Germany’s best darts professional Gabriel Clemens missed the round of 16 at the World Series Finals in his third attempt. The World Cup semi-finalist from Saarwellingen lost 6-2 to Irishman William O’Connor in the first round on Friday. Clemens had already lost his opening match in 2019 and 2021.
After his triumph at the last World Championships in London, Clemens is still looking for his form from the Ally Pally at the big tournaments. The “German Giant” is still waiting for his first victory at an individual major this year in mid-September. Nevertheless, he remains ranked 20th in the world.
In addition to Clemens, the two other German starters were also eliminated in Amsterdam: Martin Schindler, number 25 in the world, lost 3:6 to Jonny Clayton, seventh in the world rankings. Previously, Daniel Klose suffered a defeat against top Polish player Krzysztof Ratajski 3-6 on his debut in the tournament worth a total of 300,000 pounds (around 350,000 euros).
Tour newcomer Klose reached the final at the 21st event of the Players Championship at the beginning of the month and then surprisingly qualified for the World Series Finals. In the same qualifying tournament, Clemens and Schindler also secured their ticket to the final tournament.
As part of the World Series, six tournaments were initially held in six different countries. The best 16 players from these events received the right to start in the final in the Netherlands, and eight other professionals were selected in a qualifying tournament. As non-ranking tournaments, World Series events have no impact on the world rankings.