That was close. Gabriel Clemens only prevails against outsider Jim Williams after a dramatic seven sentences. Now he could write German darts history at the World Cup in London.
The German darts professional Gabriel Clemens won a thriller at the World Cup in London and is in the round of 16 for the second time. In the evening, the 39-year-old from Saarland defeated the Welshman Jim Williams 4:3 in a high-class and dramatic match. He has prize money of 35,000 pounds, almost 40,000 euros.
“I was actually dead, then somehow managed to pull my head out of the noose. I had a few good moments,” said the overwhelmed Clemens in a first reaction to DAZN. When the final dart landed in the bullseye, the German was delighted and swung his fist on the world’s largest darts stage. “It was definitely one of the very good games. I don’t know whether it was better than what I played before. It was a good performance in terms of fighting,” said Clemens.
After just averting the end, the “German Giant” has the chance to be the first German in World Cup history to reach the quarter-finals in his round of 16 against Danny Noppert (Netherlands) or Alan Soutar (Scotland). The game has not yet been scheduled, but will take place before the turn of the year. Martin Schindler still has a chance of reaching the round of 16 as he meets Michael Smith from England on Wednesday.
From the start, Clemens received the support of around 3,000 fans at Alexandra Palace, most of whom were from Germany. “Oh, how beautiful it is” sounded before the game even started. “You definitely noticed. 750 tickets went to Germany, they’re making quite a racket there,” praised Clemens. And the German number one contributed to the mood with a strong start.
He won the first and the third set, his spectacular finish of 157 points delighted the audience. But the game remained open because the Welshman Williams convinced again after the surprise win over former European champion James Wade. In the fourth set, Clemens missed two darts for a 3:1 lead, the slight outsider equalized again. Williams took control and even had a match dart, but then the game tipped and Clemens still won.