Japanese pair Jun Matsuda and Yoshihisa Baba stunned Russians Boris Koltsov and Evgenii Izotov on their Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) World Cup of Darts debut in Jena.

The opening tie of the night in Germany saw the newcomers race into a 3-0 lead until Koltsov took out 72 to strike back.

However, it wasn't enough as Baba hit a double 20 in a 96 checkout to seal Japan's last-16 spot.

South Africa's Devon Petersen and Carl Gabriel overcame Spain's Jesus Noguera and Jose Justicia in a 5-4 thriller as the nations enjoyed a final-leg shoot-out.

"It's amazing - I'm lost for words," said Gabriel, per the PDC website.

"It didn't go that well last year but to go through to the next round is massive.

"The feeling was good and I was a bit more relaxed because I knew what to expect after last year, and Devon spoke to me through the entire game and calmed me when I got a bit anxious.

"It's one of my dreams to be on stage playing a Singles match and that's coming to fruition tomorrow, so I'm excited."

𝙍𝙚𝙨𝙪𝙡𝙩𝙨 🤝 Confirmation of all the results as the first round came to a close with not a single seed falling at the first hurdle! pic.twitter.com/C2h5Evv377

Portugal's Jose de Sousa and Jose Marques came from 2-0 and 3-1 down before snatching a dramatic 5-4 win over 2019 finalists Ireland in an entertaining contest.

Austria's Mensur Suljovic and Rowby-John Rodriguez came from a leg down to defeat the Philippines' Lourence Ilagan and Christian Perez 5-1 as they moved into tomorrow's second round.

Northern Ireland survived five missed match darts from Hong Kong's Kai Fan Leung and Man Lok Leung as Daryl Gurney and Brendan Dolan edged through to a second-round tie with Portugal.

Host nation Germany delighted the Sparkassen Arena crowd as Gabriel Clemens and Max Hopp defeated Canada's Jeff Smith and Matt Campbell 5-3.

England's James Wade and Dave Chisnall overcame an early scare from Brazil's Diogo Portela and Artur Valle before opening their bid to win England's fifth World Cup title with a 5-2 success.

Dimitri Van den Bergh and Kim Huybrechts closed out the day with a comprehensive 5-2 win over Greece.

All eight second-round matches are set to take place tomorrow.

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Owen Lloyd is a junior reporter at insidethegames.biz, having joined the team in 2021. Lloyd has previously worked with Badminton England at the All England Open Badminton Championships, covered the 2019 General Election and hosted a radio show on local station Voice FM. He graduated from Solent University in 2021 with a 2:1 in sports journalism, where his final project examined diversity in rowing.

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When British skaters Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean won the Olympic gold medal in ice dance at Sarajevo 1984 with 12 perfect 6.0s from every judge, for their interpretation of Maurice Ravel's Boléro, an important member of their team was singer-actor Michael Crawford. Crawford, who had played Frank Spencer in British sitcom Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em and the title role in the musical The Phantom of the Opera, had become a mentor to the pair in 1981 and went on to help them create their Olympic routine. Crawford said he “taught them how to act". He was present with their trainer Betty Callaway at the ringside at Sarajevo as they created one of the most iconic moments in Olympic history.

UCI - Major Events Delivery Manager - Aigle, Suisse , Switzerland

Founded on 14th April 1900 in Paris, the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) is the world governing body for cycling. Its mission is to develop and supervise cycling in all its forms and for everybody, as a competitive sport, as a healthy recreational activity and as a means of transport and having fun. Reporting to the Head of Olympic Games and Major Events, the Major Events Delivery Manager will be responsible for supporting the planning and delivery to a high standard of the UCI Cycling World Championships and the UCI Emerging countries World Championships or any other identified event hosted on a 4-year cycle. This includes support for UCI involvement in events such as the Olympic Games and certain related qualification events, Youth Olympic Games, the Paralympic Games.

Twelve years ago the Diamond League athletics circuit began in Qatar, and although the template is largely the same, the meetings have featured some controversial experiments since Wanda became major sponsor in 2020. Mike Rowbottom speaks to World Athletics chief executive Jon Ridgeon for the inside track on the series' ups and downs.

Should players from Russia and Belarus be allowed to compete at Wimbledon?

You have viewed over 50 articles in the last 12 months.

Support insidethegames.biz for as little as £10

For nearly 15 years now, insidethegames.biz has been at the forefront of reporting fearlessly on what happens in the Olympic Movement. As the first website not to be placed behind a paywall, we have made news about the International Olympic Committee, the Olympic and Paralympic Games, the Commonwealth Games and other major events more accessible than ever to everybody. 

insidethegames.biz has established a global reputation for the excellence of its reporting and breadth of its coverage. For many of our readers from more than 200 countries and territories around the world the website is a vital part of their daily lives. The ping of our free daily email alert, sent every morning at 6.30am UK time 365 days a year, landing in their inbox, is as a familiar part of their day as their first cup of coffee.

Even during the worst times of the COVID-19 pandemic, insidethegames.biz maintained its high standard of reporting on all the news from around the globe on a daily basis. We were the first publication in the world to signal the threat that the Olympic Movement faced from the coronavirus and have provided unparalleled coverage of the pandemic since. 

As the world begins to emerge from the COVID crisis, insidethegames.biz would like to invite you to help us on our journey by funding our independent journalism. Your vital support would mean we can continue to report so comprehensively on the Olympic Movement and the events that shape it. It would mean we can keep our website open for everyone. Last year, nearly 25 million people read insidethegames.biz, making us by far the biggest source of independent news on what is happening in world sport. 

Every contribution, however big or small, will help maintain and improve our worldwide coverage in the year ahead. Our small and dedicated team were extremely busy last year covering the re-arranged Olympic and Paralympic Games in Tokyo, an unprecedented logistical challenge that stretched our tight resources to the limit. 

The remainder of 2022 is not going to be any less busy, or less challenging. We had the Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games in Beijing, where we sent a team of four reporters, and coming up are the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, the Summer World University and Asian Games in China, the World Games in Alabama and multiple World Championships. Plus, of course, there is the FIFA World Cup in Qatar.

Unlike many others, insidethegames.biz is available for everyone to read, regardless of what they can afford to pay. We do this because we believe that sport belongs to everybody, and everybody should be able to read information regardless of their financial situation. While others try to benefit financially from information, we are committed to sharing it with as many people as possible. The greater the number of people that can keep up to date with global events, and understand their impact, the more sport will be forced to be transparent.

Support insidethegames.biz for as little as £10 - it only takes a minute. If you can, please consider supporting us with a regular amount each month. Thank you.