The German darts professional Florian Hempel was eliminated from the World Cup in London despite a decent performance. On Thursday, the 33-year-old from Cologne was clearly beaten 4-0 by co-favorite Stephen Bunting in round three. Hempel was particularly good in the first two sets, but the Englishman played even stronger. Bunting is currently in top form and was already the professional with the best points average at Alexandra Palace before Christmas.
“Losing 4-0 is tough,” said Hempel in the following interview with Sport1. According to his own statements, he “did better” what he wanted to improve on compared to the games before the Christmas break. In contrast to the game against Dimitri van den Bergh from Belgium (3:2 after 0:2), the German didn’t miss the start this time. But Bunting couldn’t be stopped.
Bunting nun gegen van Gerwen
Hempel, a former handball goalkeeper, is the third German after Martin Schindler and Gabriel Clemens to have lost his third round game against an Englishman. Schindler had to admit defeat 3:4 against outsider Scott Williams, last year’s semi-finalist Clemens 1:4 against world-class professional Dave Chisnall.
The former BDO world champion Bunting is now challenging the Dutchman Michael van Gerwen in the round of 16. Based on the preliminary performances shown, this should be the most promising game in the round of 16. Van Gerwen is considered one of the title contenders and has already won the Sid Waddell Trophy in 2014, 2017 and 2019.
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The last German hope is Ricardo Pietreczko. However, the Nuremberg native with the nickname “Pikachu” has probably the toughest of all opponents in front of him in the evening session (9:45 p.m. on Sport1 and DAZN): The Englishman Luke Humphries won three of the last four major tournaments and is considered the top favorite for the World Cup.
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Secret of the dart: Looking for the perfect throw Image: FAZ.NET
