Clear defeat: Australian “guru” ends Hempel’s run at the Darts World Cup

Status: 6:19 p.m.| Reading time: 4 minutes

Florian Hempel shrugged his shoulders and with a stretched thumb he congratulated his opponent in a fair and sporty way. No, things did not go as expected for the German World Cup debutant, who had so far delighted the audience at Alexandra Palace with his performances before Christmas.

After his surprising victory over Dimitri van den Bergh, the Cologne man could not build on his outstanding performance from the second round and lost at the Darts World Championship against Raymond Smith with 1: 4. An average of 87.66 was far too little. The double quota was also not good enough at 34.6 percent. Gabriel Clemens remains the only German who made it into a World Cup round of 16.

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Hempel had also spent the Christmas holidays in London with the “German Giant”, who met fellow favorite Jonny Clayton in his third round match on Monday evening (not finished when this issue went to press). The German number one and two live with their partners in the player’s hotel and had been preparing for the third round on the training board over the past few days.

The hoped-for effect did not materialize, however. Hempel was able to prevail against Smith when he bulled out and secured the throw-off and also threw his first 180 in the first leg, but his opponent set the highlights.

The Cologne player conceded the break to 1: 2, then the loss of the set and spent the first break on stage. Round two in the decider also went to the 42-year-old. Hempel hit half of his attempts on the double fields, but with his shots he threw an average of seven points less than his opponent (86:93). Many inaccuracies prevented a late start into the match. Several times he missed even the large fields.

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Only in the third round did he gain security against the “Guru” and this time decided the decider for himself: 1: 2 in sets, the connection was made and the momentum on his side. After 84 points in set one and 89 in the second round, he ended up with an average of 93 points in the third.

At the start of the next set, Hempel was ready to break with 28 points remaining, but missed his chances on double 14 and double 7. After he missed four check options on the double 8 with his next throw, he conceded the service loss himself. The timing, actually his great strength, let him down. When he missed the 104 finish on double-16 when the score was 1: 2 legs, Smith checked to win the set 3-1.

The Australian, who finished with an average of 94.79 in the end, remained stable in the fifth set and made his throws through. When Hempel missed a set dart on the double-20 when the score was 2-2 legs, Smith made the win perfect and will now face Irish Steve Lennon or Mervyn King from England on Wednesday or Thursday. The PDC will announce the termination on Tuesday.

Twice as bitter from a German point of view: With the result, Max Hopp’s tour map is now also at risk. The Idsteiner, who was only able to qualify for the World Cup for the second time in his career, has to tremble as 64th in the ranking. Smith is the last player who can overtake him with a place in the quarterfinals. Only the best 64 will be eligible to play for the coming season.

The complete schedule and the tournament tree can be found here

Darts World Cup, 3rd round, results

Ross Smith (ENG) – Dirk van Duijvenbode (NED / 17) 3: 4

Michael Smith (ENG/9) – William O‘Connor (IRL) 4:2

Florian Hempel (GER) – Raymond Smith (AUS) 1: 4

8 pm:

James Wade (ENG/4) – Vincent van der Voort (NED/29) camp flos

Gerwyn Price (WAL / 1) – Kim Huybrechts (BEL / 32)

Jonny Clayton (WAL/8) – Gabriel Clemens (GER/25)

Darts World Cup, 3rd round, Tuesday, December 28th

13 o’clock:

Steve Lennon (IRL) – Mervyn King (ENG/21)

Ryan Searle (ENG / 15) – Danny Noppert (NED / 18)

Joe Cullen (ENG/13) – Martijn Kleermaker (NED)

8 pm:

Rob Cross (ENG/11) – Daryl Gurney (NIL/22)

Peter Wright (SCO/2) – Damon Heta (AUS/31)

Michael van Gerwen (NED/3) – Chris Dobey (ENG/30)