Jonny Clayton, alongside new associate Nick Kenny, obtained their World Cup of Darts marketing campaign underneath manner with a 4-1 victory over Lithuania’s Darius Labanauskas and Mindaugas Barauskas in Group C.
Gerwyn Value and Clayton have gained the World Cup twice as a pair for Wales however when Value didn’t make himself accessible for choice for the second time in three years, Kenny joined ‘The Ferret’ because the seventh seed.
It was Clayton who guided the group to victory together with his expertise and an enormous 146 checkout earlier than taking out a tops, tops end to wrap issues up.
“I enjoyed every second of it. Like I said before, you won’t get a more passionate bloke than this man,” Clayton stated.
“He’s unbelievable. When he sticks on that Welsh shirt, it means all the pieces to him. There’s two of us within the Welsh group.
“When we put this on, it is everything. As a Welshman, as a proud Welshman, you don’t turn down the chance to put a Welsh shirt on. There is more to come from us.”
Germany’s Martin Schindler and Ricardi Pietreczko put in a demolition job with a 4-0 drubbing of the Philippines’ Alexis Toylo and Paolo Nebrida in Group A.
Fifth-seeded Germany famously knocked favourites England’s Luke Littler and Luke Humphries out within the second spherical in 2025 and despatched out an announcement with their opening efficiency and 101.9 common, the pair clicking as soon as once more regardless of ‘Pikachu’s’ latest points together with his throw.
Eire’s Willie O’Connor and Mickey Mansell, who turned the primary participant ever to characterize two nations on the World Cup of Darts after switching allegiance from Northern Eire, pulled off an impressed 4-1 win over Singapore’s Paul Lim and Phuay-Wei Tan in Group D.
Seventy-two-year-old legend Lim’s teammate Tan began the competition by reeling within the Huge Fish within the opening leg however that was the solitary spotlight for Singapore as Eire’s O’Connor was on hearth and led his group to take 4 legs on the spin with a 122 checkout on the way in which.
In what was touted by Sky Sports activities Darts’ John Half because the ‘Group of Demise’, USA’s Stowe Buntz and Adam Sevada secured a monumental 4-3 win over Australia’s Damon Heta and Adam Leek in Group G.
Australia managed to claw it again to 3-3 however couldn’t get it over the road within the decider.
Hong Kong’s Man Lok Leung and Lok Yin Lee pulled off an upset with a 4-2 victory over sixth seeds Mike De Decker and Dimitri Van den Bergh in Group B.
Each Belgian gamers stated they have been utilizing this World Cup to kickstart their 2026 after each struggling of their particular person campaigns on the PDC circuit however after going 3-0 down, they may not full their comeback.
What else occurred?
Japan began off Group Ok with an exciting last-leg 6-5 victory over Croatia’s Boris Krcmar and Pero Ljubic.
Ally Pally cult hero Motomu Sakai and Haruki Muramatsu managed to struggle again to 2-2 after which the latter took out 81 on the bullseye to take it to the deciding leg, which they nailed on D12.
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Motomu Sakai enters Japan’s first World Cup fixture with a signature weird walk-on to kick begin their match!
Ninth-seeded Poland, who’re represented by Krzysztof Ratajski and Sebastian Bialecki, cantered to a 4-1 win over Portugal’s Luis Camacho and Jose de Sousa in Group E.
The pair are touted as a darkish horse on this match because of their latest type they usually confirmed why with a no-nonsense victory.
In Group I, Austria’s Mensur Suljovic and Rusty-Jake Rodriguez got here up with a complete 4-1showing in opposition to China’s Qingyu Zhan and Xiaochen Zong.
In the meantime, in Group H, Czech Republic’s pairing of Karel Sedlacek and Adam Gawlas began their marketing campaign with a complete 4-0 drubbing of India’s Nitin Kumar and Ankit Goenka.
Finland’s Jani Haavisto and Jonas Masalin fought from 2-0 right down to 3-3 however finally fell to a 4-3 loss in opposition to Norway’s Cor Dekker and Kent Sivertsen within the opening tie of Group L.
Sweden’s Jeffrey de Graaf and Oskar Lukasiak got here by a troublesome 4-2 battle in opposition to South Africa’s Devon Petersen and Graham Filby to get off to a superb begin in Group F.
In Group J, Latvian duo Madars Razma and Valters Melderis stood agency to safe a 4-2 victory over Italy’s Michele Turretta and Riccardo Castelli.
What’s subsequent?
The group stage continues on Friday afternoon, dwell on Sky Sports activities from 11am
The motion continues on Friday afternoon, dwell on Sky Sports activities from 11am because the group stage continues. The group stage will then conclude on Friday night, dwell from 6pm.
The highest 4 ranked nations – primarily based on the bottom cumulative PDC rating of the 2 competing gamers – are seeded and can enter on the final 16 stage.
Who will win this 12 months’s World Cup of Darts? Northern Eire shall be defending their title and you’ll watch all of the motion on Sky Sports activities from June 11-14. Stream darts and extra high sport with NOW.
