The Women’s Singles kicked off today’s action, followed by the Men’s Team.

Stacey Pace and Robin Curry were the first two to hit the boards, and both were soon in the Top 128 alongside Marlise Kiel and Cali West.  Sadly, Marlise fell to  South Africa’s Johanna Kotze, but American hopes were still high as Stacey, Robin, and Cali all advanced to the Top 32.  There, Stacey’s run came to an end against Switzerland’s Fiona Gaylor, while Robin suffered the same fate at the hands of Mayumi Ouchi (Japan).  These were the first legs Robin had lost all day.

Cali, meanwhile, moved on to the Top 16 with a 4-2 win against Finn Kaisu Rekinen.  Now she was up against Wales’ experienced Chris Savvery, and things looked good as she grabbed the first two legs.  Savvery broke serve in the third, only for West to break straight back, and a quarter-final spot was just a leg away.  Two legs on, and we were faced with decider.  Cali produced her best leg of the match, but so too did her opponent, and the American dream was over.

The early rounds of the team events are played in round-robin groups, each match being a singles round-robin format, with the first team to nine legs taking the win.  On paper, the USA were strong favorites to win their group, being pitched against Gibraltar and Latvia.  They did win the group as expected, but there were a couple of small scares along the way.

In the opener against Gibraltar, we raced into a 3-0 lead – then proceeded to lose the next five legs! Kevin Luke stopped the rot in the ninth, and that seemed to settle the nerves, and six of the last seven legs produced the first American win of the day.  Next time out, it was the total opposite as the Latvians pocketed the first three legs!.  Again, it was Kevin Luke who steadied the ship, and a run of eight wins in nine legs set up the second 9-6 triumph of the afternoon.

That put the USA into the knockout bracket of 32 teams, and a clash with Slovenia.  This proved less of a hurdle, and a comfortable 9-4 win secured their place in the Top 16 against an impressive Hong Kong team.  The Men’s Team event continues on Friday.

Here are the line-ups for the finals of the events played today.

Women’s Singles
Mikuru Suzuki (JPN) vs Deta Hedman (ENG)
Girls’ Singles
Beau Greaves (ENG) vs Katie Sheldon (IRE)
Boys’ Pairs
Tomas Houdek  / Vilem Sedivy (CZE) vs Brad Phillips / Keelan Kay (ENG)

Tomorrow (Thursday) features the Women’s Team event and the Men’s Pairs.

For more information, including teams, event schedules, and all draws, please go check out the World Darts Federation’s World Cup website.

As a bonus, you can follow events live thanks to our good friends at DartConnect.

Follow Day 3 Live Stream on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0pIi5eUP-1w

Daily news and updates will be published here…

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