Interview: Clemens sets no target ahead of World Darts Championship: "My goal is always to be happy with the way I play"

Gabriel Clemens caused one of the biggest surprises at last year's World Darts Championship by eliminating defending champion Peter Wright in the third round.

Clemens, at the time number 31 on the Order of Merit, eventually made it to the fourth round, where he lost to Krzysztof Ratajski after a thriller. Subsequently The German Giant reached the last sixteen of the UK Open and a Players Championship final in 2021.

Because of this, Clemens has made another small jump in the world rankings, which places him 25th at the upcoming World Darts Championship.

''I think I can look back on the past season with satisfaction'', says the German in an interview with Dartsnews.de. "I have participated in all the tournaments I could qualify for and I have had some good performances. Of course I could have done better here and there, but that is something I can work on."

Recently Clemens was also in action at the Grand Slam of Darts, where he defeated Peter Wright. However, he lost his third group match to Fallon Sherrock, who threw a 170 finish to beat him 5-3 and therefore advance through the group along with Wright.

"She played very well and deserves respect for that'', Clemens looks back at that defeat. The 38-year-old German then quickly put that defeat behind him.

"I'm not someone who dwells on that for a long time. It doesn't help me to drive myself crazy after every loss. The next day I had already got over it. The fact that I lost to a woman has not been an issue for me either. It was also nothing new, because this happens more often in electronic darts (soft-tip). For me it does not matter who I play against, I think it is important to make sure I play well.

Meanwhile the sights are set on a good performance at the World Darts Championship. It will be Clemens' fourth participation in Alexandra Palace in London.

Last year he reached the fourth round, but that doesn't mean he wants to match or improve on that result this year to have a successful World Championship.

''My personal goal is always to be happy with the way I play. I am not concerned with possible opponents and do not look further in the tournament. Our sport is not calculable enough for me to concern myself with that.''

As a seeded player, Clemens is free in the first round and will meet the winner of the match between Lewy Williams and Toyokazu Shibata in the second round. Whoever he meets, Clemens thinks he is the favourite to reach the third round.

"Lewy is a talented young player and should certainly not be underestimated. I don't know much about Shibata to be honest, but I have often read that he is a good player. I am the seeded player in the match and am therefore probably the favourite. However, I still need to show it, but that goes for every match.

Should Clemens win his first game, he might play against title favourite Jonny Clayton in the third round. "But I'm not worried about that at all. I'm not playing him yet, we both haven't won our first match.''

Besides The German Giant, three other Germans will be competing at Alexandra Palace. Two of them, Florian Hempel and Martin Schindler, will meet each other.

''I like them both and hopefully they know how to get the best out of themselves. May the best player win'', Clemens said of that duel.

The remaining German player is 16-year-old Fabian Schmutzler, who qualified from nowhere via the Development Tour. Clemens did not know his young compatriot yet.

"But he played a very strong Development Tour. I would advise him to just enjoy his participation in the first instance and not to let himself get crazy.''