The hopes were high, but they were dashed early on: after round three of the Darts World Cup, all German players were eliminated. As so often in the past, it’s over for them while the world elite continues to play for the title.
The results are very mixed: Niko Springer, Dominik Grüllich and Lukas Wenig failed at the start, Max Hopp in round two. Martin Schindler, Ricardo Pietreczko, Gabriel Clemens and Arno Merk reached the round of the best 32, but were all eliminated there. With the exception of Clemens, they had largely no chance. Two years ago, four Germans had already reached the third round, but none of them made it further then.
Lack of precision and lack of mental strength
There are two main reasons why – with the exception of Clemens’ unexpected semi-finals in 2023 – it goes like this year after year: a lack of precision and, in some cases, a lack of mental strength. And thus the most important factors in darts.
Point one, precision. Others there are one step ahead of the German elite. Defending champion Luke Littler, for example, threw a 3-dart average of over 100 points throughout 2025. The 18-year-old consistently puts his opponents under pressure, even on the biggest stage: in round three of this World Cup he averaged 107 points. Littler is not the only one: the Dutch junior world champion Gian van Veen even managed 108 points in round two.
The Germans are a long way from such scores. With a few exceptions, her 3-dart average at the World Cup was between 85 and 90. That’s worlds in darts. The German number one, Martin Schindler, has never achieved an average of 100 or more in the Ally Pally – with seven participations now. After all, Gabriel Clemens, one of the few positive surprises, provided a novelty: in his defeat against Luke Humphries, one of the top favorites, he became the first German ever to exceed 100 points in a World Championship match.
The best-placed German Martin Schindler, number 13 in the world, had arrows slipping to the left into the five instead of the targeted 20. This put him under pressure early on – and ultimately caused stress in his head. And so to point two, the mental level. While only Clemens and the strong debutant Arno Merk appeared confident on the most important stage in the darts world, others seemed blocked.
Above all, there was someone who had always acted calmly and in a controlled manner before the World Cup: shooting star Niko Springer. The 25-year-old, who did not have a mental coach, played completely tensely in round one. The arrows didn’t hit their target very often, and Springer struggled, at first a little, then all the time. The result: weaker values than usual and a clear defeat against the less frightening Australian Joe Comito. The first German Darts World Championship, as this year has shown, is still a long way away.
