The third day’s play was brought to a close with a superb clash between the USA and Netherlands.  Despite the Dutchmen eventually reaching the quarter-finals, Darin Young and Larry Butler gave Michael van Gerwen and Raymond van Barneveld something to think about.  Were it not for a couple of missed doubles, it could easily have gone the other way.

Young and van Gerwen were first on.  Van Gerwen had the darts, but he allowed Darin a shot at 96 to break him immediately.  The T20 went in, but sadly, he couldn’t find the D18 to gain the advantage.  Undaunted, the 2016 Virginia Beach Classic champ held his throw to make it 1-1.  The third leg brought another opportunity to break van Gerwen with a 108 check, but the D20 just missed high.  A nice 14-darter then leveled at 2-2.  Yes, 2-2 against MVG isn’t bad, but Young could have already pocketed the win.

Like all previous legs, the fifth went with the throw, leaving the twice World Champion one leg from victory.  Young was still fighting though, and yet again, he gave himself a shot at an out.  This time, he left 109, but his attempt at D20 dropped low, and van Gerwen cleaned up to win 4-2.  So very close, and so very close to giving the US an early advantage…

On to to Butler against van Barneveld, and the former World Matchplay champion threw first.  He was also the first to hit a double, checking out from 68.  With Barney sitting on 81 to tie the score, Butler produced a beautiful 120 check to double his lead with a 15-darter.  Next leg, there was another three-figure out, and another 15-darter.  Again, these were courtesy of the man from Ohio!  With his opponent down to 24, Butler finished from 109 to go ahead 3-0.

Barney grabbed the next two, and had the darts to make it 3-3.  A nice 140 to open was followed by a timely 180 from Butler, and the pair stayed neck-and-neck down to the out – Raymond on 130, and Larry on 95.  The Dutchman’s last dart for the DBull was poor, and dropped into the S19.  No such worries for Butler, and he produced another clinical finish – and another 15-darter – with SBull, S20, DBull!

Now it was all-square, and we headed into the decider of doubles best-of-seven.  Could the Americans get the better of the pair that averaged 109.31 in their first match?  Could the Dutch pair reproduce that 109.31 average?

The answer to the second question – which was a resounding “YES!” – effectively answered the first question.  Indeed, van Gerwen and van Barneveld actually improved here with an average of 111.33!  Again, it wasn’t that the Americans played badly (they were on an out in three of the four legs), but legs of 15, 12, 13, and 14 ended our hopes of a quarter-final spot.

It was always going to be tough, but Larry and Darin did themselves – and the US – proud.  In the end, it just came down to a couple of missed doubles.

Elsewhere, Paul and Harith Lim continued their impressive run with another fine win for Singapore over Spain, but the Canadian team of John Part and John Norman Jr. slumped to a disappointing defeat against Austria.  Australia were the only seeds to fall, going down to the Russians.

Here are yesterday’s full results:

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