World Cup of Darts: Germany 'focusing' on world record breakers Poland ahead of last 16 showdown
- Planet Sport writer
- 17 June 2023
Poland not only secured a last 16 clash with Germany, but also broke a world record along the way.
Krzysztof Ratajski and Krzysztof Kciuk produced a new world-record Pairs average to storm through to the last 16 on a bumper day of action at the My Diesel Claim World Cup of Darts on Friday.
Day Two of the £450,000 tournament saw the round-robin phase conclude with a double session at Frankfurt's Eissporthalle, as Poland underlined their title credentials with a sensational performance.
Having edged out Portugal in their Group G opener, Ratajski and Kciuk turned on the style to dispatch Lithuania's Darius Labanauskas and Mindaugas Barauskas with an astonishing 118.10 average in their winner-takes-all clash.
The Polish pairing produced legs of 14, 13, 12 and 12 darts to celebrate a 4-1 success, breaking Michael van Gerwen and Raymond van Barneveld's previous Pairs record of 117.88 - which was set in 2014.
Poland now take on host nation Germany in Saturday's second round in a stand-out tie, with crowd favourites Gabriel Clemens and Martin Schindler breezing through to the last 16 without losing a leg.
The Germans followed up their 4-0 win over Hong Kong on Thursday's opening night with another whitewash success in their decider against Japan.
Schindler drew first blood for the sixth seeds with a 116 checkout, setting the tone for another demolition job alongside World Championship semi-finalist Clemens.
"We will take it," joked Schindler, who reached the last eight alongside Clemens in last year's showpiece.
"It's not easy to play in front of your home crowd because we want to perform, we want to show our very best, but we're very happy to get through.
"We are not looking any further than tomorrow. We believe in ourselves, we trust in our ability, but there are so many strong teams, so we are just focusing on us."
Photo Credit: Jonas Hunold/PDC
