Tuesday, December 28, 2021
Clear 0: 4 against Welsh Clayton
Clemens leaves the Darts World Cup without a chance
The Darts World Cup in London will now take place without German participation. After the end for Hempel, Clemens from Saarland also loses his match and missed the second round. Against the Welsh Clayton, the “German Giant” made a lot of mistakes from the start.
Out instead of the last sixteen: Gabriel Clemens and debutant Florian Hempel missed further surprise coups at the Darts World Cup in London. For Clemens, after his historic success last year, the third round was over. The Saarlander lost 4-0 to Welsh Jonny Clayton on Monday evening, and Hempel also missed the round of the best 16 with his 4-1 defeat against Australian Raymond Smith. This means that no German is represented at Alexandra Palace anymore.
“I didn’t play so well, but I didn’t get that many chances either,” said Clemens at DAZN: “I couldn’t really do much in the game.” He counts his opponent among the title favorites “with the scoring in any case”.
Hempel was disappointed after his defeat. “I failed because of myself. The chances were there. I know what I can play,” he said in an interview with Sport1: “What I have shown is not even remotely what I want to show.” The 31-year-old had celebrated a sensational victory six days earlier against the fifth in the world rankings Dimitri van den Bergh (Belgium).
Defending champion and top favorite Gerwyn Price meanwhile only avoided the early exit with a lot of effort. The world number one from Wales won his third round match against the Belgian Kim Huybrechts 4: 3 and barely missed a defeat. In the second round, Price continues against the Dutchman Dirk van Duijvenbode.
Clemens was only able to win four legs against Clayton, who, as number eight in the world, belongs to the extended circle of title contenders in London. The 38-year-old got an average of 87.66 points and a double rate of 33.3 percent. Clayton got 102.56 points and a double rate of 37.5 percent. The success from the previous year was therefore missing for Clemens: In 2020 he celebrated a victory over Peter Wright and was the first German to reach the World Cup round of 16.
Hempel drives home with £ 49,000
Hempel was unable to build on his performance after his strong performance against fellow favorite van den Bergh. The former handball goalkeeper played 87.66 points on average, his dreaded double quota was only 34.6 percent. With his third round entry, however, Hempel brought in 25,000 pounds (29,650 euros) in prize money and thus moved into the top 64 in the world.
Hempel, who had won the German duel against his buddy Martin Schindler at the start, couldn’t see his newly gained self-confidence at first. Born in Dessau, he had problems getting into the game at the beginning and lost the first set. Smith, whose son Ky was eliminated in the first round, was able to call up his performance from the first two games. The 42-year-old showed the better nerve in the course of the game and made the victory in the fifth set perfect.
Hempel has only been on the tour since February. The 31-year-old described reaching the third round at the World Cup as a “success”. It is not, however, “where I say, I want to be there. I want to go on and on. Accordingly, I look ahead”. With 49,000 pounds in prize money, he overtook the former hopeful Max Hopp in the world rankings.