Florian Hempel made it into the second round of the Darts World Cup in London. The Cologne native, who is taking part in the spectacle at the Ally Pally for the fourth time, won his opening match against the Dutchman Jeffrey de Zwaan 3-1.
Before Hempel, Ricardo Pietreczko (Hannover) and World Cup debutant Kai Gotthardt (Esslingen) also made it through the first round, but Gotthardt was eliminated on Friday. “It felt good. It’s very, very fun”said Hempel at Sport1 about the atmosphere, “I had a bit more luck on the doubles at the beginning.”
His next opponent is Daryl Gurney from Northern Ireland on Monday evening. Hempel still has the chance to surpass his best World Cup result. Martin Schindler is the last of the six Germans to get involved on Sunday. The seed had a bye in the first round and will meet the Englishman Callan Rydz.
“The Tunnel” eliminated
World Cup debutant Kai Gotthardt is at the spectacle in London “Ally Pally” eliminated in the second round. The 29-year-old from Esslingen with the nickname “The Tunnels“missed a surprise against world number eight Stephen Bunting (England) in a 3-1 defeat.
Gotthardt, number 136 in the ranking, kept the duel with Bunting open for a long time, but did not take advantage of his chances in the second set. “I simply didn’t give myself enough time, it’s my own fault for this situation, it could have been different,” Gotthardt said disappointedly at “Sport1”: “I know what mistakes I made, he took advantage of them like a top eight player.”
The Swabian was one of six German darts players in the world championship field. In the first round he didn’t let a rare broken arrow bother him and won against the Scotsman Alan Soutar with 3:1 sets.
“The Tunnel” starts strong
Against veteran Bunting (39), BDO world champion from 2014 and semi-finalist at the PDC 2021, Gotthardt started with concentration and a better feel for the “180”. After a break to win the first set, Gotthardt missed three chances to move ahead 2-0. “The Bullet“Bunting, winner of the Masters this year, didn’t need to be asked twice and turned the game around. The last seven legs went to the Englishman.
Mats Nickelsen, Sportschau, December 20, 2024 5:15 p.m
German ranks are thinning
This means that the German ranks in London are thinning further: on Thursday, former semi-finalists Gabriel Clemens and Niko Springer lost their opening games. Ricardo Pietreczko is in round two. The German number one Martin Schindler only takes part in the tournament on Sunday.