New participant record
The Germans are going into the Darts World Cup so boldly
December 15, 2023, 12:50 p.m
A year after Gabriel Clemens’ sensational semi-final entry, the hype surrounding the Darts World Cup is immense. For the first time, five Germans are starting in the most important tournament of the year. Is being there everything? Not the motto of Clemens & Co.
Gabriel Clemens now has to bundle the numerous inquiries into a press conference, Martin Schindler wants to aim higher than ever and Ricardo Pietreczko speaks directly about the world championship title: Led by last year’s semi-finalist, the almost world champion conqueror and the brash debutant, the Germans are so promising like never before in the Darts World Championship in London.
Ricardo Pietreczko, nicknamed “Pikachu”, without any modesty even proclaims the greatest possible goal for Alexandra Palace: “I’m going to the tournament to win it. That’s what 90 percent of the players have in mind. You’d be lying if you said that : I’m going there to be eliminated in the third round. You always want to win.” Until this year, German professionals had not been so ambitious about their goals and expectations.
Pietreczko has qualified for the World Cup for the first time ever. This year, the 29-year-old from Nuremberg became only the second German in darts history to win a tournament on the European Tour. During his triumph in Hildesheim in October, “Pikachu” prevailed against, among others, three-time world champion Michael van Gerwen and the champion of 2020 and 2022, Peter Wright. “I showed everyone that I can beat the world’s greats. Of course you go into the next games with a different feeling,” Pietreczko revealed in the Darts podcast “Checkout”.
Pietreczko could meet top favorites early on
Pietreczko may have to beat the current greatest of them all in London’s “Ally Pally” if he wants to keep his World Cup dream alive: Luke Humphries could wait in the third World Cup round. After three major titles in the past three months, the Englishman goes into the tournament as the top favorite. At the World Cup, Humphries has not yet made it past the quarter-finals.
Gabriel Clemens is one step ahead of him. The Saarlander’s entry into the semi-finals marked a new era in German professional darts. The 2024 World Cup, which takes place this Friday evening (8 p.m./Sport1 and Dazn) begins, among other things, with the opening game of defending champion Michael Smith, marks the next milestone: For the first time, five Germans have qualified for the most important tournament of the year: Gabriel Clemens, Martin Schindler, Ricardo Pietreczko, Florian Hempel and Dragutin Horvat.
In addition, around a quarter of the 90,000 tickets were sold to Germans. The crowds of fans are huge, especially after Christmas. “It is of course a great development that we are experiencing in Germany. There are not only more players, but the sporting successes are also increasing,” says Hempel, who used to be a handball goalkeeper in the 3rd league and is now in the ” Ally Pally” throws arrows. With a view to the high expectations of darts fans hungry for success, Schindler added: “I think you can see that the Germans are getting closer and closer. But getting closer is not enough for the Germans. The Germans would like to see tournament victories .”
Hold up the trophy? “Of course my dream”
Schindler, who is ranked 26th in the world rankings just behind Clemens, wants to go as high as he did at the World Cup. Until last year, the tournament in London was not a good place for the 27-year-old German. Then came the first victory and in the third round Schindler narrowly lost to the eventual world champion Michael Smith after leading 3-1. Reaching the round of 32 again is the minimum goal, says Schindler “Checkout” podcast: “After that it would be against Danny Noppert. That will be the difficult hurdle in the course of the tournament, but in my opinion it is a 50:50 game. Of course it is my dream to hold up the trophy at the end of the tournament, but I take it step by step.”
Although there is still no German in the top 20 in the world rankings, the successes are actually increasing. Clemens’ World Cup semi-final on January 2nd of this year was the highlight for now, and Pietreczko’s triumph in Hildesheim was a sensation. Good results from the Germans are now coming more regularly: Schindler reached the quarter-finals of two high-dollar tournaments, Clemens and Schindler also reached the semi-finals at the Team World Championships in June and also played well at the World Cup dress rehearsal, the Players Championship Finals, at the end of November until the semi-finals.
There has also been a closer look at the international competition since Clemens demonstrated Primus Gerwyn Price at the World Cup, made him commit a desperate act of earmuffs and thus played his way into the limelight of the world’s best. “Gabriel is breathtaking, Martin is breathtaking. And Pikachu is only just appearing on the scene,” praised former world champion Rob Cross. Darts boss Werner von Moltke says: “The level of German players is constantly improving.”
“Boss gave me the go-ahead”
Florian Hempel and Dragutin Horvat also want to prove this. Unlike the German top trio, the two enter the tournament worth 2.9 million euros as outsiders, but they also expect to achieve respectable successes. For Hempel, it’s about nothing less than staying on the professional tour. The 33-year-old has to win at least one, more likely two games. Hempel is slightly favored against the Irish debutant Dylan Slevin, against the world number 15. Dimitri Van den Bergh needs a top performance to advance. Two years ago, Hempel managed a surprise against the Belgian at the World Cup. “There was something there. But what happened two years ago had no relevance at all this time,” comments Hempel in the Checkout Podcast.
Horvat from Kassel is the only player in the German quintet who is not a professional, but has a normal job as a warehouse clerk. “My employer gave me the whole of December off,” says Horvat happily and is looking forward to his first World Cup participation after seven years of absence. “I was so nervous that I don’t have any memories at all. It was too much at once. This time I’ll be able to absorb a lot more.”