Unbelievable Last-Minute Qualification: Hempel Steals the Show in London Bound Darts Championship
In a surprising turn of events, Florian Hempel punched his ticket to the 2024 World Darts Championship without notice. The Cologne native clinched the PDPA Qualifier in the eleventh hour, making Germany the first nation to field five representatives at Alexandra Palace. Hempel seized the victory from Scotland's top seed, Alan Soutar, clinching the final 7-5. Two other German hopes, Pascal Rupprecht (6-7 against Croatia's Boris Krcmar) and Daniel Klose (5-7 versus England's Darren Webster), were agonizingly close but fell short.
The illustrious German quartet of Gabriel Clemens, Martin Schindler, Ricardo Pietreczko, and Dragutin Horvat secured their spots before Hempel. Four players were the apex from a German perspective, but this year's iteration will feature five. Remarkably, the 33-year-old Hempel's breakthrough comes after a subpar season. Yet, the former handball goalkeeper has a track record of Starring at previous World Cups, with a third-round appearance in 2022.
Hempel joins forces with his compatriots at the 2024 WM, standing out as the first time Germany takes the complexity of five players to the PDC-sanctioned World Darts Championship. Despite facing hurdles later in the season, Hempel's qualification history and ninja-like spot-grabbing make this year an unforgettable one for the German darting community.
Note: While there isn't specific data on the number of Germany's first-time qualifiers for the 2024 World Darts Championship, sixteen tour cards were awarded to German players through this year's PDC Qualifying Schools. Without complete data on the qualification process, it's challenging to provide an exact figure of new participants. However, the focus of prior reports has been on individual qualifiers, such as debutant Luke Littler.
