Posted Jun 17, 2023 5:13pm ET
Canada’s Jeff (The Silencer) Smith is seen in action in Saturday’s round of 16 match against Sweden at the My Diesel Claim World Cup of Darts in this handout photo dated Saturday, June 17, 2023, weighing 450,000 pounds ($762,205 ) shown. Sweden won 8-5. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO, Jonas Hunold/PDC
FRANKFURT — Sweden defeated Canada 8-5 on Saturday to advance to the quarterfinals of the My Diesel Claim World Cup of Darts for the first time.
Canadians Jeff (The Silencer) Smith and Matt (Ginja Ninja) Campbell were tied with Dennis Nilsson and Oskar Lukasiak after ten legs.
But with 15, 14 and 15 darts, the Swedish duo was able to break away from the 12th seeded Canadians, with Nilsson completing the win with a double 16.
Canada defeated India 4-2 and Hungary 4-1 to reach the round of 16 of the 40-nation competition in Germany, which has a prize pot of more than US$760,000.
Smith reached a high after winning the bet365 North American Championship Darts title in New York earlier this month. The 47-year-old from Hampton, NB also finished second at the accompanying bet365 US Darts Masters, losing to world No. 3 Michael van Gerwen in the final.
Campbell, a 33-year-old from Hamilton, is ranked 60th in the world compared to 69th for Smith, who was making his fifth World Championship appearance. Smith defeated Campbell to win the North American Championship.
Canada has reached the quarter-finals of the World Cup three times in the past.
Four-time winners England and the Netherlands, as well as 2020 winners Wales and two-time champions Scotland received a bye to the round of 16.
Canada and the other 35 teams were split into twelve groups of three for the first round robin, with group winners progressing.
The world championship ends on Sunday in the Frankfurt ice rink.
The winning team will receive approximately $135,000. Smith and Campbell earned just over $15,000 for reaching the round of 16.
This report from The Canadian Press was first published on June 17, 2023
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