NAfter expressing his joy with a first cry, Florian Hempel’s eyes were on the opponent. Keegan Brown had just lost his eligibility to play on the professional tour after losing to the German. “There was a lot of pressure on the boiler,” Hempel knew and was relieved after the tight 3:2.
It was a World Cup first round duel with many breaks and re-breaks, four of the five sets went the full distance. “Keegan pushed me to do everything. You could feel a certain nervousness in both of them,” said the German, who kept his nerve in the decider of the last set and ended the game with the fifth match dart. Although Hempel was able to point to an outstanding double rate of over 50 percent for long stretches, his 89 average didn’t give him enough chances to check.
There was still a need for discussion after the win. To his own surprise, Hempel was not brought onto the stage with “Kölsche Jung” by Brings. Instead, the organizing Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) played “Rocket Man” by Elton John. “I didn’t choose the song,” Hempel later confirmed: “I said to myself: ‘Okay, this isn’t Kölsche Jung.’ So I thought I’d run up here first. I don’t know why it wasn’t played either.” He now wants to seek talks with the PDC.
Like last year in round two: Florian Hempel won against Keegan Brown
Quelle: Getty Images/Luke Walker
But most important for Hempel: While his opponent lost his tour card, the German improved his own starting position immensely with the success of extending his eligibility to play next year. By making it into the second round of the World Cup, in which he now meets top player Luke Humphries, the 32-year-old secured £15,000 in prize money and jumped into the top 50 in the world rankings, at least temporarily. Only the top 64 received it at the end of the year the right to play for the coming season.
Greaves convinces but loses
Previously, Beau Greaves missed a chance to become the second woman to win a match against a man at the Darts World Championships, three years after Fallon Sherrock. The only 18-year-old Englishwoman missed set darts against William O’Connor in the first and second round and ended up losing 0:3, at least on paper. In the last round, the point average of by far the best woman in darts, who is currently unbeaten in 52 games in a row in the Women’s Series, also suffered. Her average against O’Connor at the end: 88.34.
The Irishman, on the other hand, played a 94.26, hitting nine of his 23 attempts on the doubles and now meets German number one Gabriel Clemens in the second round next week. “I had already noticed when she was bulled out that she had no nerves at all. I thought she would smash me. But then we both did really well afterwards. And after I won the first set, I was very relieved,” said O’Connor, who now meets Gabriel Clemens in the second round.
High level: William O’Connor prevailed against Beau Greaves
Quelle: Getty Images/Luke Walker
To start the evening, Rowby-John Rodriguez and Lourence Ilagan took the audience on a rollercoaster ride. After the underdog from the Philippines, who had never won a World Cup match in his six appearances, won the first two rounds and also led 1-0 in the third set, Rodriguez turned the match around, winning seven straight legs and was 1-0 up after an early break in the deciding fifth set when he missed three chances on double eight to put his opponent back on the scoreboard. Ilagan checked to make it 1:1, then erased 80 points to make it 2:1 and then decided the decider in his favour.
The man from the Philippines now meets Belgian Dimitri van den Bergh on Saturday. Due to the World Cup in Qatar, the afternoon session starts at 12 p.m. and the evening session at 9 p.m. (live on Sport1 and DAZN). At the end of Friday, Michael Smith put an exclamation mark. The co-favorite for the world title did not lose a single leg in the 3-0 win against Nathan Rafferty.
Darts World Cup, results on 16.12.
1 round:
Alan Soutar (SCO) – Mal Cuming (AUS) 3:0 (3:0, 3:1, 3:1)
Boris Krcmar (CRO) – Toru Suzuki (JPN) 3:0 (3:1, 3:0, 3:2)
Adrian Lewis (ENG) – Daniel Larsson (SWE) 3:0 (3:1; 3:1; 3:1)
Rowby-John Rodriguez (AUT) defeated Laurence Ilagan (PHI) 2:3
William O‘Connor (IRL) – Beau Greaves (ENG) 3:0 (3:2; 3:2; 3:0)
Keegan Brown (ENG) – Florian Hempel (D) 2:3 (2:3; 3:2; 3:2; 1:3; 2:3)
2nd round:
Kim Huybrechts (BEL/31) – Grant Sampson (RSA) 3:0 (3:1; 3:0; 3:0)
Michael Smith (ENG/4) – Nathan Rafferty (NIR) 3:0 (3:0; 3:0; 3:0)
Darts World Cup, schedule on 17.12.
1st round (from 12 p.m.):
Martin Lukeman (ENG) – Nobuhiro Yamamoto (JPN)
Simon Whitlock (AUS) – Christian Perez (PHI)
Adam Gawlas (POL) – Richie Burnett (WAL)
2nd round:
Daryl Gurney (NIR/24) – Alan Soutar (SCO)
1st round (from 9 p.m.):
Ryan Meikle (ENG) – Lisa Ashton (ENG)
Cameron Menzies (SCO) – Diogo Portela (BRA)
Josh Rock (NIR) – Jose Justicia (ESP)
2nd round:
Dimitri van den Bergh (BEL/15) – Lawrence Ilagan (PHI)
