Group 1
England and the Netherlands qualified for the knock-out stages on opening day as expected. Switzerland and Romania bowed out to two of the top nations in the world of darts.
England finished with three points – one ahead of the Netherlands followed by Switzerland with one point and underdogs Romania with no points.
Group 2
The USA won this group with four points as expected with Italy coming runner-up just pipping Japan by one point. They were followed by Austria with one point and Latvia with no points. This did not reflect the true form shown by another upcoming dart nation (Latvia), which is what the WDF is all about.
Group 3
Australia won this group with four points followed by Denmark with three points The Isle of Man came in an impressive third place in a group of five teams followed by the Czech Republic on one point. Last but by no means the least was Catalonia with no points.
Group 4
Sweden, Northern Ireland and Turkey were tied on three points each. Sweden had the better leg difference (+14) and Northern Ireland and Turkey were still tied on the leg difference (+12 each). Northern Ireland beat Turkey in the actual match and therefore gained runner-up position. Poland were fourth in this five-team-group with one point followed by a tired Brazilian team with no points. This was after a 10,000-mile journey for the Brazilian team to the ‘Emerald Isle’ via Germany and England.
Group 5
The host nation won this group with four points followed by Lithuania with three points, Iceland with two points, Bahamas with one point and Luxembourg finished on no points. This really pleased the home crowd who expected their team to advance to the knock-out stages.
Group 6
Finland came home with four points followed by Germany with three points, Spain with two points, Russia with one point and finally India with no points.
Group 7
South Africa won this group with four points, Scotland with three points, Norway with two points, Trinidad and Tobago with one point and Barbados with no points. South Africa surprised their opponents with their high standard of play.
Group 8
This group provided the first major upset of the competition with Wales failing to qualify for the next round.
Canada, Belgium and Wales were tied on two points each. Belgium were the group winners with a leg difference of +13 and Canada came second with a leg difference of +8. Wales came third in this group with a leg difference of +4 and Iran came fourth with no points.
Last 16 Knock-Out Stages
England followed winning Group 1 by beating Scotland 9-2 in the last-16 knock-out stage. This now lines them up against Canada in the quarterfinals.
The USA surprisingly lost to neighbours Canada 9-8 after a competitive play-off as both teams battled it out to an eight all draw. This was followed by a ‘sudden-death’ leg of 501 – just pipped by the ‘Mounties’ by the narrowest of margins.
Australia’s opponents in the last 16 were little fancied Lithuania who gave the ‘Boys’ from Down-Under a very big fright. The ‘Aussies’ just scraped it by 9-7 in front of a very noisy crowd.
Sweden proved to good for Germany and beat them 9-4.
Republic of Ireland lost to Denmark 8-9 after an exciting match, which was decided by the ‘sudden-death’ leg.
Northern Ireland was heavily defeated by Finland with a score of 1-9.
The Netherlands had a ‘cracker’ of a game against South Africa but the Spring Boks were the unexpected winners by a margin of 9-7 to knock out the holders of the team title, as the ‘Boers’ were roared to victory by the large local crowd, mostly from Castlebar.
Belgium defeated Italy 9-4.
The line-up for the quarterfinals to be played on Friday, 23 Sep 2011 commencing at 16:45 hrs is:
England vs Canada
Australia vs Sweden
Denmark vs Finland
South Africa vs Belgium
