*By MARK MONTEJO
*Veterans Christian Perez and Lourence Ilagan eliminated Czech pair Adam Gawlas and Karel Sedlacek, 4-1, to clinch a spot in the Final 16 of the MyDiesel Claim 2023 World Cup Darts (WCD) in Frankfurt, Germany on Friday, June 16.
*Lourence Ilagan and Christian Perez. (Professional Darts Corporation's Facebook post)
*Trailing 1-0 against the 13th-seeded Czech rivals, the Filipino tandem went to a blistering four straight leg victories to seal their place into the next round. However, Perez and Ilagan face a daunting task next as they arranged a collision with Gary Anderson and Peter Wright of Scotland. Anderson was a former world No. 1 while Wright is currently ranked No. 2. Perez, a South Cotabato native, reached the singles quarterfinals after yielding to Portuguese Jose De Sousa, 6-1, in Hildesheim. The semis and championship round will be on Monday, June 19 (Philippine time). A total of 40 countries joined the tournament for the 450,000 pounds total prize (around P32.1 million).