Darts Enthusiast Hempel Secures Historic Five-Player German Team at World Championships
In a thrilling last-minute turn of events, Florian Hempel snatched a place in the 2024 World Darts Championship for Germany, marking the country's first time ever fielding five players at the prestigious tournament. The Cologne native clinched his spot through a hard-fought victory at the PDPA Qualifier, setting his sights on Alexandra Palace in London.
Hempel emerged victorious against top seed Alan Soutar from Scotland, securing a 7:5 final result. Unfortunately, Pascal Rupprecht (6:7 against Croatia's Boris Krcmar) and Daniel Klose (5:7 against England's Darren Webster) just missed out on qualification.
Germany's five-player contingent now includes Gabriel Clemens, Martin Schindler, Ricardo Pietreczko, Dragutin Horvat, and the unexpected addition, Hempel. The quartet had already secured their spots, and the record-breaking fifth participation is set to push Germany's dart scene to new heights.
The 2024 World Darts Championship will take place between December 15 and January 3 at Alexandra Palace in London. Previously, only four players were allowed from a German perspective for the event. Hempel's success, although unexpected given a modest season, builds on his earlier World Cup showings in 2022 and 2023, where he advanced to the third round in 2022.
Florian Hempel's achievement of taking Germany's darts team to five players at the PDC World Championship is an exciting milestone, echoing his impressive victory against Gabriel Clemens in the 2025 Winmau World Masters, with an outstanding average of 110 in his 64-round triumph over Mensur Suljovic[2].
Sources: and other relevant darts-focused sources for additional context and statistics.
