Team Unicorn duo Kim Huybrechts and Dimitri van den Bergh produced a stunning fightback to keep their World Cup hopes alive.

Belgium came from 0-3 and 2-4 down to beat the Republic of Ireland 5-4 in a thriller.

The game changed in the 6th leg. The Irish duo of Steve Lennon and William O’Connor had left 48 to win the match 5-2......then from nowhere Van den Bergh, who had really struggled in the match, found a fabulous 130 finish on the bull to keep Belgium in the hunt.

Dimitri then hit a maximum and Huybrechts nailed ‘tops’ to force the deciding leg. When Lennon started with a 180 for the Irish, they were favourites but Dimitri stepped up to fire in another 180 of his own!

But there was more drama to come as O’Connor missed a dart at the bull for a 170 finish to win it and experience told for Huybrechts as he hit D18 with the last dart in hand to take Belgium through to a 2nd Round date with Finland.

There were wild celebrations at the end. The passion of playing for your country at the World Cup of Darts!

Kim said: “It is a magical feeling. The 130-finish changed everything. Dimitri was brilliant. The kid is one of the big talents in world darts. And I believe he will be World Champion.”

High praise indeed! Dimitri thanked Kim for his encouragement throughout as the Unicorn pair grew in stature. They may just challenge for the trophy on Sunday.

And there was a hard-fought win for Devon Petersen and South Africa. In the end the Unicorn man was indebted to his rookie partner Liam O’Brien as they beat Hungary 5-3 on Friday night.

The Hungarians were led by another Team Unicorn player in Nandor Bezzeg and they had chances but missed too many crucial doubles along the way.

O’Brien came through the ‘Last Man Standing’ event in South Africa - organised by Petersen - to earn his spot at the World Cup.

“He was superb, wasn’t he!?” said Devon. “I wasn’t on my game and Liam came to the rescue. The sport back home is really coming good and we are thrilled to win.”

Devon is planning to set up the African Darts Corporation in 2019, which will be affiliated to the PDC as he takes another big step to push darts in his homeland.

South Africa started well as they raced into a 3-1 lead. O’Brien took out a superb 160 in between two finishes on ‘tops’ for Petersen. But then the nerves kicked in as they missed six doubles over the next two legs and Bezzeg levelled the match for 3-3.

Between them the South Africans missed six match darts before O’Brien hit D2 to set up a last 16 clash with defending champions The Netherlands.

Holland and England enjoyed comfortable wins, while host nation Germany wowed the partisan crowd with victory over Sweden.

Friday 1st Round results (best of 9 legs):

New Zealand 3-5 Singapore

Greece 1-5 Finland

Northern Ireland 5-4 Poland

Hungary 3-5 South Africa

Belgium 5-4 Republic of Ireland

England 5-3 Czech Republic

Sweden 3-5 Germany

Netherlands 5-0 Gibraltar

Saturday 2nd Round schedule - singles/doubles:

Afternoon:

Wales v Switzerland

Australia v Spain

Japan v Canada

Scotland v Brazil

Evening:

Belgium v Finland

England v Singapore

Northern Ireland v Germany

Netherlands v South Africa

Words from STUART PYKE in Germany

Photo courtesy PDC

Posted in Unicorn Darts