Press conference with Gabriel Clemens on07/12/2023
German Giant ready for the world championships – press conference with Gabriel Clemens on the upcoming World Darts Championship in London
On Wednesday (7 December 2023), darts professional Gabriel Clemens and PDC Europe’s founder Werner von Moltke were our guests for a press conference to mark the upcoming 2024 World Darts Championship. Various media representatives were able to pose their questions to the German darts number one and the PDC Europe representative, both in person and via chat during the live-streamed press conference.
The PDC World Darts Championship 2024, taking place from 15 December to 3 January at the legendary ‘Ally Pally’ (or Alexandra Palace) in London, is the largest and most important darts tournament and once again offers a wonderful spectacle for fans in the hall itself and watching via TV screens. The tournament has been held by the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) from late December to early January every year since 1994. For the first time, five German players are lining up to compete.
This will be Saarland darts giant Gaga’s sixth appearance in a row. The greatest success of his career so far is still a recent memory: last year Gabriel Clemens made history and conquered the hearts of German darts fans by becoming the first German player to reach the world championship semi-finals. His brilliant performances then prompted a veritable darts boom in Germany.
The Saarland darts pro will be travelling to London on 19 December and competing in his first match on 21 December. As a seeded player in the top 32, he will enter the tournament in the second round. His opponent will most likely be Dutch youngster Gian Van Veen, who nevertheless must initially defeat Man Lok Leung of Hong Kong in round one. Right from the start, this will be no easy task for Clemens. And further progress through the tournament will be no easier for the Saarland native: Dave Chisnall is a potential third-round opponent for the German Giant, and Nathan Aspinall could await him in the last sixteen. The quarter final could then see a clash against Luke Humphries, who is currently the hot favourite for the tournament.
The German Giant is relaxed about the world championships, even if the general public is trying to hype him up as a tournament favourite following his semi-final appearance at last year’s event. Clemens is taking a very rational and pragmatic approach: ‘Personally, I am not feeling any more pressure. Pressure is always put on me somehow, but of course you also need something to write’, he said with a wink to the media representatives when asked about whether he feels any particular pressure ahead of the world championships.
At the Players Championship Finals in late November, the most recent important tournament and a dress rehearsal for the world championships, the German darts number one put in his best performance of the year to reach the semi-final of a major for the second time in his career. Gabriel Clemens is therefore beginning his world championship project in good spirits: ‘Reaching a major semi-final in my last tournament has taken the pressure off a bit. That was obviously good for my confidence.’ We, like Gaga, are looking forward to the upcoming highlight of the year that is the PDC World Darts Championship 2024 and wish him much luck and success.
Watch the full video of the press conference to see what else the darts pro had to say and enjoy some interesting insights and viewpoints from Werner von Moltke about the development of darts in Germany, PDC Europe, and also the controversial question of whether darts should become an Olympic sport.