The Republic of Eire crashed out of the World Cup of Darts in Frankfurt after struggling one of many largest shocks within the competitors’s historical past by the hands of debutants Chinese language Taipei.
Ninth seeds William O’Connor and Kean Barry appeared to have averted an upset after preventing again from 3-1 right down to drive the decider.
However Teng Lee Pupo and An-Sheng Lu bounced again to safe a 4-3 success to advance as Group E winners, having additionally crushed Lithuania 4-2 earlier on Friday.
In the meantime, Northern Eire averted any upset and booked their place within the Spherical of 16 with a 4-3 win over Switzerland.
Josh Rock and Brendan Dolan, the match’s sixth seeds, cruised to a 4-1 win over South Africa on Thursday to prime Group B.
Australia, Austria, Belgium, Croatia, Czech Republic, France, hosts Germany, unseeded Italy, Poland and Sweden additionally superior.
High seeds England, Wales, Scotland and the Netherlands will participate in Saturday’s competitors after mechanically qualifying for the second spherical.
England face France of their opening match, whereas defending champions Wales are drawn with Croatia. Third-placed Netherlands face fifth-seeded Belgium, whereas Northern Eire tackle seventh-seeded Germany.
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