German darts sensation against world champion!

German sensation at the Hungarian Darts Trophy! Gabriel Clemens beat reigning world champion Luke Humphries 6:5 in a nerve-wracking battle.

In a high-class match with a total of eight 180s, the “German Giant” played a weaker average than his opponent (99.25 vs. 101.86), but kept his nerve in the decisive moments. For Clemens, it was the first victory against Humphries in three years (September 24, 2021).

Humphries started the match with a maximum, but Clemens was not put off and broke the world number one. The “German Giant” then managed to throw through his throw with 15 darts and increased his lead to 2-0.

In the next two legs, both players defended their throws, but then Humphries managed to re-break. The Englishman needed just 15 darts, checked 80 points with two single 20s and the double 20, making it 3:3. The world champion then held his throw and took the lead for the first time (4:3).

Humphries then missed four break darts, was exploited by Clemens and checked via the double 16 to make it 4:4. Then the big moment: Clemens checked out 87 points, kept his nerve on the double 5 and broke the clear favorite to make it 5:4.

Clemens threw for the match, missed a match dart on the bulls-eye, but got another chance. However, Humphries later missed three more match darts and equalized at 5:5, and the match went into the decider.

There, Clemens impressed with his scoring, starting with a 180 and followed it up with a 140. In the subsequent shots, Clemens threw 96 and 60 points respectively and now had 25 points to check. One dart in the 9, the next in the double 8 and the sensation was indeed accomplished.

The next highlight didn’t take long to arrive. Michael van Gerwen threw a 9-darter in the first leg. After two 180s, van Gerwen checked the 141 points and then roared with joy. It was already the second nine-darter of the tournament, the first being thrown by Cor Dekker.

Inspired by the nine-darter, van Gerwen played a strong match and followed Clemens into the round of 16. The Dutchman had no problems in his 6-2 win against Martin Lukeman and followed it up with another highlight with a 154 checkout to end the match.

In the last match of the evening, Rob Cross beat Andrew Gilding 6-1 in legs.

Before Clemens pulled off the sensational coup, Peter Wright in particular had the crowd going wild. “Snakebite” confirmed his best form and gave Damon Heta a “whitewash” (6:0). The Scotsman only managed an average of 92.97, while his opponent only managed an average of 88.58.

Defending champion Dave Chisnall had no problems with Jonny Clayton and won 6-1 in legs. Chisnall impressed with an average of 100.94.

Gerwyn Price had a disappointing evening. The number seven on the Order of Merit lost 5:6 in legs to Dutchman Wessel Nijman and squandered a 5:2 lead.

In addition to Clemens, two other German hopefuls are there: Martin Schindler and Ricardo Pietreczko. The round of 16 will be played in the morning session on Sunday, and the tournament winner will be determined in the evening session. SPORT1 Broadcast live on TV and stream from 1pm.

Chisnall will be competing in the Hungarian Darts Trophy in Budapest as defending champion. Can he finish at the top again in the eleventh of 13 tournaments of the PDC European Tour 2024? The Englishman has already won two tournaments this year and is therefore leading the tour rankings. Last year, “Chizzy” triumphed against eventual world champion Luke Humphries.

In Budapest, the tournament will be played in a best-of-11 legs format up to the quarter-finals, and you will also need to win six legs to win. The semi-finals and finals will be best-of-13 and best-of-15 legs respectively.