Sport Darts World Cup
Victorious Price praises Humphries, successes also for Clemens and Hempel
As of: 05:03 a.m. | Reading time: 4 minutes
Cult caller Bray leaves the big stage
After the World Championships in January, darts is probably losing its most famous voice, Russ Bray. As “The Voice” announced on Thursday, the World Cup final will be his last. The 66-year-old will remain with the PDC in a different role.
Gerwyn Price started the Darts World Championship with an easy victory. A Frenchman and a player from Hong Kong had previously surprised. In abstinence, Florian Hempel and Gabriel Clemens were also able to enjoy how things went at Alexandra Palace.
Gerwyn Price has made it into the third round of the Darts World Cup in London. The Welsh top star and 2021 world champion won 3-0 against English debutant Connor Scutt.
The Iceman was correspondingly satisfied after the successful start with an average of 98.01 points. “That was okay for the start, but there’s a lot more to it,” said Price, who has no problem with not going into the tournament as a big favorite: “Luke Humphries has played fantastically in the last few weeks won three of the last four majors. He’s the man to beat.”
Gut feeling: Gerwyn Price (left) believes that a lot is still possible at this tournament
Quelle: Getty Images/Tom Dulat
At the last World Cup, Price was eliminated in the quarterfinals against Gabriel Clemens. And the German number one must have been quite satisfied watching Monday evening, which had less to do with Price than with a man from Hong Kong. Man Lok Leung caused the first big surprise of this World Cup, beating Gian van Veen 3-2 and will now face Clemens on Thursday.
The “German Giant” thus avoids the tricky duel with the Dutch super talent and junior runner-up world champion. However, based on the impression from Monday evening, he should also have been warned about the Asian. The fact that Leung gave up the first two sentences in the decider was solely due to his nervousness in the decisive situations. In any case, Van Veen took advantage of the weaknesses of his consistently high-scoring opponent. The fact that the outsider still made up the deficit speaks for his morale. “I didn’t want to disappoint my friends at home who were sitting in front of the TV at 4 a.m.,” said Leung, who had to rebook his return flight scheduled for Tuesday after the match.
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His comeback was limited to sport and was the most impressive performance to date at the 2024 Darts World Cup. After five sets, the average was, which had suffered due to the success rate of only 37 percent on the double fields, but thanks to eleven 180s it was still at 96, 26 points stood.
Next opponent Gabriel Clemens: Man Lok Leung showed a strong performance
Quelle: Getty Images/Tom Dulat
Clemens, who defeated Leung and his partner 4-0 in a doubles match with Martin Schindler at the 2023 World Cup, will probably also have to play against the audience on Thursday. The fans celebrated the underdog for his comeback and the 180 series, while van Veen was booed at the end of the match. Leung then thanked him with a deep bow. Nevertheless, compared to a van Veen in top form, the starting position for “Gaga” is easier.
Hempel’s chances increase
And there was even a second German winner on Monday. Even though Black-Red-Gold only gets back into the action on Tuesday evening with Dragutin Horvat and Ricardo Pietreczko (from 8 p.m., Sport. 1 and DAZN live), Florian Hempel took another step towards receiving his tour card.
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With his win on Sunday against Dylan Slevin, the Cologne native moved himself to 64th place in the Order of Merit. Only the top 64 after the World Cup will be eligible to play for another year. With Vandenbogaerde, Hempel’s worst competitor was surprisingly eliminated. The Belgian lost to Thibaut Tricole, who secured the first victory by a Frenchman in World Cup history.
Price later eliminated another rival, Connor Scott. If the Belgian or the Englishman had won, the German would have fallen back to 65th place. Only Steve Lennon can now achieve that – at least with a single victory. The Irishman plays against Owen Bates on Wednesday afternoon.
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However, rank 65 could possibly be enough for Hempel if Martijn Kleermaker foregoes his tour card as announced and the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) sticks to its previous practice.
Darts World Cup, results on December 18th
1 round:
Mario Vandenbogaerde (BEL) – Thibault Tricole (FRA) 1:3 (3:2; 2:3; 2:3; 2.3)
Gian van Veen (NED) – Man Lok Leung (HKG) 2:3 (3:2; 3:2; 0:3; 1:3; 1:3)
Martin Lukeman (ENG) – Haupai Puha (NZL) 3:1 (3:0; 3:1; 2:3; 3:0)
2nd round:
Gerwyn Price (WAL/5) – Connor Scutt (ENG) 3:0 (3:0; 3:0; 3:2)
Darts World Cup, schedule for December 19th
1st round (from 1.30 p.m.):
Ian White (ENG) – The Best of Ian White (JPN)
Ritchie Edhouse (ENG) – Jeffrey de Graaf (SWE)
Keegan Brown (ENG) – Boris Krcmar (CRO)
2nd round:
James Wade (ENG/13) – Matt Campbell (CAN)
1st round (from 8 p.m.):
Steve Beaton (ENG) – Wessel Nijman (NED)
Mike De Decker (BEL) – Dragutin Horvat (D)
Ricardo Pietreczko (D) – Mikuru Suzuki (JPN)
2nd round:
Michael van Gerwen (NED/2) – Keane Barry (IRL)
