Florian Hempel keeps his World Cup dream alive. At the darts world championship in London, the man from Cologne prevailed against the Englishman Keegan Brown. The tournament is already over for shooting star Beau Greaves.
The unseeded Florian Hempel kept his nerve at the Darts World Cup and was the first German to win a game. The 32-year-old from Cologne won a thrilling 3-2 match against Englishman Keegan Brown late on Friday evening and can hope for a repeat of last year’s coup at Alexandra Palace. The two professionals acted as equals for a long time, Hempel was particularly strong in the doubles. After being 2-1 down in the meantime, Hempel turned up the heat again and ended up winning the decisive leg.
“Keegan demanded everything from me, but I felt more and more that I had the upper hand,” said Hempel at DAZN: “In the end it turned out as I hoped.” The German will now face fellow English favorite Luke Humphries, who is fifth seeded, in the second round. For Germany, the hopes rest not only on Hempel but also on Gabriel Clemens and Martin Schindler, who have a bye in the first round because of their good ranking position.
Last year, Hempel had defeated compatriot Schindler and Belgian star player Dimitri van den Bergh. 2022 was rather mixed for the player with the nickname Kölsche Jung. Now he has another chance at a World Cup success.
Meanwhile darts teenager Beau Greaves failed to live up to the high expectations and was eliminated in the first round. The 18-year-old lost 3-0 to Irish veteran William O’Connor. Greaves, who had gone 52 straight games unbeaten on the women’s tour before, had her chances in the first two sets but couldn’t take them. The young Englishwoman also missed a duel with the German Primus Clemens. In addition to debutante Greaves, Fallon Sherrock and Lisa Ashton are two other women at the World Championships.