The darts duo of Paul Lim and Harith Lim have made history for Singapore after they qualified for the quarter-finals of the World Cup of Darts yesterday.
The Singaporean pair defeated Spain's Antonio Alcinas and Cristo Reyes 2-1 to reach the last eight of the £250,000 (S$445,000) tournament in Frankfurt, Germany.
Paul beat Alcinas 4-0 in the opening leg before Harith lost 1-4 to Reyes to leave the match finely balanced at 1-1. In the deciding doubles leg, Paul and Harith cruised to a 4-0 win.
This is the first time Singapore have advanced this far in the annual competition that started in 2010, and attracts 32 international teams comprised of the world's best dart players. Singapore reached the second round in 2014 and 2016.
Only England and Netherlands have won the competition.
The unseeded duo of Paul, 63, and Harith, 47, will next face eighth-seed Belgium (Kim Huybrechts and Ronny Huybrechts) on Sunday.
In the opening round on Friday, Singapore claimed one of the biggest upsets in the competition's history by beating and eliminating top-seed Scotland 5-2 in a doubles best-of-nine legs game.
Their opponents were Gary Anderson and Peter Wright, ranked second and third in the world respectively. Paul and Harith are not on the Professional Darts Corporation world rankings, but according to Darts Database, Paul is ranked 451st, while Harith is 879th.
Paul, who rose to fame when he became the first player to complete a perfect nine-dart finish at the 1990 World Darts Championship, said after the match on Friday: "When we drew Scotland, we knew it would be tough, regardless.
"But I always say in any tournament - if you beat the No. 1 seed, you become the No. 1 seed. I always felt the pressure was on them.
"I tell you what, this is the moment. Because I think it's so much so it's not representing yourself, but it's for your country and all that. And it is an honour. I mean to represent a country is the biggest thing.
His partner Harith added: "It's a partnership, so we've been doing this for so many years, so I think we take it one leg at a time, one game at a time. That's what it is."
