121), but a nice 15 from Chaney levelled.

Another 12 (again 140, 100, 140, 121) put the Tennessean behind, but a second 15 took the match to a decider. After kicking off with 140, followed by a ton, ‘Chanesaw” was able to hold on for a spectacular victory!

Unfortunately, Joe wasn’t able to keep it going, and next time out, slumped to a 4-1 defeat at the hands of Croatian Filip Ljubenko.

Our other three competitors all reached the Last 64, which is where Robbie Phillips bowed out. Aussie Brandon Weening put on a superb display against Phillips, taking the win in 17, 14, and two 15’s. A solitary 15 of his own was scant reward for Robbie’s role in a brilliant tussle.

Meanwhile, Danny Lauby had been working his way through the field in style, and in the Last 32, he faced the impressive New Zealander, Haupai Puha. The Kiwi was always in control, and when Danny failed to convert the required 93 in leg six, it was all over.

That just leaves Bruce Robbins. He looked very comfortable, and posted almost identical averages in his opening two rounds against Luxembourg’s Tom Becker, and Luka Marinic (Slovakia). A third tidy performance against Hungarian Gabor Takacs gave him a 4-1 win, and a place in the Last 32.

Here, the man from Massachusetts was up against Swede Andreas Harrysson, and to be honest, at 3-1 down, looked to be in trouble. Nope. It wasn’t a problem, and Robbins took the last three legs to advance. Scotland’s Jamie Bain didn’t cause Bruce any problems either in the Last 16, and as the result of a nice 4-1 result, we have an American in the Quarter-Finals!

Tomorrow (Thursday) sees the Men’s Team, Women’s Pairs, Girls’ Singles, and Boys’ Pairs.

You can get full details of all matches on DartConnect