SINGAPORE - Singapore's Paul Lim stunned reigning world darts champion Rob Cross at the World Cup of Darts in Frankfurt, Germany, on Sunday (June 3).

The 64-year-old was fearless as he kicked off Singapore's second-round encounter against four-time winners and second seeds England with a maximum 180 from his first three darts against Cross.

With the passionate Eissporthalle crowd singing "Singa, Singapore, Singapore, Singa, Singapore", he went on to add two more 180s as he averaged an impressive 102.29.

But with Cross averaging 103.50, it was Lim's clinical finishing on the double 20 - he required just six attempts to win his four legs - that killed off his singles tie against a world champion 37 years his junior.

However, there was not to be another fairy-tale run for the Republic as Harith Lim lost 4-2 to Dave Chisnall, before the Lims' (no relation) finishing deserted them - they made just one out of 14 attempts - as they lost 4-1 to Cross and Chisnall in the deciding doubles match.

Nevertheless, Cross paid tribute to Paul Lim, tweeting: "I must pay tribute to Singapore and Paul Lim, what a fabulous performance. Total respect."

Singapore had beaten New Zealand 5-3 in the first round despite going 2-0 down, and when they faced England, memories of last year's stunning first-round win over top seeds Scotland and a run to the quarter-finals were evoked.

Paul Lim told The Straits Times in a phone interview: "It was another good run. It would have been nice to progress further but we can leave the competition with our heads high."

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England were eventually beaten 2-1 by seventh seeds Belgium in the quarter-finals.

The tournament concluded early on Monday morning, with third seeds and defending champions the Netherlands (Michael van Gerwen and Raymond van Barneveld) beating top seeds Scotland (Peter Wright and Gary Anderson) 3-1 for their fourth title.