Ricardo Pietreczko was the last German to be eliminated from the World Darts Championship in London.
In round three on Thursday (December 28th, 2023), “Pikachu” lost to third-seeded Englishman Luke Humphries 3-4 sets. After a shaky start, Pietreczko was temporarily leading 3-1 and only needed one more set to reach the round of 16.
The 29-year-old looked like the sure winner at times. The German fans sang “Oh, how nice that is” and “Home game in England, we have a home game in England”. Humphries sagged for several sets, but improved again on time from the fifth set onwards and prevailed in the end thanks to his strong nerves.
Hempel has no chance
After Florian Hempel and Martin Schindler and Gabriel Clemens were eliminated on Wednesday, there are no longer any Germans represented in the “Ally Pally”. Hempel lost 4-0 with almost no chance against Stephen Bunting, but had outstanding moments, especially at the beginning and in the middle of the match.
The former handball goalkeeper confidently stormed onto the stage to the Brings carnival hit “Kölsche Jung”, but then things happened quickly: Bunting, BDO world champion from 2014 and ranked number 18, played down the 501 twice in just eleven darts.
A 107 average in the first set is not enough
Although Hempel managed a 164 finish to the cheers of many German fans, he still lost the first set despite a world-class average of 107.6 points – because his opponent was at 130 after two legs and still over 113 at the end of the set .
He was good, Bunting was better: the Englishman only opened a small door for Hempel back into the match. But Hempel missed his opportunity in the fourth set.
Former world champion Price already outside
Another favorite, former world champion Gerwyn Price, failed early. The fifth-seeded “Iceman” from Wales had to admit defeat to Northern Irish underdog Brendan Dolan 2-4 in the third round after a faulty performance and bury his dream of a second World Cup title after 2021.
Chris Dobey and Ross Smith fought a thrilling duel with high scores and close sets. Dobey ended up winning 4-2 after losing two consecutive sets after taking a 2-0 lead. He will face world champion and compatriot Michael Smith in the round of 16.
