Former world champion Rob Cross confidently reached the round of 16 at the Darts World Cup in London on Thursday afternoon (December 29th, 2022). He only lost one set against Marvyn King. Dave Chisnall was surprisingly eliminated.
King had played a strong tournament so far, but never really got into his rhythm this time. The first two sets went completely smoothly 3-0 to the 2018 champion, and the 56-year-old veteran was only able to win one leg in the third round.
It was only in the fourth round that King indicated his class, which he then won 3-1, but the hoped-for turnaround didn’t materialize: Cross finally used his third match dart on double 4 to make it 4-1. In the round of the last 16, “Voltage” has a good, but again beatable opponent: Chris Dobey.
Rob Cross celebrates – the ex-world champion is in the top 16
Van Duijvenbode wins a seven-set thriller
Dirk van Duijvenbode had already reached the round of 16 in Thursday’s afternoon session before Cross. But his match against the Englishman Ross Smith was an absolute thriller. Both players convinced with good scoring, but had problems on the doubles courts.
When the score was 3-3 in the “decider” went, then Smith looked like the winner, worked out five match darts – but he left them all. Van Duijvenbode then used the unexpected chance ice cold: When he had a rest of 73 at 5:5 sets, it turned out the Dutchman tops and turned his first match dart into a double 20.
Bunting eliminates “Chizzy” at Darts World Cup
At the end of the early session there was a big surprise: In a duel between the England routines, Stephen Bunting got the upper hand 4:2 against Dave Chisnall, whom many experts had on the list as one of the favorites to win the tournament.
But “The Bullet” put on a world-class match and was extremely strong in the end when responding to Chisnall’s throw. He secured the last set with three breaks, and the match dart landed in double 20 for him too.