Hopp annoyed by increasing hate on social media: 'Especially when family is getting involved it's disgusting'

Max Hopp has been out of action on the PDC circuit for a month now after missing out on the last two European Tour tournaments. Last Friday, 'The Maximiser' did attend an exhibition in Kiel with Gerwyn Price, Phil Taylor, Jonny Clayton and Fallon Sherrock.

The German considered the event a welcome practice towards the final tournaments of the season. "It is a form of training that is very demanding. You never know who you are playing against on such a night and you have almost the same conditions as in a normal tournament. Exhibitions are a good opportunity for players to stay in rhythm. Especially if you don't manage to qualify for certain tournaments'', he explained in an interview with Dartsnews.de.

Also, in recent months, Hopp has worked several times as a pundit for the German channel DAZN and can regularly be found in the Netherlands for practice sessions with Maik Kuivenhoven and Jeffrey de Zwaan.

''Occasionally also with van Duijvenbode and Raymond van Barneveld'', Hopp revealed, ''They all live within a 15 km radius. Amazing, what quality in a concentrated space. In Germany, I like to train with the young talent Niko Springer.''

During these joint practice sessions, the emphasis is on the big scores. "We start with 3001 double out, best of 3. The goal is to finish in 30 turns.'' Finishing also comes up regularly. ''I mainly do that when I am practicing alone. When you are with others, you are more in the flow of the game and you play match after match."

Hopp can put the practice sessions to good use as the former world youth champion is in danger of losing his Tour Card after this season. In the current world rankings, he is 67th, while he needs a spot in the top 64. Hopp has not given up hope yet.

"It will be difficult, but not impossible'', he said, assessing the situation realistically. What he will do if he fails to defend it, he will only decide after knowing his fate.

Finally, Hopp expressed his annoyance at some of the comments that come up on social media. "To this day, I don't understand what it gets people to insult and criticise others. It is especially disgusting when family members are brought in for no reason. Live and let live. Everyone should do things they like.''