Florian Hempel made it sensationally into the third round of the Darts World Cup. The debutant from Cologne prevailed against the Belgian top player Dimitri van den Bergh in the “Ally Pally”.
Debutant Florian Hempel caused a sensation at the Darts World Cup in London. In the second round, the 31-year-old from Cologne surprisingly beat the number five seeded Belgian Dimitri Van den Bergh 3-1 at the Alexandra Palace. On Monday, after Christmas on the island, Hempel will meet Devon Petersen (South Africa) or Raymond Smith (Australia).
“It’s absolutely unbelievable. I felt comfortable on stage,” said Hempel. Van den Bergh is after all “one of the best players in the world”.
Hempel uses his first match dart right away
Hempel, who had eliminated Martin Schindler in the German duel at the start of the tournament, started strong. The newcomer hit the double fields with a high percentage and got set one with a break.
Van den Bergh, World Match Play Champion 2020, struck back unimpressed and won the second round 3-0. But Hempel put away the setback, continued to play excellently and used his first match dart.
This means that two out of four Germans are still in the tournament – Hempel and Gabriel Clemens, who made it to the round of 16 a year ago and will join on December 23rd.
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