For the first time in “Ally Pally”
German debutant surprises at the Darts World Cup
December 16, 2024 – 5:55 p.mReading time: 2 minutes
At his World Cup debut, Kai Gotthardt defies problems with his material – and is now up against a top ten player.
Kai Gotthardt celebrated a strong debut at the Darts World Cup in London and surprisingly won his opening match. The 29-year-old debutant from Esslingen am Neckar prevailed in the first round of the tournament with 3:1 sets against the favorite Scot Alan Soutar.
This puts Gotthardt in the second round, where he will meet world number eight Stephen Bunting from England on Friday afternoon (around 4:45 p.m., live on Sport1 and DAZN).
The game not only offered sporting highlights, but also strange moments. Gotthardt had an unusual breakdown in the first set: a dart broke and the necessary spare part was not at hand. “This has never happened to me in over four years. And then my dart breaks off on the biggest stage in the world. I was perplexed, it was crazy,” explained Gotthardt in an interview Sports1.
To fix the problem, “The Tunnel” Gotthardt had to run back to the warm-up area while opponent Soutar waited patiently on the stage and chatted with the singing fans at Alexandra Palace. Despite the interruption, Gotthardt didn’t let himself be disturbed. Although the first set was lost, the German then turned the match around and secured three sets in a row.
In addition to Gotthardt, other German participants will take part in the tournament in the next few days. Ricardo Pietreczko will play his first match on Wednesday evening (approx. 9:10 p.m., Sport1 and DAZN). Martin Schindler, Gabriel Clemens, Florian Hempel and debutant Niko Springer are also qualified for the Darts World Cup.