Italy shock former champions Australia at World Cup of Darts

Sweden, Austria and Scotland also advanced.

Tonight's evening session includes England, the Netherlands and Wales.

Czech Republic 6-8 Sweden

The Czechs managed to hold their own first leg, despite chances for Sweden's Oskar Lukasiak. In the second leg, Lukasiak again left a handful of darts on the double and Adam Gawlas punished with a break and the 2-0 lead.

From 127, Lukasiak hit back hard and Sweden grabbed a break back. In leg four, Jeffrey de Graaf opened for Sweden with the first 180 of the match. It gave Sweden another leg win and the score was levelled.

Sweden for the third leg in a row by breaking the Czechs. The division of roles was clear. De Graaf did the scoring, Lukasiak started to find the doubles better and better. In the sixth leg, the success story continued and the Swedes seemed to walk out to a victory.

Karel Sedlacek opened the seventh leg for the Czech Republic with a maximum score, allowing it to finally take another leg and go into the short break with a 4-3 deficit.

Nervous end

The Swedes managed to keep their own eighth leg fairly simple after the break before another break in leg nine and lifted the Scandinavians' lead to 6-3.

Lukasiak's finishing lagged for a while and a handful of missed doubles allowed the Czechs to cut the lead to two legs with a break. As the Czech Republic missed seven darts on the double in the eleventh leg, they were immediately broken back.

De Graaf started the twelfth leg with a maximum score, but a 138 finish by Sedlacek put the Czechs back in the match again: 7-5. De Graaf failed to throw out 107, allowing the Czech Republic to hold its own 13th leg.

The task for Sweden was simple: keep its own 14th leg and shake hands. From 117, De Graaf missed a first match dart, but his miss went unpunished. The man of the doubles, Lukasiak, finished the job and took the Swedes to the quarterfinals.

Austria 8-4 Chinese Taipei

Austria started the match solidly and after they managed to keep their own first leg, they took a 2-0 lead through a break. Mensur Suljovic started the third leg with a 180 for the Austrians, who went further ahead despite a chance for Chinese Taipei.

By finishing 102, the Alpine country reached 4-0 via a break and a quick victory seemed imminent. In the fifth leg, which Austria had started, Chinese Taipei finally got on the scoreboard.

Austria immediately broke back and the difference was four again. In their own seventh leg there were chances for Chinese Taipei, but at the short break the Austrians needed only two more legs for victory.

Chinese Taipei fights back

Chinese Taipei came out of the break very well. The first leg went out partly due to their first 180 score in 13 legs. The Austrians hit back immediately and came within a leg of winning.

Chinese Taipei extended their stay at the World Cup by at least a leg by taking their own 10th leg.

As the Asians scored excellently and Teng Lieh Pupo showed he had nerves of steel by throwing double five with one arrow, the Austrians were broken and reduced the deficit to 7-4.

From 121, Rowby-John Rodriguez showed his class and dragged the victory over the line for Austria.

Scotland 8-2 Poland

Poland had a chance to break in the first leg, but it was the Scots who managed to keep their first leg of their own. Peter Wright also managed to find the double in the second leg and cash in on the break.

Gary Anderson made a push in the third leg and the Scots ran out further. Anderson threw his first 180 and put it away a turn later on tops. Wright took advantage of that and the Scots were halfway through after four legs.

Wright and Anderson seemed on top form and won their fifth leg in a row. Radek Szaganski finally put the Poles on the scoreboard in the sixth leg. Throwing out 68 for the second time in the match, Anderson put the Scots up 6-1 just before the short break.

The Poles took the first leg after the break, but could not prevent Scotland from taking match point a leg later. Anderson was allowed to tap in from 68 for the match and of course that went out. The Scots managed to break and secure victory.

Italy 8-7 Australia

The Italians took the lead in their own first leg. As the Australians were not finishing sharply, they were immediately broken in the second leg. Damon Heta missed a handful of darts on the doubles for the second time in the match and the Italians also managed to win their own third leg.

In the fourth leg, Australia finally got on the board as Simon Whitlock hit a double for the first time. Misses by Massimo Dalla Rosa brought Australia all the way back into the match after now Heta hit a double for the first time in the match.

In the sixth leg, it was Whitlock who missed for Australia and another Italian break became a reality: 4-2. That the teams were struggling to keep their own legs became clear again in the seventh leg when Whitlock connected for Australia. With a 4-3 lead for Italy, the teams went into the short break.

Lots of breaks

Immediately after the break, Dalla Rosa provided the fourth break in a row and lifted the lead back to two. Leg number nine also did not go with the arrows and the teams were almost no different. Australia escaped another break against and levelled the score after ten legs.

Michele Turetta put Italy in the lead again and it came to two legs from victory. With the Italians on 90, a very handsome 137 finish (T19, D20, D20) from Whitlock ensured that Australia also needed just two more legs.

Madness

The teams seemed to succumb to the pressure, until Dalla Rosa threw "madhouse" (double 1) to put Italy one leg from victory. The match went to an all-decisive 15th leg when Heta hit double 15.

Italy got to start the final leg and while Turetta started with 59, it was Whitlock who recorded 180. Whitlock got to try first from 146, putting it away on 16. Then came the chance for Dallas Rosa, who threw a triple where he needed two. Heta laid on for 16, but missed a full hand.

Turetta missed the big 4 and held 31. Via 3, he missed the double 14 and seemingly the chance for a sensational victory. But Whitlock also missed a handful of darts on the double and Dalla Rosa became Italy's hero by throwing the redeeming double 14.