On 11 and 12 February the first two Players Championship tournaments of the year will take place. After Florian Hempel failed to qualify for the World Darts Championship via the Pro Tour at the end of 2022, he is motivated to achieve this goal in the current year.
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"I'm definitely looking more positively at the Players Championships than I did last year," Hempel explained in an interview with dartsnews.de.
"Last year I came out of a good form, out of a good World Championship and had the attitude: this will work out somehow. And then you got into a bit of a whirlpool. There were one or two bad results. Then you thought, 'OK, I'll fix that somehow over the course of the year.' That didn't happen."
"This year I'm going into the first Players Championship next weekend with full power and I want to show from the start that I'm back on Tour. That I can show good results, bring in a lot of prize money and make the World Championship via the Pro Tour as good as safe this year, qualify for as many European Tour events as I can."
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But he wants to shine not only on the Pro Tour, but also at the majors. "I would also like to play in one or two majors, outside of the World Championship and the UK Open, where I play anyway. To have missed the Players Championship Finals for the second year in a row, that's a pain."
In the current year, these successes are particularly important for Hempel, as he has a lot of prize money to defend and could lose his Tour Card if he has another bad year. A point he is well aware of.
"I'm number 50 in the world now and currently I have to look down in the Tour Card race because my first year was good, my second year was bad.
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"That means I have to defend the first year now. I have to bring a good game to the board, I know that and I will. In the end I would say keep top 64, that's the absolute minimum goal."
To ensure that this goal is not just a pipe dream for the Cologne native, he has changed a few things in his training: "A bit more back to the basics. I trained more intensively again - it's not by chance that you can't call up your performance."
"I've been putting in more and more time over the year, trying to remember the old training days, repeating a lot of things from back then. In darts now it's not like overnight I'm back to top level. It is simply a development. Also in my own game and I just played that again in the Super League and the World Championship."
Hempel realised that a change in training was more than in order by analysing his game. "The scoring wasn't like that anymore, I couldn't use my first dart like I used to."
"When the first dart comes I can use it well, can show a good game and that just worked against Keegan Brown (at the 2023 World Darts Championship, ed.).
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With seven 180s in one match, that's a pretty good score. Also on the Pro Tour I was able to play more 180s towards the end. That means I also focused more on the dart behaviour in the board again."
Checkouts are also a part of the training. "If you lost the throw at some point, where everything fitted together, you have to try step by step to get it together again. As of today, I would say I'm getting very close to my old form from 2021 again."
First and foremost, Hempel practices alone. But taking part in tournaments in his region is also part of his training. "I just go out to the pub in the evening and train a bit with the others. I also let external influences play a role. These are all factors that I have neglected a lot in the course of the last year. That was not good."
"To train the right competition, in my opinion you can really only do that in competition. So in real competition, when I go to a tournament where it's about prize money, where it's about prestige. It doesn't have to be a PDC tournament, it can be an open tournament as well," he concludes.
Samuel GillChief Content Officer
Samuel Gill is the Chief Content Officer (CCO) of DartsNews.com, a role he has held since 2020. He is responsible for editorial governance across the platform, including setting content standards, overseeing accuracy and consistency, and guiding long-term editorial strategy across professional darts coverage. Since joining, he has contributed more than 10,000 articles and editorial pieces, playing a central role in the development and daily operation of the site.
Based in Leicester, Samuel has extensive experience in darts media and has been closely involved in coverage of the professional darts circuit for several years. Within the UK darts community, he is a recognised figure known for his consistent editorial output and ongoing reporting on major tournaments and developments across the PDC calendar.
In his current role, Samuel works closely with editors and writers to ensure content meets clear journalistic standards, with a focus on source verification, editorial consistency, and timely updates when new, confirmed information becomes available.
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- Good, absolutely no loss if we never see this dancing goof ever again......no that is not fair. He absolutely cannot and has never been remotely able to dance!richieburnettrocks10-11-2026
- Yes Phil,now the money in the game is bigger than ever,you'd play littler. Well so would I! Retire on your memory Phil,and your successful careerrick6709-11-2026
- And why should he listen to you?Deduce635807-11-2026
- Ultimately it is a bye for whoever draws Barney. It will be another stroppy and sulky performance once he goes behind. Barney was excellent but really must completely call it a day now.richieburnettrocks07-11-2026
- I'm disappointed he was not able to secure a spot at the Grand Slam. With Carl Sneyd taking care of Daryl Gurney, he would have had to beat Andy Boulton before facing the winner of Sneyd vs Mensur Suljović for a Grand Slam spot. Unfortunately, after beating Filip Bereza comfortably, he succumbed to Boulton, and the board would ultimately be won by the highly inconsistent Carl Sneyd. Since he could instead have been drawn against the likes of Cristo Reyes, Dirk van Duijvenbode and Stephen Bunting, I think once Gurney was out of the picture he would have been favourite to win his board, and it seems like a massive missed opportunity to put 5 grand on his ranking and seal another major TV appearance ahead of the Worlds. The highs and lows of following Raymond van Barneveld!Deduce635806-11-2026
- Probably i will receive a lot of backlash and hate for this reaction, but well, so be it. I am more than sick and tired of those lies of you Barry Hearn. How dare you defend yourself over the back of Fallon’s son! He has a disability and not an illness, so let me correct that for you! I know because I have the exact same disability. I have tried to reach out to Fallon in the past, and offered her to help her and her son, because I was struggling with the same problems, and I understood the boy. I wanted him to have finally someone who understood him. However she told me that she did not want my help, and I have respected Fallon’s choice. I have never asked Fallon for money. They don’t need money in that case. I only ever wanted the best for Fallon and Rory, but I have to be honest about the situation. Fallon should tell the true story and not be forced to tell lies. I don’t hate Fallon, and I don’t begrudge or envy a single penny that she gets, but this situation/case is just not fair. I hate the lies and the dishonesty and injustice. I don’t want Fallon to be hated because there is an unfair disadvantage created. Don’t proclaim your false lies over the back of Rory! I only stand for integrity and justice. I am precisely the one who always sticks up for Fallon. And you don't, you don't give a damn about them. You were never there for them, and now you only want to save your own position! You are just trying to talk your way out of your own bad behavior at the expense of someone with a disability. And to Fallon, I don’t know if this may ever reach you, and you read it, but I want you to know I love you and I love your son Rory very much, I am sorry how things developed and went. I hope you and Harriet are still friends. I am sorry if I were too persistent to you, or you experienced it that way, but it was never my intention. Please understand I have autism as well. As Barry Hearn would say, I am only just a human being too, and I also make mistakes and misjudge things sometimes. I promise you I did everything out of the deepest love and care for you and Rory. If I were you, I should just keep all the money, only please never be dishonest or tell lies anymore for Barry Hearn, or anyone else. I hope you have the best life, and I wish nothing more than the best for you. I have always loved the two of you. Farewell.Hiddo05-11-2026
- She is a professional. If darts is her income, she is a professional. Same as Adrian Lewis, Martin Adams. A tour card just means someone can play on the PDC tour. You could even make a case that Clayton wasn't a professional (until recently I believe) because he had employment elsewhere.BandB04-11-2026
- She's technically not a professional though as she doesn't hold a pro tour card.mr-pablo04-11-2026
- Such a shame that lakeside has been reduced to this. Fantastic venue,and previously a great tournament. Not any morerick6703-11-2026
- Seems to me that the top 16 players pick and choose whatever they want to play. Good,all the money will get spread out more. They get more money from exhibitions than tournaments so let them all withdrawrick6703-11-2026