What an achievement! Florian Hempel won the biggest drama of this Darts World Cup and made it spectacularly into the third round. As with his debut two years ago, he met top player Dimitri van den Bergh in London on the last Friday evening before Christmas. Back then he caused the biggest sensation of the tournament with a 3-1 win. This time the surprise was even bigger. The German took a 0-2 set lead, survived three match darts and turned the impending defeat into a victory with an incredible improvement in performance. “First I wasn’t that happy, and now I’m very happy,” he said, laughing.
Hempel had a complicated journey to Great Britain on Thursday when he had to wait several hours to check in at the Eurotunnel due to a strike, and it also took significantly longer than usual at Alexandra Palace. Hempel was the first to be called onto the stage and watched from above as his opponent began playing psychological games before the match had even begun. The exit from the 2022 World Cup seemed to have left deeper marks on the Belgian.
Van den Bergh diligently signed autographs, stood ready for a series of selfies and devoted himself extensively to his followers before he finally sat down on stage after more than three minutes. Even the dancers who had to dance to Pharell’s “Happy” in an endless loop eventually puffed out their cheeks because van den Bergh, when he reached the top, followed up with an extended dance performance.
When it finally seemed to start, the 29-year-old Belgian complained about the board and had it replaced. “The wire on the bullseye was a little blinding. “He was right,” Hempel said later. And the antics with his opponent’s XXL walk-on? “Something like that is part of it. Everything is within the framework,” said Hempel.
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The delays didn’t do either player any good. While Hempel played a catastrophic average of 82.94 points in the first round, van den Bergh did not hit the double fields. The first seven attempts were all missed and gave the German a 2-0 lead. Since the “Dreammaker” then began to check at least a little better, the set still went to Belgium 3-2.
Hempel was unable to use the break or the second round to get into the match. The 33-year-old lost the second set at 1:3, and the average of 86.67 points remained far too low to inspire any hope again. He quarreled and made numerous gestures of annoyance.
Hempel plays the 10-darter
Even a 2-0 lead in the third round, when he played the two legs with an average of 96 points, wasn’t enough to get on track. Van den Bergh therefore had little trouble equalizing to 2-2 and threw on the decider. However, Hempel continued to fight – and was rewarded. On double 2 he shortened the score to 1:2 after sets.
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And in the fourth set, fighter Hempel pulled his head out of the queue again. Van den Bergh had already missed a match dart on the bull when the score was 2-0 and was at 45 points when Hempel checked 151 points out of nowhere. The Belgian then missed two more match darts and Hempel cleared 264 points with six darts. He pushed himself and equalized the set with a 10-darter. What an achievement. The average jumped above 90 points for the first time. “In the end I needed the 151 points to reach the turning point. You only lose faith when the game is over. And that’s only when the opponent checks. I then played myself into a frenzy and just had the feeling that I couldn’t throw a dart past.”
The German was now unstoppable, was in the flow and started the decisive set with six perfect darts. A break that he calls “Hempel!” Hempel!” shouts from the audience confirmed: 2-0. And then suddenly there were only 80 points left: triple-20, single-10, double-5. The victory that vaulted him into the top 64 in the world rankings and secured his tour card for next year at the end of the year.
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The evening before, Gabriel Clemens was the first German to reach the top 32, as he had done in the previous three years. The “German Giant” will meet Englishman Dave Chisnall after the Christmas holidays. Hempel will face the winner of the duel between the Englishmen Stephen Bunting and Ryan Joyce. The PDC will not announce the exact schedule for the third round until Saturday evening. With Martin Schindler, in action immediately after Hempel’s match, and Ricardo Pietreczko, who will play against Callan Rydz (also England) on Saturday, two more Germans could make the jump.
Darts World Cup, results on December 21st.
2nd round:
Brendan Dolan (NIR/28) – Mickey Mansell (NIR) 3:2 n.V. (3:2; 0:3; 3:2; 1:3; 6:5)
José de Sousa (POR/25) –Jeffrey de Graaf (SWE) 1:3 (3:2; 2:3; 1:3; 1:3)
Krzysztof Ratajski (POL/24) – Jamie Hughes (ENG) 3:1 (2:3; 3:2; 3:2; 3:1)
Dirk van Duijvenbode (NED/12) – Boris Krcmar (CRO) 1:3 (3:1; 0:3; 1:3; 0:3)
Dimitri Van den Bergh (BEL/15) – Florian Hempel (D) 2:3 (3:2; 3:1; 2:3; 2:3; 0:3)
Martin Schindler (D/26) – Jermaine Wattimena (NED)
Raymond van Barneveld (NED/29) – Radek Szaganski (POL)
Chris Dobey (ENG/17) – William O‘Connor (IRL)
Darts World Cup, schedule for December 22nd
2nd round (from 1.30 p.m.):
Kim Huybrechts (BEL/31) – Richard Veenstra (NED)
Callan Rydz (ENG/30) – Ricardo Pietreczko (D)
Jonny Clayton (WAL/9) – Steve Lennon (IRL)
Daryl Gurney (NIR/27) – Steve Beaton (ENG)
2nd round (from 8 p.m.):
Ryan Searle (ENG/19) – Tomoya Goto (JPN)
Josh Rock (NIR/23) – Berry van Peer (NED)
Stephen Bunting (ENG/18) – Ryan Joyce (ENG)
Nathan Aspinall (ENG/6) – Ricky Evans (ENG)
