Gabriel Clemens lived up to his role as a favorite in his opening match at the Darts World Cup in London’s Alexandra Palace and is the second German player in the third round.
With his sovereign 3-0 win against outsider Lewy Williams, the Saarwellinger succeeded Florian Hempel from Cologne, who sensationally beat world number five Dimitri van den Bergh on Tuesday.
“We were both nervous and really didn’t play well. I’m the luckier one and in the end I won,” said Clemens at “Sport1”: “I felt good and I know that I was well prepared. There weren’t any Reason to be nervous. “
In a duel between two ex-world champions, Rob Cross prevailed 3-1 against the Dutch returnees Raymond van Barneveld. The 2018 champion turned up after a strong start from five-time title holder “Barney”. In the first set, van Barneveld was the second player to check the highest possible finish at this World Cup with 170 points.
In the fight for a place in the round of the best 16 Clemens will meet the Welsh top player Jonny Clayton on Monday evening (8:00 p.m. / Sport1 and DAZN). In the first round, the 38-year-old, who was the first German to reach the World Cup last year, had a bye as a top 32 player.
Clemens got off to a good start against a weak Williams and secured the first set after a few minutes with a smooth 3-0. Thanks to a strong double quota, he still had his opponent under control despite a moderate scoring and secured the decisive 2-0 lead in the decision-making leg.
Hempel had surprisingly reached the third round on Tuesday with a 3-1 win against Belgian van den Bergh. This means that the 31-year-old will have the chance to make it into the round of 16 against Raymond Smith (Australia) on Monday afternoon (4 p.m.) at his first World Cup.
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