Darts World Cup in London
No chance: German Hopp fails in round two
December 21, 2025 – 5:05 p.mReading time: 1 min.
The return to the big darts stage a few days ago went according to plan. However, the second round of the World Cup is the end of the road for Max Hopp.
Max Hopp’s comeback at the Darts World Cup after five years came to an end when he was eliminated in the second round. The “Maximiser” had no chance against Luke Woodhouse and lost 0:3 sets.
The German darts player got off to a weak start at Alexandra Palace against the 25th seeded Englishman. It wasn’t until the third set that Hopp won his first leg. But it wasn’t enough, which was also due to weaknesses in the doubles. For the 29-year-old, who only made the step back to the PDC professional tour in January, the performance can be seen as a success despite the eventual clear elimination.
In the first round, Hopp defeated the Englishman Martin Lukeman 3-1, which brought him into the top 80 of the world rankings. But the World Cup isn’t over for Hopp after the defeat against Woodhouse: The 2015 Junior World Champion will now accompany the tournament as a TV expert for Sport1.
In addition to Hopp, four other German players reached the second round, which equaled the record from the previous year. Ricardo Pietreczko moved into the third round after a thrilling 3-2 win over Dave Chisnall. Martin Schindler, Gabriel Clemens and Arno Merk are also still fighting for the ticket to the third round.