Gabriel Clemens, semi-finalist of the 2023 Darts World Cup, has successfully overcome the opening hurdle on his return to Alexandra Palace. The 40-year-old defeated Man Lok Leung from Hong Kong 3-1 (3-1, 3-2, 0-3, 3-0) in the second round.
Germany’s best darts professional Gabriel Clemens has reached the third round of the World Championship.
The “German Giant” from Saarland showed a concentrated performance and only weakened briefly in the third set when the strong Leung quickly shortened the match into three legs. In the fourth set, however, Clemens held his nerve and took victory.
“He played really well, he also had the higher scoring,” Clemens praised his opponent on “DAZN”, who actually played a higher average (92.56 to 90.66): “But I had the moments on my side.” For example, the finish of 140 points in the first set – the highest checkout of the game.
Clemens after win against Leung: “Mood is fantastic”
The return to Ally Pally, where Clemens made it to the semi-finals last year, has clearly inspired him. “It was nice to come back after the last World Cup. The atmosphere is fantastic, there are a lot of Germans there too,” he said, delighted with the slightly more than 3,000 fans, many of them from Germany.
After the Christmas days, Gabriel Clemens will now face the Englishman Dave Chisnell – who reached the semi-finals of the Darts World Cup in 2021.
The Saarlander is the first German professional in the third round of this World Cup. On Friday (8:00 p.m./Sport1 and DAZN) Florian Hempel and Martin Schindler have the chance to follow suit. Hempel meets Belgium star Dimitri van den Bergh.
Schindler is favorite against the Dutchman Jermaine Wattimena and would then face Scott Williams, who surprisingly won 3-0 against the Dutch world-class professional Danny Noppert. On Saturday, debutant Ricardo Pietreczko will face Englishman Callan Rydz.