There is a new German darts star at Alexandra Palace, whose speedy surge onto the darting scene is showing no sign of slowing down.
Florian Hempel only started playing darts in 2017 and four years later found himself comfortably beating one of his nation’s most established stars of the sport at the William Hill World Championship.
The 31-year-old former Handball professional eased past Martin Schindler in straight sets on his Ally Pally debut, completing a quick transition from dangerous novice to serious professional.
“I see this as the first year of my career,” said Hempel, who earned his Tour Card at the start of 2021.
“I started playing darts four years ago just by coincidence but I really enjoyed it and bought myself a board and a set of darts. Soon after, I went to my first tournament and I won it. I had never played darts before.
“Two years later, I won 6-0 on my European Tour debut and that’s when I started to think I might be good at this game. I’ve surprised myself but I am proud of myself. I want to get into the top 64 next year.”
Hempel’s victory against fellow German talent Schindler set up a second round meeting with 2020 World Matchplay champion Dimitri Van den Bergh, who will have his hands full against the confident debutant.
“It was a big moment for me to play on the biggest stage in the world for the first time but I felt really comfortable and was very happy with the win,” added Hempel.
“Martin is a friend and it was a really difficult draw for me. He is someone I didn’t want to play because only one of us could go through for our country. Darts is getting bigger and bigger in Germany and I’m really excited to be a part of it.
“Dimitri is number five in the world, he’s a great guy and a great player but I will do my best to beat him. I’m not here to give away gifts, I’m here to win.”
Hempel v Van den Bergh is one of four second round ties set to take place on Tuesday evening, with Dimitri Van den Bergh and Devon Petersen also in action.
The World Championship is being broadcast live on Sky Sports in the UK, through the PDC's worldwide broadcast partners including DAZN and RTL7, and on PDCTV (excluding UK and Netherlands based subscribers).