Are they all here because of me? This was what he said in his eyes before he put it into brief English words. “A lot of cameras,” said Gabriel Clemens. “Last year it wasn’t like that.” The darts athlete tends to express himself briefly. Long sentences are not his passion unless he wins them. And that’s exactly what he had done just before.
Since Clemens’ 3-1 win against outsider Man Lok Leung from Hong Kong late on Thursday evening, it has been certain that the best German darts professional will continue to play for the title at the World Championship after Christmas. On Friday, December 29th, the world number 22 will meet. then on the eleventh seeded Brit Dave Chisnall. When asked about his opponent, Clemens explained succinctly that he intended to win against him. A real Clemens.
Shortly before, he had treated himself to a nice little break in front of the 3,000 fans. He gave the third sentence as if he wanted to bring forward the Christmas Eve presents. Seconds later, his arrows hissed into the target again with the same precision as the beer into the throats of the spectators in London’s Alexandra Palace.
Within minutes, Clemens hits the exact combination of triple-20, single-20 and double-20 twice
With the bookmakers, Chisnall is the slight favorite against Clemens to reach the round of 16. However, they will hardly underestimate the Germans here in the “Ally Pally”. Not just because of his triumph a year ago, when he was the first German to reach the semi-finals (where he lost to eventual world champion Michael Smith from England). There were and are indications that the Saarlander is to be expected again.
Confident on the target: Gabriel Clemens defeated Man Lok Leung from Hong Kong with 3:1 sets.
(Photo: Shaun Brooks/Action Plus/Imago)
Addition and subtraction are one of his strengths, for example when it comes to finding the paths from combinations of points that lead to success in darts. In his first game at this World Cup, it happened that the game was about to tip in his opponent’s favor. Clemens won the first set, but Man Lok Leung put him under a lot of pressure in the second set. And what did Clemens do?
He prepared the so-called Shanghai finish twice against the powerful man from Hong Kong – so 120 points left, anything but an easy task. But then “Gaga” did Gaga things again: Within minutes he hit the exact combination of triple-20, single-20 and double-20 twice to finish. So converted: 120. Check. And in the end: victory.
“Gaga” is described in the dictionary as, among other things, “idiotic”. To put it more nicely: imperfect, normal. Not Instagram-styled and not gym-toned either. You could also imagine Clemens and some of his other colleagues in arrow sports comfortably sitting on a television couch, right next to Uncle Waldemar.
For the first time at this World Cup, the Ally Pally was in German hands, as the saying goes
His girlfriend Lisa sat in the front row at Ally Pally on Thursday evening and was accompanied by friends. You, who sat here last year, may have noticed the many black, red and gold “German Giant” outfits that were at the tables and in the stands in the main hall. For the first time at this World Cup, the Ally Pally was in German hands, as the saying goes. Or rather: in Gaga’s hands.
Especially in darts, “gaga” means crazy and freaky. Seen this way, this short name doesn’t fit Clemens at all: The 40-year-old lives in retirement with his girlfriend Lisa in Saarwellingen and drives to training by car. There, in a room with nothing more than a coffee machine and a dart board, he practices for four hours, most often the triple-20. He once trained as a locksmith and worked in the workshop for years. He has been playing darts for 21 years, but only professionally since 2018. His home, the peace and quiet, all of that remains central to him, which he emphasized once again on Thursday in Ally Pally: “First of all, I’m flying home tomorrow and celebrating Christmas with my family.” Then we “go back here with new strength”.
He once explained to the SZ that he could easily imagine returning to the workbench if things no longer went well in darts. The mechanic industry may have to do without him for a while longer.