Gaga’s off – Gabriel Clemens begins the 2024 World Darts Championship
On Thursday evening (21 December 2023), German darts pro Gabriel Clemens will be debuting at the 2024 World Darts Championship in London.
We are finally off again: since 15 December it has once again been ‘game on’ at Alexandra Palace, the legendary Ally Pally in London. The best darts players in the world have been duelling at the World Darts Championship in England since last Friday. For the first time ever, five German darts players are lining up to compete. As a seeded player in the top 32, the Saarland player will enter the tournament in the second round. For Saarland darts pro Gabriel ‘German Giant’ Clemens, the World Darts Championship begins on Thursday evening at around 11.15 p.m. (CET) with his second-round match against Man Lok Leung of Hong Kong.
Contrary to expectations (and as one of the things that makes the World Darts Championship special), his opponent will not be the young Dutch star and favourite Jung-Star Gian Van Veen, who experts assumed would be the German giant’s first opponent before the tournament began. In a first-round match between the two young newcomers to the championships, the new arrival from Hong Kong provided one of the first surprises of this year’s competition after fighting back from 2:0 down. The Asian player managed eleven 180s and held his nerve in the crucial moments. The German player’s first match of the championships will therefore be no easy task.
Nevertheless, regardless of the opponent the German number one is expecting, it is clear that he will be trying to focus entirely on his own game and tap his full potential at his sixth World Darts Championship in a row. He has already proven his potential here, when he himself caused one of the big surprises at last year’s tournament: at his last World Darts Championship, Clemens reached the semi-final and delighted the whole of Germany and the darts world with his Ally Pally appearances.
If he were to progress, Clemens would fly home for the Christmas celebrations and then return to the stage in London on 27 December at 2 p.m. for a third-round against English player Dave Chisnall.
We would like to wish Gabriel Clemens much luck and success as he begins and progresses through the World Darts Championship. Go for it Gaga!
Photo: PDC Europe