We've all been there, on the brink of wrapping up a leg of darts to claim victory before a few doubles go begging and you find yourself stuck on double one. It doesn't happen too often at stage events on the professional circuit, but such chaos erupted on the opening night of the 2025 World Cup of Darts on Thursday.

The action commenced with 12 matches at the Eissporthalle in Frankfurt, including the start of the Republic of Ireland's campaign against Gibraltar in Group D. Keane Barry and William O'Connor defeated Craig Galliano and Justin Hewitt 4-2 to position themselves nicely ahead of their second and final group match against China on Friday.

However, the Irish duo's victory didn't come without drama.

Barry and O'Connor seemed certain to cruise into a 3-1 lead and move one leg away from a swift triumph as they left 16 while their opponents required 297.

However, O'Connor then went inside when looking for the double eight, four and two, leaving his team-mate to pick up the pieces at double one.

Hewitt then applied some pressure with a 93 before Barry went far too low with his first dart to bust and hand the oche to Galliano, who scored 88 to ramp up the tension further.

O'Connor proceeded to aim too high with all three of his darts, allowing Hewitt to confidently find his single 16 and check out with double 20 at the first time of asking.

The momentum was with Gibraltar, but Barry and O'Connor regained their composure to win the next two legs and enter pole position for qualification.

The Republic of Ireland know that a win against China's Zong Xiao Chen and Lihao Wen will seal safe passage into the last 16.

They are two of 36 nations split into 12 groups of three for the round-robin phase, with each group winner entering the last 16.

England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland will enter the tournament when the last 16 begins on Saturday - given they are the four nations with the lowest cumulative PDC Order of Merit ranking.

England are eyeing a record-extending sixth World Cup success, with Luke Humphries partnering Luke Littler to make up a dream duo.

The two world champions are, unsurprisingly, the tournament favourites. Wales, the Netherlands, Scotland, Belgium and Northern Ireland make up the chasing pack when it comes to who the bookies fancy.