Australian stars Simon Whitlock and Damon Heta came agonisingly close to landing the first Doubles nine-darter in World Cup history during their first round win over Lithuania.
The opening two legs were shared, before the Australian arrowsmiths opened up leg three with back-to-back 180s, only for Whitlock to wire double 18 for a spectacular 141 checkout.
Heta returned to clean up a ten-darter, and a 117 finish from Whitlock in leg four inspired the fifth seeds to a routine 5-2 success.
“It would mean the world to me to win this,” admitted Whitlock, one of four World Cup ever-presents. “If we could finally lift this trophy for Australia it would be amazing.
“I’ve got a great partner in Damon, he’s overtaken me in the rankings and I’m so proud of him. He’s brilliant, a great guy and a great dart player.
“It would have been lovely to hit the nine-darter but we can try in our next match.”
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