Belgium duo put differences aside to edge out China in Frankfurt

Kim Huybrechts and Dimitri Van den Bergh put their differences aside to send Belgium through to the second round of the World Cup of Darts in Frankfurt.

The duo won their opening match against Finland on Thursday night but cracks in their relationship showed immediately afterwards, with Huybrechts admitting he does not “get along with” Van den Bergh, who also said there was “something personal” between them.

But, in an attempt to avoid a civil war in the PDC competition, they put on a united front ahead of Friday night’s match with China.

They said in a joint statement on Twitter: “Following last night’s win at the World Cup of Darts, we have sat down to discuss our recent differences.

“Whilst some issues remain to be resolved in the fullness of time, we are both fully committed to doing our best as a team to win the World Cup of Darts for Belgium, and to represent ourselves, our families and our country in the best light.

“That begins with tonight’s game against China and our focus is now on preparing for the match as a team.”

Harmony was needed in a close match, with Van den Bergh producing an under-pressure 86 checkout in the deciding leg to clinch a 4-3 victory.

Defending champions Australia are yet to drop a leg and they eased to a 4-0 win over Gibraltar, while Croatia claimed a 4-1 upset victory over the Republic of Ireland.

Hosts Germany are safely through, beating Japan 4-0, and Poland set a new record average of 118.1 in their 4-1 success against Lithuania.

Elsewhere, there were victories for France, South Africa, Canada, Latvia, Sweden and the Philippines, while Denmark lost to the USA but still go through.