Gabriel Clemens now has to bundle the numerous inquiries into a press conference, Ricardo Pietreczko speaks directly about the world champion title: Led by last year’s semi-finalist and the bold debutant, the Germans are going into the Darts World Championship in London with more prospects than ever before.
The freaky-looking Pietreczko, nicknamed Pikachu, without any modesty even proclaims the greatest possible goal for Alexandra Palace: “I’m going to the tournament to win it. That’s what 90 percent of the players have in mind. You’d be lying if you did says: I’m going there to be thrown out in the third round. You always want to win.” Until this year, German professionals had not been so ambitious about their goals and expectations.
Premiere with five starters
The 29-year-old from Nuremberg doesn’t care that he could meet England’s top favorite Luke Humphries in round three. “There is no big favorite. There are many favorites, but not one. We have seen often enough that anyone can beat anyone on the tour,” Pietreczko told the German Press Agency. He himself defeated the world-class professionals Michael van Gerwen (Netherlands) and Peter Wright (Scotland) one after the other in Hildesheim in October.
The Ally Pally in north London is increasingly becoming a German stronghold. For the first time, five Germans will be taking part in the World Cup, which begins on Friday (8 p.m./Sport1 and DAZN), including Clemens and Pietreczko, Martin Schindler, Florian Hempel and Dragutin Horvat. In addition, around a quarter of the 90,000 tickets were sold to Germans. The crowds of fans are huge, especially after Christmas.
Still not a top 20 player
“It’s of course a great development that we’re experiencing in Germany. Not only are there more players, the sporting successes are also increasing,” said Hempel, who used to be a handball goalkeeper and now throws arrows. With a view to the high expectations of darts fans hungry for success, Schindler added: “I think you can see that the Germans are getting closer and closer. But getting closer is not enough for the Germans. The Germans would like to see tournament victories .”
Although there is still no German in the top 20 in the world rankings, the successes are actually increasing. Clemens’ semi-final entry at the World Cup made it to the 8 p.m. Tagesschau at the start of the year. Clemens and Schindler then made it to the semi-finals of the World Team Championships as a team. Pietreczko became a whiz kid and won a prominent tournament. More fans came to the PDC Europe events in 2023 than in any other previous year.
“Permanently Better”
There has also been a closer look at the international competition since Clemens demonstrated Primus Gerwyn Price at the World Cup and thus played his way into the limelight of the world’s best. “Gabriel is breathtaking, Martin is breathtaking. And Pikachu is only just appearing on the scene,” praised former world champion Rob Cross. Darts boss Werner von Moltke says: “The level of German players is constantly improving.”
This will be put to the test at the World Cup. Clemens will probably be challenged in round two against the Dutch whiz kid Gian van Veen. Schindler (possible round three against the Dutchman Danny Noppert) and Pietreczko also expect high hurdles before the round of 16. Hempel (in action for the first time on Sunday evening) and Horvat start the tournament worth around 2.9 million euros in outsider roles.
