Steve Lennon got the party started for the Irish in Barclaycard Arena when he triumphed 4-3 against Michael Smith.

Lennon took the "luck of the Irish" tag to new heights in overcoming Smith, though.

The Englishman had two bounce outs with just 82 left and with just one match dart, he was unable to hit tops for the win.

Lennon took out 15 in two darts to chalk up the first point.

William O’Connor sealed the all-important second point as Ireland went straight through without the need for a deciding doubles rubber.

With an average of 115, he moved 3-1 up against world number two Rob Cross before sealing Ireland's passage with a 12-dart leg.

It was a day for upsets as fifth seeds Australia crashed out in straight sets at the hands of Canadians Dawson Murschell and Jim Long.

Murschell clinched a pivotal first point for Canada when he stole a 4-3 win against the throw.

There was little Simon Whitlock could do to prevent the loss with Murschell delivering a 14-dart leg at just the right time.

It seemed that Kyle Anderson would restore parity when he took a 3-1 lead against Long.

Back-to-back 14-darters brought Long level at 3-3, though, and Canada progressed when Anderson missed a match dart on double top.

Defending champions the Netherlands booked their quarter-final place with a comfortable 2-0 win.

World number one Michael van Gerwen lined up with a new partner, Jermaine Wattimena replacing Raymond van Barneveld for the tournament.

Van Gerwen wasted little time at the oche as he saw off the dangerous Krzystof Ratajski 4-2 to put the Dutch in control.

Tytus Kanik made the quicker start to take a 1-0 lead, as he attempted to force a pairs decider.

It was not to be, though, as Wattimena settled and ran away for a 4-1 victory that sent the Dutch into the last eight.

Austria won the evening session's other match in Hamburg 2-0 as the USA were knocked out in the second round.

Zoran Lerchbacher stormed to a 4-1 win against Darin Young before Mensur Suljovic brushed aside Chuck Puleo 4-0.

Scotland moved safely through to the quarter-finals with a 2-0 win over Sweden. 

Gary Anderson set the number two seeds on their way with a 4-0 win against Magnus Caris before Peter Wright saw off Dennis Nilsson 4-2 to wrap up the tie.

Belgium reached the quarter-finals when Kim Huybrechts and Dimitri Van den Bergh sent hosts Germany crashing out.

Huybrechts edged a dramatic encounter against Martin Schindler, who missed four darts to win a nail-biting deciding leg.

Germany never recovered as Max Hopp was beaten 4-0 by Van den Bergh to seal a last-eight spot.

New Zealand needed a doubles decider before seeing off the South African threat as Cody Harris and Haupai Puha defeated Vernon Bouwers and Devon Peterson 4-2 to progress.

Seigo Asada and Haruki Muramatsu secured 2-0 win as Japan beat Singapore to reach tomorrow's quarter-finals.