Deafening fan chants and top-class duels: The Arena Trier was transformed into a festival area for darts lovers at the weekend.
World champion Michael Smith, veteran Raymond van Barneveld or the German pros Gabriel Clemens and Martin Schindler: the elite of darts were guests in Trier for three days. At the European Darts Matchplay, the stars let the darts fly and enchanted the numerous fans in the arena. The fans expressed their thanks with loud chants and created an atmospheric atmosphere.
“The Trier audience was absolutely fantastic,” said Michael Smith after his round of 16 victory against the shooting star Josh Rock. “They sang my name, they sang Josh’s name. There was no booing, no whistling. When you let us guys play we put on a big show and that’s exactly what happened in my game against Josh.” Smith, who was crowned darts world champion for the first time in January, beat Rock 6-4 on Sunday afternoon to advance to the quarter-finals.
Gabriel Clemens retired early
For Gabriel Clemens, World Cup semi-finalist and currently the best-placed German in the world rankings (20th place), the tournament was already over on Saturday evening. The Saarland native, who is a member of the Kaiserslautern darts club, lost in the second round 5:6 against Ryan Searle from England. Martin Schindler, the German number two, retired from the tournament in the round of 16 after a 6-2 defeat against the 21-year-old Gian van Veen.
Raymond van Barneveld like in the old days
Raymond van Barneveld also played great darts in Trier. The 56-year-old, who was world champion five times, defeated his Dutch compatriot Michael van Gerwen 6:3 in the second round and advanced to the quarter-finals on Sunday after an exciting game against Clemens’ conqueror Ryan Searle (6:5). “I’m very happy that after a few years I’ve made it into the quarter-finals again,” said “Barney”, as his fans affectionately call him, after the game. And also praised the development of darts in Germany. “Clemens reached the semi-finals of the World Championship. Martin Schindler is currently playing really well on the Pro Tour and European Tour. Germany can have a great future in darts.”
The quarter-finals, semi-finals and the final in Trier will be played on Sunday evening from 7:00 p.m.
