They came so close, but for a second time Gary Anderson and Scotland had to settle for runners-up spot in a World Cup.
Anderson and Peter Wright lost out to the Netherlands who defended their title and won the World Cup for a 4th time.
Holland won the final 3-1 as Michael van Gerwen beat Anderson in the reverse singles in Frankfurt on Sunday night.
The Unicorn ace had kept the Scots in the final as he hit five 180s in beating Raymond van Barneveld 4 legs to 1 in the singles.
But the Netherlands won
The biggest tournament in darts is to expand further as the William Hill World Championship grows to include 96 competitors and a record £2.5 million prize fund, including a huge £500,000 to the 2018/2019 champion.
In the biggest development for the tournament since its move to London's Alexandra Palace a decade ago, the World Championship will continue its remarkable growth both on and off the oche this year.
The sport's biggest event has seen 72 players in recent years competing in a festival of
Kyle and Gary Anderson have steered Scotland and Australia into the last eight at the World Cup.
And the Team Unicorn duo remain on course to clash in the semi-finals in Frankfurt.
Kyle led from the front as Australia beat Spain in a thriller to reach the quarter-finals, while Gary was a class act as the Scots dropped just one leg in beating the boys from Brazil.
The Aussies face now Wales and Scotland play Japan.
It was an easy run for Scotland as Gary beat Bruno Rangel 4-0 and Peter Wright was
Team Unicorn duo Kim Huybrechts and Dimitri van den Bergh produced a stunning fightback to keep their World Cup hopes alive.
Belgium came from 0-3 and 2-4 down to beat the Republic of Ireland 5-4 in a thriller.
The game changed in the 6th leg. The Irish duo of Steve Lennon and William O’Connor had left 48 to win the match 5-2......then from nowhere Van den Bergh, who had really struggled in the match, found a fabulous 130 finish on the bull to keep Belgium in the hunt.
Dimitri then hit a maximum
Team Unicorn’s Seigo Asada led from the front as he and Haruki Muramatsu saw off Austria in the big shock on the opening night of the World Cup of Darts in Frankfurt.
It was a thriller, going all the way to a deciding leg, and Asada was sensational.
He hit four 180s and a 177 and finished superbly as they toppled Mensur Suljovic and Zoran Lerchbacher. It should have been more comprehensive. Japan missed three darts for a 4-1 lead after a hat-trick of Asada 180s.
Muramatsu missed a dart at the bull
Team Unicorn starlet Ted Evetts has claimed another PDC title.
He won a PDC Unicorn Development Tour event in Hildesheim over the weekend to further boost his darting stock.
In a superb performance, Evetts lost only 10 legs in seven matches as he swept to victory in Development Tour 8, beating Geert Nentjes 5-2 in the final.
It’s a second title of the year for Evetts who won on the PDC Unicorn Challenge Tour in March, and he is now in second spot on the Development Tour Order of Merit.
Evetts also
Team Unicorn ace Dimitri van den Bergh reached his first senior PDC final at the German Darts Masters.
But after amazing victories over Michael van Gerwen and Gary Anderson, he couldn’t get over the line on a record breaking day as he lost the final 8-2 to Mensur Suljovic in front of a World record 20,000 crowd at the Veltins Arena.
However, the PDC Unicorn World Youth Champion can still be extremely proud of his achievements.
“I guess I just ran out of gas in the final,” he said. “But it has been
Gary Anderson shrugged off the disappointment of Premier League Finals Night to claim a fifth title of the year.
The Unicorn star won Players Championship 11 in Milton Keynes on Saturday as he beat young German Gabriel Clemens 6-5 in a thrilling final.
Gary bounced back in style after his semi-final loss to Michael Smith at the O2 to take a third Players Championship victory of 2018.
Anderson said: “To be honest I was going to go home after Thursday night but decided to play and I nicked it in the
Unicorn ace Michael Smith was beaten in the final of the Premier League in London.
Michael van Gerwen won the title for a fourth time and a third consecutive year with an 11-4 victory over Smith at the O2.
Smith was up against an inspired Van Gerwen as the Dutchman so nearly broke the world record for the highest average in the final of a TV ‘Major’. He averaged 112.37. In the 2015 Masters Final, Van Gerwen averaged 112.49
But the Team Unicorn star can still be mighty proud of his Premier League
Close friends and Unicorn team-mates Gary Anderson and Michael Smith prepare to go head-to-head in their Premier League clash, with the Scot in familiar territory having qualified for The O2 for a fifth successive year.
Two-time Premier League champion Anderson secured his Play-Off spot with a win over Van Gerwen in Aberdeen last week, and the Scottish star knows he will have to be at his best to beat his protégé Smith.
“He’s like my adopted son but I will be playing to win,” said Anderson, who recorded
