Germany’s darts star Max Hopp played really well at the 14th tournament of the Players Championship series in Hildesheim and made it to the final after many strong matches. In the final, of all places, the “Maximiser” ran out of steam.
Germany’s former darts hope Max Hopp made a big statement on Tuesday in Hildesheim and reached the final of a PDC tournament for the first time since 2019 in the 14th tournament of the Players Championship series.
In the final, however, the 29-year-old clearly lost 8-1 in the legs against the Dutchman Wessel Nijman, who has been playing outstandingly this season. Nijman, number 16 in the world rankings and leader of the ProTour rankings, played a three-dart average of 104.62 points in the final and didn’t give the “Maximiser” the slightest chance.
Hopp eliminates former darts world champion
However, this only dampened Hopp’s strong overall performance to a limited extent. The local hero had eliminated some big names on the way to the final, including Damon Heta (No. 20 in the world rankings) and former world champion Rob Cross (No. 22). The German didn’t really have to tremble in any of his matches. His two games against Heta and Lewis Pride were the closest, which he “only” won 6:4 each.
In addition to Hopp, Lukas Wenig also knew how to convince from a German perspective, who made it to the round of 16, but lost 1:6 against the Englishman Tom Bissell, who in turn lost to Hopp in the semifinals (3:7). In the round of 16, Wenig had previously beaten Martin Schindler 6:5.
A big highlight of the evening was the Dutchman Richard Veenstra, who played his first 9-darter at the PDC in the second round against Leon Weber.
The tour continues next weekend at the Austrian Darts Open. These will take place from May 8th to 10th in Graz.
