of Germany shooting star Gabriel Clemens missed the final of the Darts World Cup. The Saarlander kept up for a long time on Monday (01/02/23), but then had to give up MichaelSmith from England with 2:6 beaten.
As in the past few days, hundreds of German fans were in action on Monday Alexandra Palace. While local hero Smith received a few whistles as soon as he entered, the German outsider joined in from the first set “Oh, Gabriel Clemens”– chants celebrated.
Clemens coldly exploits Smith’s weakness
The favorite Michael Smith impressed from the start with a series of 180s – but only the spectators, but not “Gaga” Clemens. The first sentence quickly went to Smith. But in the middle of the second set, the fourth in the world rankings showed his first weakness: instead of winning the second set with double 15, the Englishman threw three tickets. Clemens was there immediately, got it legs and managed to equalize the set a little later with a double 16.
At 1-1 in the third set, Smith made an impact, finishing the third leg with one high finish of 144 points. But the Saarlander, who is currently causing the most sensation, continued to play steadfastly: Smith’s 180 counterattack. But this time it was the bearded Brit who took advantage of Clemens’ miss on double 20 and closed the third set.
No gross blunders
Clear indication of the high level of this first semi-final of the 2023 World Cup in “AllyPally“: Up to the fifth set only in the second round Break and a rebreak. After Clemens won the fourth set, Smith then quickly pulled away to 2-0 after legs and set 3-2 in record time.
The 39-year-old German couldn’t really be shaken off again, but often missed a high score in the important passages. Smith, who was seven years his junior, took advantage of this and placed high scores. In the end, the Briton had 19 180s – the maximum number per attempt.
Set #6 to Smith
Winning the 6th set was the crux of the game. Clemens lost his set start, and he was quickly behind 0:2 in the seventh set. Although the German struggled back, the seventh round also went to the man with the cockscomb. Clemens kept his levelbut Smith continued to excel and gave the German almost no chance to break.
The Englishman quickly took the seventh and confidently closed the eighth set to make it 6:2. “Michael Smith deserved to win. He always presented me with difficult tasks”said Clemens after the game at Sport1, “he bombarded me with 180s and 140s. Now the disappointment is there but the better player won today.”
At least 19th in the world rankings and another record
Of the “German Giants“, like the 1.91 m tall German in the association PDC is named, travels home with prize money of 112,000 euros. After the World Cup, he was ranked 19th in the world and thus higher than any German darts player before. With eleven 180s within a World Cup match, Clemens also set a new German record.
After the game, Dutch darts star Michael van Gerwen will fight against Belgian Dimitri Van den Bergh for a place in the final. The last match for the world title starts on Tuesday (03.01.23) at 9 p.m.