England "shatters" German dreams at the World Darts Championship

For almost two weeks, the World Darts Championship in London is a continuous German party, but after Christmas the euphoria has faded for the time being. Martin Schindler gives away a 2:0 lead and is eliminated, as is Gabriel Clemens. There are still two German hopes.

It was supposed to be the next German darts celebration day at the World Championship in London's Alexandra Palace, but it turned out to be an afternoon to forget for the two best German darts players. Gabriel Clemens, who sensationally stormed through to the semi-finals at the last World Championship, hardly ever found the doubles in his match against Dave Chisnall and was clearly eliminated with 1:4 sets. "Germany get battered, everywhere they go", shouted the crowd, echoing the usual "smash" battle cry of English fans towards Scotland. "Germany get battered, everywhere they go."

At this point, the match between Dave Chisnall and Gabriel Clemens was as good as decided. Because Clemens was able to keep up with the scoring, but failed to hit the doubles in succession, "Chizzy" was quickly 3:0 ahead. Clemens at least managed to win a set, but that was as good as it got. Accordingly disappointed, the "German Giant" said on Sport1 that he needed time to process the situation. "That will take a little time. But there's no point in me crying or shouting here now. I'll let it sink in and pick up darts again next year." Clemens did not want to give any further interviews after the clear defeat.

For the 40-year-old from Saarland, the elimination in the last 32 is the bitter end to a year of highs and lows. It all began on New Year's Day with the heroic victory over Gerwyn Price at the last World Championships, and one day later the World Championship fairytale only ended in the semi-finals. This was followed by many disappointments over the course of the year, but also highlights such as reaching the semi-finals of the Players Championship Finals in November and reaching the semi-finals of the World Team Championship in June together with Martin Schindler.

Schindler gives away a 2:0 lead

Martin Schindler had just as much in mind on this first World Championship day after Christmas. Schindler even went into the match against England's Scott Williams as the favorite and also got off to a perfect start. "The Wall", as the Brandenburg-born player is nicknamed, quickly took a 2:0 lead. Schindler looked determined, his opponent stomped off the stage dissatisfied after his horror start with hardly any chances on the doubles courts. In contrast, it was a perfect start for the German number two.

Scott Williams is clearly delighted to have reached the round of 16.

After the break, a completely different game suddenly developed. Williams dominated the action, hit the triples much more often and the decisive doubles were usually not a major problem. By the time the score was 2:2 in sets, Williams had smelled a rat. The Englishman threw all kinds of emotion into the match and the crowd did the rest. While the German section of the crowd had dominated the chants for Martin Schindler at the start of the match, an English acoustic carpet took over the West Hall of Alexandra Palace after Williams equalized.

"A bit of a rushed approach"

After the final break, the 3,000 darts fans then saw the game turn again. Suddenly it was Williams again, who hardly threw a dart into the desired field. Schindler, on the other hand, played as well as he had at the start of the match. As a result, the fifth set went to the German 3:0.

But Williams did not give up, survived a few critical moments from Schindler and hit the doubles at important moments. The 33-year-old, nicknamed "Shaggy", took the sixth round after Schindler missed the double 18 despite three chances. "I think I approached those 36 points a bit too hastily. They were all pretty close. But a close miss is a miss," said Schindler when asked by ntv.de after his bitter World Championship exit.

Williams sealed the defeat in the decisive seventh set. With the score at 3:3 in the sets and 2:2 in the legs, the so-called "two-clear-leg rule" came into effect, according to which a player needs a two-leg lead in the deciding set to win the set and thus the match. Williams was the more consistent player in this absolute final phase, and the majority of the crowd had long been on the Englishman's side.

"Two world wars and a world championship won"

When the last dart landed in double 18, it was finally over for the emotional Williams. He threw the darts on the floor and the celebration with the fans and his supporters in the VIP area of Alexandra Palace (Williams had a dozen guests in tow for the biggest match of his career to date) could begin.

Had it not been for the obligatory winner's interview with broadcaster Sky Sports. Williams - now the new number 37 in the world rankings - chose a rather inappropriate world war comparison: "The match was incredible for the neutral fan. I never had the crowd on my side. I know we won two world wars and a world championship, but there were so many Germans here. All I could hear were these guys. Oh, what a game!"

The interview was picked up a little later by Sky presenter Emma Paton. She apologized to the viewers for Williams' words. "Scott Williams has reached the last 16 for the first time in his career. He was just a bit happy about it. We have to apologize if you were offended by those words."

Williams' statement was also strange because the majority of the crowd was on his side from the start of his comeback at the latest and Schindler was more likely to get chants.

Martin Schindler hadn't even noticed his opponent's World War II comparison, but he didn't need to in order to be annoyed by Williams on this day. "I don't blame the English fans. It's quite normal for them to support their compatriot when an Englishman plays against a German. It's no different in Germany. But personally I've always said to myself that I don't want to encourage the fans to boo and whistle more and more. Scott Williams did that today."

After the double elimination of Martin Schindler and Gabriel Clemens, Germany's hopes at the World Darts Championship now rest on Florian Hempel and Ricardo Pietreczko. Both will play tomorrow, Thursday, for a place in the last sixteen. Hempel is a clear outsider against the strong Stephen Bunting, and Ricardo Pietreczko also needs a big surprise in his match against top favorite Luke Humphries. Once again, there are two matches between Germany and England. After this day, the darts motherland leads 2:0.

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Despite the disappointing elimination of Martin Schindler and Gabriel Clemens, Germany still has hopes at the World Darts Championship with Florian Hempel and Ricardo Pietreczko. However, their matches against Stephen Bunting and Luke Humphries, respectively, will be challenging, as both English players are strong contenders.

The defeat of Schindler and Clemens marked a turnaround in the match, as Schindler gave away a 2:0 lead after looking determined and dominating the doubles earlier in the game. His "bit of a rushed approach" to the crucial 36 points proved costly.

Source: www.ntv.de