The 2019 WDF World Cup kicked off today in Romania with the Men’s Singles and Women’s Doubles

Starting with the ladies, the two American pairs in action were Cali West/Robin Curry, and Stacey Pace/Marlise Kiel. The Syracuse duo of West and Curry looked to have the toughest draw of the two, taking on Australians Tori Kewish and Barb Smyth – and so it was to prove.  After four legs, the match was tied 2-2 with all legs going with the throw, but it was the girls from Down Under who took the next two to advance.

Pace and Kiel made an impressive start with a 4-2 victory over Mongolia, and followed up with a 4-1 win against the Ukraine. At Top 32, they faced Carole Frison and Aude Julien of France.  Battling back from a 3-1 deficit, the Americans forced a tie-breaker, but fell agonizingly short.

Things looked good for the US as all four men safely negotiated their first two rounds.  At Top 64, Kevin Luke and Jerry Van Loan became the first to exit the event.  Both battled hard, but lost in six legs, World Cup veteran Van Loan going down to Dutchman Martin Kleermaker, and first-timer Luke falling to Sweden’s Johan Engstrom.

Jim Widmayer faced  Chris Landman (Netherlands) at Top 32.  Missed doubles were to prove costly for the New Yorker as Landman forged a 3-0 lead, but aided by a well-timed 171, Widmayer broke serve in the fourth to get on the scoreboard.  Sadly, the Dutchman picked a good time to stick in a nice 14-darter to clinch the match.  Chaney, meanwhile, saw off the efforts of one of the tournament favorites, Michael Unterbuchner, to secure a Top 16 clash with Welshman Nick Kenny.  The first three legs went with the darts, but “Chanesaw” wired a 130 out in the fourth, and Kenny made it 3-1.  The man from Soddy Daisy, Tennessee, left himself 24 in the fifth leg, but it was too late, and the American challenge was done for the day.

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

Women’s Doubles
Mayumi Ouchi / Mikuru Suzuki (JPN) vs Jotka Cisarova / Alena Gregurkova (CZE)
Men’s Singles
Peter Machin (AUS) vs Darren Herewini (NZL)

Tomorrow (Wednesday) features the Men’s Team event (the USA has won silver in two of the last three World Cups), and the Women’s Singles.

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.

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