15:35
One set away from the quarterfinals
Gabriel Clemens is one set away from his first quarter-final entry. Now it’s time to keep calm. Alan Soutar is not without a chance either. He already showed in the game against Danny Noppert that he can come back. It remains exciting.
15:32
The German Giant is rewarded
Gabriel Clemens is the first player in the finish area, but with 130 he still has a high number to check. He hits the two triples and can close the sentence via Bullseye. Will he make it? Just missed. He hits the single bull and so the Scot gets to throw again. But there is also a 3-darts finish for him that cannot be cracked. This is the chance for Clemens, who still has 25 points. It’s the S9 and he hits the D8 on the second try. He raises his fist in the air and is satisfied with this fourth set, which gives him a 3:1 set lead.
15:31
It goes back and forth
Great start from Clemens. He hits the T19 twice and punishes Soutar, who didn’t hit a triple. After six darts he has 401 left, Clemens adds his fourth 180. This gives him an advantage, but Soutar also hits a 180 again.
15:30
11-darter
Alan Soutar throws his second 180, making his 700th overall at this World Championship. But it doesn’t help him, because Clemens wins his leg with an 11-darter. It goes into the decider, which is thrown by Soutar.
15:28
Soutar plays it from the beginning
However, Soutar can then safely downplay his throw. For 36 points remaining he needs three darts again, but Clemens has only just arrived in the check-out area.
15:26
Clement stays tuned
Things could get tight for Clemens! Soutar hits two triples and faces 90 points to break. But the pressure comes back from Clemens, because he leaves 50 points. But the advantage lies with Soutar, who starts with the T20. He is missing the D15, which he would like to allude to from the outside. He doesn’t succeed because both darts don’t hit the double field. He only has a quota of 27% on the double. The German thanks him and takes out the 50 to make it 1-1 in the fourth set.
15:24
Break chances not used
Now Alan Soutar throws his first 180! Nevertheless, there are break chances for Clemens, who hits the S18 and the S20. He needs the D10 to break, but only hits the outer ring. The Scot has 25 points, which he gratefully takes out via S9 and D8.
15:23
Good average
The average has also increased again at the German Giant. Similar to the first, he looks back on a 100 average in the third set. But Soutar doesn’t give up either. With an average of 104 points, he still had no chances in the third set.
15:21
Strong comeback from the German
The Saarwellinger starts the third leg with five perfect darts. Alan Soutar hasn’t thrown a 180 yet. Clemens now has to check 139, but he has six darts to do so. The Scot is down to 194 points. He throws 77 points for 62 remaining. Soutar reduces his number to 60, but the momentum is with the German. Does he take out the 62 points? Yes! He gets the third set with zero.
15:19
Clemens increases
Alan Soutar gets the T17 with the last dart and can face 156 points remaining. The pressure comes from Clemens, who hits the T19 twice and is on 92 rest. Who does it? The German Giant takes out the 92 points with the S20, T20 and the D6. He’s getting back to where he was in the first set.
15:17
Finish over the bullseye
Clemens faces the Big Fish because he can’t defeat it for the second time. 85 points remain. He chooses the route via the S19, S16 and sinks the third dart in the bullseye. Strong start!
15:16
Who better get in?
The throw lies with Gabriel Clemens, who starts with 100 points. Alan Soutar is trailing behind with a 95 point shot. The German Giant puts down 134, which the Scot follows suit. It remains really tight in the first leg of the third set.
15:13
crash on average
After Alan Soutar equalized 1:1 after the sets, the game can start again. The first set clearly went to Gabriel Clemens, the second set, despite a double trouble, to the Scotsman. The German’s average has dropped from 100 points in set one to 81 points. Here he has to improve significantly again.
15:11
Not a good phase for Clemens
Clemens got in well, but now has to survive a weaker phase in the second set. Alan Soutar is getting better and can apply more pressure with his darts. The Scot who gets a set dart has to take 80 points out. With the double odds, the odds are against him, but not with Soutar. This time he hits the D20 in the first attempt and takes the second set 3-1.
