The losing nations from Thursday’s opening matches will play the third team from each group in Friday's afternoon session, with the decisive final group games set to be played on Friday evening.
Following the completion of the round-robin phase, the draw for the last 16 will take place on Friday evening, as England, Netherlands, Wales and Scotland prepare to enter the fray in Frankfurt on Saturday. The top four seeded nations will be pre-allocated into the draw bracket, with the 12 group winners to be drawn at random.
Group stage:
Australia (C) and Belgium
Canada (VC), Czech Republic and Spain
Croatia, France, New Zealand, Philippines, Portugal, Sweden and United States
On that note, once again watch out for the Czech Republic. Both enjoyed great runs in the UK Open with Karel Sedlacek exiting in the fifth round and Adam Gawlas a semi finalist. Yet to make it past the first round at the World Cup but expect that change very soon.
Nice draw for our Trans-Tasman rivals in Group K featuring one of the weaker teams in Bahrain. Robb recorded his highest average (115.04) this year and ranked number 1 on the DPNZ Pro Tour (New Zealand).
This will be their eighth edition as a pairing with 1x runner up to go with three quarter final exits. Mensur’s average in 2023 has dipped below 90 (89.62) compared to a tour avg of 92.21, with a win/loss % of 35.14 which is well below his prior years ranging from 52% to 70%. Similar drop for Rowby as well, going from a 91.67 avg in 2022 to currently 86.69 in 2023.
Gates should be great entertainment whether it be a miscount or his fantastic attitude and has been playing well on the American and Seniors circuit (won the Champion of Champions event).