World Cup 2021 in London: Darts has arrived in the German mainstream

AOn the weekend before last, Gabriel Clemens had no time. Although for once there was no tournament and his favorite soccer club, 1. FC Saarbrücken, had already played in Zwickau on Friday evening, his friends couldn’t get any private appointments. The 38-year-old said everything and went completely into hiding from Friday evening to Sunday noon.

Clemens had an important visitor. Martin Schindler had traveled to Saarland from Hesse, as did Florian Hempel from Cologne. Together, the three darts professionals prepared for the Darts World Championship starting on December 15th (8 p.m. / live on Sport1 and DAZN *). They exchanged ideas, trained together and gave each other tips. A preparation like never before with Team Germany in the run-up to a World Cup.

In the past few years, the media and experts had repeatedly asked critically why the top German leaders did not meet for joint training. Officials had always failed when trying to bring the World Cup drivers together in one place before leaving for Alexandra Palace. The fact that the players succeeded on their own initiative this year is all the more surprising since Schindler and Hempel will meet directly in their first-round match on Sunday.

Three Germans at the World Matchplay?

The draw gives the two of them that duel that they absolutely wanted to avoid. A small mood damper at the end of a successful year from a German point of view. The duo, which had already faced each other in the final of the German Super League in April, consistently climbed the world rankings in 2021 and demonstrated a development that no one could have assumed.

Schindler had unfortunately lost his tour card after last season, but was able to qualify for the professional series again at the beginning of the year and has since played at the highest level of his career.

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Hempel, a former handball goalkeeper, also made it through the Q-School successfully, but had to cancel the first tournaments of his debut season for personal reasons. Nevertheless, he secured the World Cup with a brilliant final sprint.

In addition, both made it to the big TV stages in the fall. Hempel qualified for the European Championship, where he sensationally threw the number two out of the tournament with Peter Wright. Schindler played the Players Championship Finals and before that the Grand Slam, beating world champion Gerwyn Price.

Even if the World Cup will be over for you after just one match and a real chunk is waiting for the winner in round two with Dimitri van den Bergh, the two as well as the fourth German, Fabian Schmutzler, give hope for the future. In the race for one of the 32 starting places for the World Matchplay in July, the 25-year-old Schindler and the six-year-old Hempel would currently qualify and could ensure that for the first time in the history of the most important darts tournament after the World Cup, three Germans start walk.

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Black-Red-Gold would be the strongest nation behind England and would provide a further hint that something is growing in the shadow of Gabriel Clemens, the tip is getting wider. “I’m delighted that this development is finally taking place,” says Max Hopp, who has been number one and the face of sport in Germany for many years: “We already have a lot of competitive players. At every tournament there are one or two professionals who can get involved. That speaks for the development. Sure, it took a while, but you can tell that a lot of good young players are coming. “

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Max Hopp vor World Cup of Darts

At the World Cup there are even four. It was never more. But Germany’s record participant is not there. Hopp, still number two in his country, missed the qualification. Gabriel Clemens has been a sporting figurehead for two years.

The development of the self-contained Saarwellinger is representative of darts in Germany: with small steps, but always forward. “Gaga” has not won any titles so far, the big exclamation marks have not yet been set. Rather, it is consistency and reliability that will bring him the next milestone at the World Cup: If the premiums of the World Cup 2020 are calculated from the prize money of the past two years at the start of the tournament, the “German Giant” will jump to 19th place do. If he defends the position, he would be the first German top 20 player ever.

Clemens, who last year became the first German to reach the second round of the World Cup and in the round of the last 16 gathered more than two million viewers in front of the television, serves as a role model for many players and should accelerate the growth of the sport with a successful World Cup.

Despite the lack of German success, the interest in arrow throwing had risen constantly in the past few years. The 2021 World Cup, which was held in front of empty ranks due to the pandemic, also proved that not only fanfare and costumes bring quota, but that the competitions are followed as a sporting event. Hardly a tournament goes by in which “Sport1” does not announce record numbers, most recently at the Grand Slam of Darts.

The sport has meanwhile also arrived in the mainstream in Germany and is penetrating more and more into foreign areas. At the comeback of “Wetten, dass …?” At the beginning of November, viewers voted Leon Krampe the king of the competition. The Hattinger had tried to hit countries with darts on a limitless map of the world. And if you take the celebrities alone as a yardstick, neither Hopp, nor Clemens, Schindler, Hempel or Schmutzler should currently be the German number one.

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Marcel „Scorpion“ Althaus

A certain Eddie Frotzke, German champion from 1997 and 1999, has attracted the greatest attention in the past few weeks. is broadcast. A fictional series format dedicated to the sport of darts, with Florian Lukas, Ulrich Noethen and Lisa Wagner very prominent – hardly imaginable until a few years ago. In 2021, however, it will hit the zeitgeist in the middle of the bullseye.

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The series also transports the emergence of a new type of player brought about by the change from casual pub play to a recognized precision sport. The amiable and worn-out Frotzke, whose preparation is based solely on cigarettes and alcohol, has to assert himself against a younger rival, for whom fitness and mental training are part of everyday life.

In reality, no player embodies this change as strikingly as Fabian Schmutzler. The Frankfurter will be the youngest player in the field at the World Cup in London. The 16-year-old didn’t get to darts in the pub, but learned to throw darts in the Eintracht Frankfurt department. After graduating from high school, he wants to become a chemistry and Latin teacher – or a professional.

He could also start at JDC, the U17 youth organization that will crown its world champion on December 18th in Alexandra Palace. The level of the final will hardly differ from the level of the first round matches of the adults. The 15-year-old Leighton Bennett is a big favorite. Three weeks ago, however, the English super talent surprisingly lost at the tournament in Gibraltar. His opponent: Mats Theobald. The 13-year-old from Hannover 96 checked 137 points to win. In Germany, too, Schmutzler is not an isolated case.

Darts World Cup on Wednesday, December 15th

8 pm:

1 round

Ritchie Edhouse (ENG) – Peter Hudson (ENG)

Ricky Evans (ENG) – Nitin Kumar (IND)

Adrian Lewis (ENG) – Matt Campbell (CAN)

2nd round

Gerwyn Price (WAL / 1) – Ritchie Edhouse (ENG) / Peter Hudson (ENG)

*Display: Every viewer has the opportunity to follow the tournament live on the DAZN streaming service. If you don’t have a subscription, you can watch the games for free. DAZN offers all new customers the opportunity to test the offer for one month free of charge. You can cancel the subscription within the first month.