By MARK REY MONTEJO
Filipino darters Lourence Ilagan and Paolo Nebrida continued to make ripples, this time claiming the scalps of Belgium’s Mike De Decker and Dimitri Van den Bergh with a stunning 4-3 win to march into the second round of the 2025 PDC World Cup of Darts in Frankfurt, Germany Friday, June 13.
With their backs against the wall, the unseeded pair of Ilagan and Nebrida exhibited nerves of steel and razor-sharp precision to overcome a 338-92 and 24-5 deficit versus the No. 6 seeded De Decker and Van den Bergh in the 7th leg to prevai.
It completed their improbable comeback as they took four straight legs that saw them grab the lead after falling behind 3-0 in their win-or-go-home contest.
“We didn’t expect this. We are really happy to win,” said Ilagan. “It’s not easy to play against two of the best players in the PDC, but we just tried to play our own game and we trusted each other.”
Their victory conjured the country’s impressive Last 16 finish two years ago where Ilagan teamed up with Koronadal’s Christian Perez. The duo succumbed to Scotland’s Peter Wright and Gary Anderson.
With their 2-0 sweep in Group B, Ilagan and Nebrida arranged a second-round meeting with Jonny Clayton and Gerwyn Price of Wales, which earned an outright spot.
Their knockout duel is set for Best of 15 legs so is in the quarterfinals and semifinals.
With their win, Ilagan and Nebrida are already assured of a €9,000 (more than half a million peso) prize.
