For the first time on the European Tour, three Germans made it to the round of 16 in Hildesheim: Gabriel Clemens, Ricardo Pietreczko and Nico Kurz were more or less surprisingly able to fight their way through to the final day thanks to spectacular performances.
And the German Darts Championship continued with a highlight in the first match of Sunday. Gabriel Clemens checked 164 points in the second leg to make it 1-1 against Ross Smith. But that didn’t really get the German number one on the road to success. After five missed darts on double 8, -4 and -2, Clemens conceded the break to 1:3.
The Saarwellingen native was unable to build on his strong performance from the previous evening, when he had knocked top seed Dave Chisnall out of the tournament, but he was lucky that his opponent repeatedly missed numerous chances. In the sixth leg alone there were nine attempts at doubles, all of which failed to reach the finish and allowed Clemens to equalize to 3:3 in 25 darts. A little later he even took the lead for the first time in this match. This time, however, thanks to his own class: “Gaga” checked in 13 darts to make it 4:3, and then benefited again from four missed check darts from the smudger: 5:3.
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Ultimately the preliminary decision. Smith shortened the score again to 4:5, but Clemens used his throw-in leg to win and was even able to afford four missed match darts. “We both threw a lot past doubles. There was a lot of nervousness and pressure. You could see that, but luckily I’m in the quarter-finals,” said Clemens, who punished his opponent for making too many mistakes and reached the quarter-finals for the first time at a tournament in Germany.
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There he will meet Michael van Gerwen on Sunday evening (live from 7 p.m. on Sport1 and DAZN) in the hall, which was sold out with 2,500 spectators. checked. “I would like Michael as an opponent,” Clemens had previously said confidently. “He has never won against me. And we should leave it at that,” van Gerwen replied with a grin.
Pietreczko also in the quarterfinals
The duo was then followed by a second German, Pietreczko, into the quarter-finals. The 28-year-old, who is consistently climbing up the Order of Merit this year, has already qualified for the World Championships and is about to enter the top 60, defeated Englishman George Killington 6-2 after another convincing performance.
Misconceptions: Ricardo “Pikachu” Pietreczko is in the quarter-finals in Hildesheim
Quelle: PDC Europe/Jonas Hunold
The narrowly missed qualification for the World Grand Prix didn’t throw the Nuremberg rider off course. Pietreczko hardly showed any weaknesses against Killington either, got the early break to make it 3-1 and also delivered a highlight with the 164 finish to make it 5-1.
“A very, very important victory for me. It was a nice game, even if there’s still room for improvement,” said Pietreczko, who reached the quarter-finals for the second time in his career on the European Tour and still has a lot planned: “I’ve never been further. So it’s time for that to change.” The opponent on Sunday evening is the Englishman Stephen Bunting.
Results German Darts Championship
2nd round
Rob Cross (ENG) – Gian van Veen (NED) 6:5
Ryan Searle (ENG) – Martin Lukeman (ENG) 4:6
Danny Noppert (NED) – Jules van Dongen (USA) 2:6
Damon Heta (AUS) – Darryl Pilgrim (ENG) 6:4
Dirk van Duijvenbode (NED) – George Killington (ENG) 0:6
Josh Rock (NIR) – Stephen Bunting (ENG) 3:6
Jonny Clayton (WAL) – Nico Kurz (D) 5:6
Ross Smith (ENG) – Daryl Gurney (NIR) 6:3
Joe Cullen (ENG) – Arron Monk (ENG) 6:4
Dave Chisnall (ENG) – Gabriel Clemens (D) 2:6
Nathan Aspinall (NEG) – James Wade (ENG) 4:6
Martin Schindler (D) – Ricardo Pietreczko (D) 2:6
Michael van Gerwen (NED) – Steve Lennon (IRL) 6:3
Peter Wright (SCO) – Chris Dobey (ENG) 6:2
Luke Humphries (ENG) – Boris Krcmar (CRO) 6:2
Michael Smith (ENG) – Alan Soutar (SCO) 6:5
Round of 16
Ross Smith (ENG) – Gabriel Clemens (D) 4:6
Michael van Gerwen (NED) – Joe Cullen (ENG) 6:5
Ricardo Pietreczko (D) – George Killington (ENG) 6:2
Stephen Bunting (ENG) – Jules van Dongen (USA) 6:5
Damon Heta (AUS) – Martin Lukeman (ENG) 6:5
Peter Wright (SCO) – Nico Kurz (D)
Luke Humphries (ENG) – James Wade (ENG)
Michael Smith (ENG) – Rob Cross (ENG)
Quarterfinals
Gabriel Clemens (D) – Michael van Gerwen (NED)
Ricardo Pietreczko (D) – Stephen Bunting (ENG)
Damon Heta (AUS) – Peter Wright (SCO)/Nico Kurz (D)
Luke Humphries (ENG)/James Wade (ENG) – Michael Smith (ENG)/Rob Cross (ENG)
