It’s done!
17 years after Andree Welge and “Shorty Seyler” were the first Germans to take part in the Darts World Cup, Gabriel “Gaga” Clemens, our first arrow star, made it into the quarter-finals today.
With the 4:1 against Alan Soutar, Clemens wrote German darts history again. Two years ago, the Saarlander was the first and only one of the 16 German World Cup starters to reach the round of 16. Now came the next big step.
The 39-year-old started well against the Scot, claiming the first four legs in a row. When he went into the break after the first set, he had thrown his first 180, checked a high finish with 114 points, had an average of 100.2 points and had only thrown one arrow past the outer ring – a dream start that gave the “German Giant” has already secured at least a small improvement. In his first round of 16 participation two years ago, he lost 4-0 to Welshman Jonny Clayton.
After the early break to make it 1-0, however, the first mistakes crept in. Three missed chances on double eight prevented the 2-0 in the second leg and he made two mistakes on doubles in the next leg as well. The Scottish firefighter took advantage of the favor.
The set equalization and the missed opportunities left no traces. It is one of the greatest strengths of the down-to-earth Saarwellinger not to be thrown off course by the course of the game. With 3:0 he got the third set and took the lead again.
There was no sign of any particular pressure from the historic opportunity. “That’s not what I’m about,” he said before the match in an interview with “Sport1”: “I want to play a good game, and if I can do that, I have a good chance.”
It succeeded. As with his 4:3 coup in round three against Jim Williams, he was there especially in the decisive moments of the match. This was also the case in round four: With an 11-darter he forced his opponent into the decider and kept his nerve. On double eight he checked with the last dart in hand to make it 3-1 in sets. A big point.
Unlike Martin Schindler, who narrowly lost 3:4 to superstar Michael Smith in the third round and lost a 3:1 lead, “Gaga” pulled through. Two match darts were also awarded on double 18 to 3:0 did not faze him anymore. He took the set in the decider with fifth overall. Match dart after surviving an opponent’s set dart. The hit on double 20 was a dart for the history books.
With the success and his personal record prize money of 50,000 pounds, he passed Soutar’s compatriot Gary Anderson in the world rankings and improved to 21st place for the time being. If he were successful again, he would be the first German to make it into the top 20. But he would have to overcome a very high hurdle to do so. Opponent on January 1st is world number one Gerwyn Price. Dimitri van den Bergh had previously reached the quarter-finals. The world number 15 prevailed in a one-sided match against compatriot Kim Huybrechts and now meets Jonny Clayton after the rest day in the new year.
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Darts World Championship, results, 29.12.
Round of 16:
Kim Huybrechts (BEL/31) – Dimitri van den Bergh (BEL/15) 0:4 (0:3; 2:3; 1:3; 0:3)
Gabriel Clemens (D/25) – Alan Soutar (SCO) 4:1 (3:0; 1:3; 3:0; 3:2; 3:2)
Michael Smith (ENG/4) – Joe Cullen (ENG/13)
from 8.15 p.m.:
Chris Dobey (ENG/22) – Rob Cross (ENG/6)
Michael van Gerwen (NED/3) – Dirk van Duijvenbode (NED/14)
Stephen Bunting (ENG/21) – Luke Humphries (ENG/5)
Darts World Championship, Quarterfinals, January 1st
From 1.45 p.m. (order of games still open):
Gerwyn Price (WAL/1) – Gabriel Clemens (D/25
Michael van Gerwen (NED/3)/Dirk van Duijvenbode (NED/14) – Rob Cross (ENG/6)/Chris Dobey (ENG/22)
Michael Smith (ENG/4)/Joe Cullen (ENG/13) – Luke Humphries (ENG/5)/Stephen Bunting (ENG/21)
Jonny Clayton (WAL/7) – Dimitri Van Den Bergh (BEL/15)
