Monday 6 December 2010

World Cup of Darts: Semi-Finals

The final day of the inaugural World Cup of Darts saw the two semi-finals take place in the afternoon, with the two winners going onto play the final in the evening. The format of the semi-finals saw four best of eleven singles (so each player played against his two opponents), each win would give the team a point. If the score wasn't conclusive (it wasn't 4-0) then there would be a best of eleven doubles match which earned two points. If the score was 3-3 after the doubles then there would be a shoot-out leg where the team throwing first would be decided by a closest to the bull.

The first semi-final saw Netherlands take on the dark horses Spain. Up first was Van Barneveld against Alcinas. Barney stormed to a 2-0 lead before Alcinas pulled one back, the Dutchman then continued to extend his lead by winning legs four and five before Alcinas won the sixth. Barney then won the seventh to make it 5-1 before taking an impressive bull, bull, double sixteen checkout of 132 to win the match. The pattern followed in the second game between Stompe and Rodriguez, Stompe won the first two legs before Rodriguez pulled one back. Instead of going 4-1, Rodriguez won the fifth leg to make it 3-2. But Stompe won legs six and eight to put him within one of winning. Rodriguez earned a third leg in the eighth before Stompe completed the victory in the following leg. Barney's impressive finishing continued in his second match against Rodriguez, again the Dutchman took the first two legs with a check-out of 112 in the second. Again Rodriguez won the third leg before Barney secured a 106 check-out in the fourth. From there the legs were won in turn, eventually giving Barneveld the 6-4 win. Stompe secured Netherlands' final place with a close win against Alcinas that went to the final leg. Stompe took the opener before Alcinas won the following two to take the lead. Stompe regained it by winning legs four and five but Alcinas regained the lead by winning the following two legs. Stompe levelled at 4-4 before Alcinas took out 120 to get within one of winning a point for Spain. However Stompe took the final two legs to secure the win and give Netherlands the 4-0 victory over the surprise package.

The second semi-final between Australia and Wales went all the way. Up first was Whitlock against Bates and Whitlock battered Bates but the plucky Welshman was somehow able to keep up. Whitlock won the opener before Bates equalised then Whitlock took out the impressive 170 before Bates equalised again. Whitlock won the fifth with another impressive check-out of 124 but Bates retaliated to equalise yet again. Whitlock found the breakthrough and won legs seven and eight before Bates pulled another leg back, but Whitlock won the tenth leg to win 6-4. The second game went all the way as Nicholson took on Webster. Nicholson won the opening two legs before Webster pulled one back. Nicholson then made it 3-1 before Webster hit back to win the fifth and sixth frame to equalise. Webster then equalised again in the tenth to make it 5-5 and went onto take the final leg to level the score for Wales with a 6-5 win. Whitlock's superb finishing continued as he locked horns with Webster in game three. The Welshman took the first before Whitlock won legs two and three with a check-out of 164 in the third. Webster took a 3-2 lead by winning the following two legs before Whitlock equalised in the sixth. Webster re-took the lead in the seventh before Whitlock went on to win the following three legs and won the game with a 130 check-out in the tenth. Nicholson put Australia 3-1 ahead with a win against Bates in the final singles game. Bates equalised in the second but Nicholson went onto win five of the next seven to win 6-3, sending the match into the doubles. Wales needed to win the doubles to force that leg shoot-out and started the better as they took the opening two legs, with both players winning one each. Whitlock pulled one back in the third but Bates restored Wales two leg lead. Australia equalised by winning the following tow legs with both Aussies winning a leg but Bates hit back in the seventh to re-take the lead. From there, the legs were won in turn with a nail biter of a final leg that Wales just managed to win. This meant the score was 3-3 and therefore the leg shoot-out came into play, Whitlock crucially won the throw with a precision dart into the bull and followed it with a 180. Webster retaliated with a 140 before Nicholson failed to score a ton, Bates took advantage by scoring a 140 of his own as the score decreased. Nicholson had the first check-out opportunity but he missed a 156 which allowed Bates the chance at 116 and the little Welshman took it to put Wales into the final.

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