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After the opening round of the Bwin PDC World Cup of Darts had reached a dramatic climax on Friday night as both Canada and Wales were knocked out in the first round by New Zealand and Hong Kong respectively, day three would see the last 16 continue to battle it out for a place in the final day of the tournament on Sunday.
Belgium v Spain
The Huybrechts brothers, Ronnie and Kim were comfortable winners over Spain, taking an unassailable 2-0 win. Ronnie was first on stage against the dangerous Cristo Reyes and took the first tie with a 4-1 win before Premier League star Kim was also a 4-1 winner over Antonio Alcinas with dark horses Belgium continuing to go about their business under the radar.
Australia v Gibraltar
The ever-present team of Paul Nicholson and Simon Whitlock took a 2-0 victory over surprise package Gibraltar with first Whitlock taking a comfortable 4-0 victory over Dyson Parody before ‘The Asset’ was made to work for his 4-3 victory over Manuel Vilerio.
Northern Ireland v New Zealand
New Zealand couldn’t repeat last night’s heroics despite Rob Szabo taking the opening leg against Brendan Dolan. Dolan completed the comeback to take a 4-1 win. Mickey Mansell was in impressive form as he took a 4-0 victory over Warren Parry.
Hong Kong v Republic of Ireland
Hong Kong shocked the Irish to take a deciding leg victory over Connie Finnan and William O’Connor to move into the quarter-finals. Ting Chi Royden Lam was again impressive beating O’Connor 4-0 before Finnan leveled the tie with a comeback 4-3 win over Scott McKenzie after being 3-0 down. McKenzie then held his nerve in a final leg doubles decider to win 4-3.
Afternoon Session
Belgium 2-0 Spain Australia 2-0 Gibraltar
Northern Ireland 2-1 New Zealand Hong Kong 2-1 Republic of Ireland
