With the seeded sides not laying their first matches until tonight, it gave the remaining 16-nations a chance to prove themselves on the world stage. With the seeded teams all expected to progress, this opening group match could potentially be the decider to see who qualifies alongside the seeds into the next round.
Group A: Japan came from behind to win their first ever World Cup match. Japan began the better as Mensur Suljovic began very shakily. Haruki Muramatsu and Sho Katsumi both looked lively and quickly took a 2-0 lead in the race to five. Maik Langendorf pulled a leg back and this seemed to wake Suljovic who found the double to level the match. Austria missed two darts at the double to take a 3-2 lead and Katsumi gobbled up the chance. But Japan failed to build on this and would miss six darts to go within a leg of victory. Suljovic equalised and then the Austrians found a 12-dart leg to put themselves 4-3 ahead. Japan were defiant though and Muramatsu would find two doubles to give Japan the lead in a very good quality match.
Group B: Denmark missed 12-darts at the double to win the match, but still just about managed to stumble across the line in a close match against South Africa. It wasn't the most thrilling of matches but Jann Hoffmann managed to find the double to win the first leg. Charl Pietersen got a nine-darter in the recent Q-School event and followed that up with a lively 116-checkout to level the match. Five missed darts at the double allowed Denmark to go 3-1 ahead before Laursen put them one away from victory. Those 12 missed darts allowed South Africa to level the match and force the first deciding leg of the afternoon. Denmark managed to regain their composure and finally fall into the two points courtesy of throwing first.
Group C: Canada also had to come from behind to beat Sweden in a deciding leg. John Part and Magnus Caris had moments of their experience shine through but it was Jeff Smith who started the brightest and took the first leg for Canada. Part took the second leg for Canada and missed three darts to win the third. This gave Sweden the momentum and Par Riihonen found the double to put them 3-2 ahead. Part managed to pull a leg back before Caris put Sweden a leg from victory. Sweden would then miss one dart to win the match as Smith forced a last leg shoot-out. Part would finally show his three time world champion class and hold his nerve to win the final leg with his final dart.
Group D: Spain began their campaign with a tough win over an impressive Italy side. The unknown Daniele Petric took the first leg with his first dart at the double. Carlos Rodriguez hit back for Spain before Petric again took the third leg with his first dart at the double. The wheels slightly felt off for Italy in the fourth leg as they missed four darts to allow Antonio Alcinas to make it 2-2. A 113-checkout from Rodriguez put Spain one leg from victory before finding the double to win the match 5-3. But the Italians did look very good in their first ever showing.
Group E: Poland win their first ever World Cup with Gibraltar still without one. Gibraltar actually began the better with Dyson Parody taking the first leg. The Gibraltarians also out scored the Polish in the second leg but three missed darts allowed them to level. It was deja vu in the next legs as Gibraltar would miss nine darts, giving Poland a 4-1 lead. Poland then missed three darts of their own to win the match, allowing Dylan Duo to prevent the inevitable for a leg. It didn't deter Poland for long and Krzystof Kciuk managed to get the double to give them a 5-2 win.
Group F: Finland perhaps provide a bit of a shock, beating USA in another final leg shoot-out. Darin Young put USA ahead before Larry Butler rolled back the years with a magnificent 116-checkout to go 3-1 ahead. USA then missed three darts to go within a leg of victory and Jarkko Komula found two doubles to level the match. America were then guilty of missing another three darts and this time Jani Haavisto made them pay. Butler was able to force a deciding leg before Haavisto won the match with a superb 114-checkout.
Group G: New Zealand's Craig Caldwell hit three 180s on his TV debut but Croatia still managed to beat them 5-3. The man of the match was Robert Marijanovic who hit three 140s in his opening four throws. It was his partner Tonci Restovic who took the first leg before Marijanovic made it 2-0. New Zealand fought back and three doubles from Caldwell put them 3-2 ahead. Restovic was a little slack in the opening encounters but he woke up and roared to take the next three doubles to give Croatia the win.
Group H: The performance of the afternoon came in the opening match where Belgium whitewashed Hungary. The Huybrechts brothers looked very good with Kim and Ronny sharing the doubles and high scoring. The only dart of the double Hungary had was in the fourth leg in which Meszaros Zsolt had an attempt at the bull.
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