At the Darts World Cup, Gabriel Clemens triggered a real hype about the former pub sport. He can only be stopped in the semifinals, defeating a despairing Gerwyn Price, among others. But now the start of the season has gone haywire. The chances of the million league are dwindling.
Germany's best darts professional Gabriel Clemens messed up the start of the 2023 season and had to accept a serious setback in terms of the Premier League. After the 6-4 defeat against Portugal's José de Sousa, the World Cup semi-finalists from Saarland only have outsider chances of being allowed to participate in the multi-million dollar Premier League. The 39-year-old Clemens could not build on his World Cup performance in Milton Keynes when he duped the Welsh Primus Gerwyn Price and entered the round of the last four.
"Unfortunately it was totally disastrous on the doubles yesterday. But days like this are also part of it. In the practice room you think today is a super good day and then it's not that great on stage. That's also part of it, so train at home again and do it better next time," Clemens wrote on Instagram.
The top four players in the rankings are seeded for the Premier League, which begins next Thursday in Belfast. In addition to Price, there are also world champions Michael Smith (England), Michael van Gerwen (Netherlands) and Peter Wright (Scotland). The other four starters get wildcards, which the world association PDC would like to award around this weekend. Clemens failed to collect additional arguments for himself at the Masters.
Apart from the important German market and the surprising entry into the World Cup semifinals, not much speaks for Clemens, who is only 19th in the ranking. Even the "German Giant" himself does not expect an appeal. "No, that's more wishful thinking than anything else. Premier League is a super cool tournament, but there are others who deserve it more than I do," said Clemens at the World Cup.
