Gabriel Clemens wrote German darts history with a dominant performance. The 39-year-old was the first German to reach the quarter-finals of the World Cup on Friday in London with a 4-1 win over Alan Soutar and can now play against the Welsh world number one Gerwyn Price. The “German Giant”, as Clemens is called, was superior to the weak Scot from the first set and dominated the game against the outsider, who had previously thrown two seeded pros out of the World Cup in Daryl Gurney and Danny Noppert.
Two years ago, Saarlander Clemens was the first German to reach the round of 16 at the World Cup – and is now the first to reach the round of the 2.5 million pounds (around 2.82 million euros) tournament in Alexandra Palace last eight stands. The duel with the previously flawless muscle man Price, who is one of the big favorites, is now waiting for the New Year. For Darts Germany it will be the biggest match in history.
500 German fans for Clemens
In the course of the tournament so far, Clemens had defeated Irishman William O’Connor (3:0) and Jim Williams from Wales (4:3). Like Soutar, both were unseeded, but the fireman and guide dog trainer from Scotland was considered the biggest hurdle to date. The 44-year-old completed fire service shifts between his matches in London and is also assigned to New Year’s Eve. When asked when he sleeps at all, Soutar replied: “In January.”
Loudly cheered on by more than 500 German fans, Clemens started strong. The very first recording brought the maximum score of 180 points – and pleased the colorfully dressed supporters, who, as always, chanted “Oh, how beautiful that is”. Clemens got the first set without any problems.
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Image: FAZ.NET
The game was characterized by many mistakes and was not nearly as entertaining and high-class as the third round duel with Williams, but Clemens had his strong moments again this time. When he mastered a finish at 1-1 in the third set over Bullseye, he cheered exuberantly in the direction of his box for girlfriend Lisa. The fourth sentence turned into a thriller, which Clemens decided to win with nerves of steel. After that, the game was quickly decided.
After three emotional individual successes at the World Championships, which fell into the “compulsory win” category in terms of sport, Clemens is now faced with the ultimate test. The former rugby professional Price is in form and has to get the 500,000 pounds (around 566,000 euros) for the title in order to be the prime darts player the day after the World Cup final on January 3 (9 p.m. on Sport1 and DAZN). to stay world.
After beating Portugal’s José de Sousa 4-1, Price said he had no idea who his quarter-final opponent was. Previously, the former rugby player clearly defeated former world champion Raymond van Barneveld 4-0.
