Darts World Cup in London: Pietreczko continues – Hempel narrowly loses

With a confident performance, Ricardo Pietreczko became the first German to make it into the third round of the Darts World Cup in London. In the 3-1 win against Dutchman Gian van Veen, the 30-year-old used his first match dart to secure an overall victory. On the other hand, Florian Hempel then lost 2:3 to Daryl Gurney from Northern Ireland.

An increase in performance with many triple hits in the decisive fifth set helped Gurney to defeat the 34-year-old from Cologne in a close game. “It’s exactly at that moment that the triples are leaving me,” complained Hempel about the final phase at DAZN, “of course you’re disappointed.” “Superchin” Gurney will face Jonny Clayton from Wales after the Christmas holidays.

Only Pietreczko is still there from Germany

As the last remaining player from Germany, Berlin-born Pietreczko will face Scott Williams (England), who surprisingly knocked 2018 world champion Rob Cross out of the tournament.

Pietreczko, nicknamed “Pikachu”, started the game with a perfect score of 180 points and was there whenever van Veen made a mistake. Because this happened often, the victory was determined surprisingly early.

“I’m feeling really, really great right now,” he said on DAZN after the game. Last year too, Pietreczko reached the third round, where he lost to eventual world champion Luke Humphries.

Clemens and Schindler are already out

Before the last day of competition before Christmas, four of the six Germans had already been eliminated. Gabriel Clemens (1:3 against Robert Owen) and Martin Schindler (0:3 against Callan Rydz) did not live up to their role as favorites at the start. It wasn’t enough for Niko Springer and Kai Gotthardt to make it to the round of 32 either.

The 3rd round and the round of 16 will take place from December 27th to 30th. In the new year, the last seven games from the quarter-finals onwards will take place.