Gabriel Clemens wrote twice German darts history. With a 4-1 win over Alan Soutar he was the first German ever to reach the quarterfinals of the PDC
World Darts Championship.
He then defeated Gerwyn Price 5-1 in sets to progress to the semi-finals. "I thought I could do it (beat Price), I knew it would be tough. If he plays his top game, I have to play my absolute top game. I played a good game, he didn't play his top game, but all the better for me. So, I'm in the semi-finals," Clemens said in the interview with DAZN afterwards.
"The scoring has definitely always kept me in the game very, very well. It's harder to throw a dart into double in the quarter-finals than in the first round or the second round."
Now more than ever
With Price trailing 1-3 in sets, he returned to the stage wearing hearing protection. With this, the Iceman only goaded his opponent further. "I had also thought that he would pull them off when it started again, but he didn't. My goal was then only: Now I win the set more than ever!" admitted Clemens frankly.
With his success, the German Giant is making a difference in Germany. At the moment, far more eyes are on the events at Alexandra Palace than usual. This has not gone unnoticed by Clemens: "You can see that now through the media alone. There are more media on site than usual and above all you notice it in the audience. The Ally Pally is German, definitely."
One third of the viewers Germans
Here he was referring to the number of spectators. More than 800 German spectators, a good third of the audience, were in the hall during his success over Price. "I expect that tomorrow (at Clemens' semi-final match) he will be besieged by the fans again."
"It pushes you tremendously, especially when you know you're in England and that doesn't happen that often. This year it's just absolutely fantastic!" concluded the Saarland native.