15:08
Double trouble
Soutar has the 164 in mind. The T20, but the T18 becomes the S18, so he can only face 68 points. Clemens has to take out 161, but also fails at the high finish. The German has 62 points remaining. The T10 sits, the subsequent double does not. Both currently have serious problems on the double. At Soutar, the rate is even approaching 10%. He misses five darts on the doubles but takes the 2-1 lead in the end with the D2.
15:05
Everything back in order
An almost perfect lag from German. He faces 16 points while Soutar is down to 104. The German Giant misses the three darts on the D8 and so Soutar gets another chance to get the break back. He faces the D12 via the S20 and T20. He has one dart for the break, which he immediately sinks. Played hard!
15:03
Early break in the second set
It’s not going well in the second set, because Clemens reduces to 112, Soutar to 109. Neither can conquer the big finish. In the end, both are down to 16 points and Soutar has the opportunity to hold his throw. But he misses the D8 with two darts and only hits the S8 with the third dart. Gabriel Clemens goes to the oche for a break. He hits the first arrow straight into the D8 and gets the early break.
15:02
Clemens with the next 180
Clemens doesn’t let that deter him and adds a 180. “Gaga” stands for 170, Soutar has 150 points left. Who will win this first leg?
14:59
2nd sentence begins
For Alan Soutar it will now depend on how he starts the second set. He has the throw and starts with a 97. What is Clemens doing? He only starts with a 54.
14:56
Clemens starts furiously
The German continues exactly where he left off. He has six darts for the D16 but only needs two darts. With that, Gabriel Clemens enters the round of 16 perfectly and wins the first set 3-0 in the legs. He leaves the stage for the break while the bulkhead stays up and throws a few more practice darts.
14:53
Break and high finish
Gabriel Clemens is the first player in the finish area, but he caught the Big Fish. He immediately misses the T20, so a finish is no longer possible. What does Alan Soutar do? He wants to check via the T18 and the D12. But the double bites around a bit and so two arrows land outside the wire. Clemens still has 114 on the clock. What does he do? He dares the high finish, sets the darts perfectly and still has the D20 in front of his chest. He aims and hits! Clemens gets the break and the first high finish of the game.
14:52
Good start from the German Giant
The Saarwellinger has 40 points left and does not yet feel the pressure from his opponent, who is still at 110 points. “Gaga” nailed the first dart into the D20 and held his throw.
14:51
Soutar doesn’t take the chance
Then there is some bad luck for the German. The second arrow slips out of the 20 and he adds 40 points. However, Alan Soutar cannot use this chance and still lags behind Clemens.
14:49
game on!
Gabriel Clemens was able to win the out bull and throws. And how he does it! The German Giant starts with a 180!
14:49
Soutar has already won
On the other side is Scotland’s Alan Soutar, who has already impressed at this World Cup. The 44-year-old is one of the few players on the PDC tour who does not practice darts full-time. He is a firefighter and even flew back home between the holidays to work there at Christmas. He then flew back and took Danny Noppert, one of the seeded players, out of the tournament. Soutar has the advantage that he can play very easily, because not many expected him in the round of 16. Alongside Josh Rock, he was the only unseeded player to make it to the round of 16.
14:46
“Oh, how beautiful”
Many German fans have gathered at Ally Pally after the Christmas holidays. After Martin Schindler’s hall was already boiling, the support for Gabriel Clemens should be similarly loud today. An “Oh, how nice” sounded already in his third round game, in which the German Giant already made a phenomenal comeback. After a 2:3 deficit in the sets, the Saarwellinger turned up the heat again and won the decisive 4:3 win against the Welshman Jim Williams. So Clemens should go into today’s round of 16 with a lot of self-confidence. The motivation should also be enormous, because getting into the quarter-finals would be the German Giant’s best performance so far at the World Championships.
14:41
Welcome
Good day and welcome to the second duel this afternoon. All eyes are on the last remaining German, Gabriel Clemens, who is looking to advance to his first World Cup quarter-final today. The unseeded Scot Alan Soutar wants to prevent that. Both players stand by for their walk-on song.