"It was not normal for me and affected my practice" - Gabriel Clemens cites extra commitments following World Championship heroics as reason for lacklustre year

For the first time since the World Darts Championship in January, Gabriel Clemens is into a major TV quarter-final. The 'German Giant' put in a dominant performance in the last 16 of the Players Championship Finals to defeat Niels Zonneveld 10-1.

"I feel really good. I think I played really well all day today," began a delighted Clemens in his post-match interview with Online Darts. "It felt really good and I am very confident."

Big things were expected from Clemens this year after his Ally Pally heroics, but it's fair to say he's not really kicked on as he would have hoped. "It was a hard year for me," he admits. "But it is what it is. It was very busy at the start of the year for me. Being the first German player in the semi-finals of the World Championship made me very busy. It was not normal for me and affected my practice but now I'm in a good position."

Not only Clemens but Martin Schindler and Ricardo Pietreczko are all ensuring a boom period for German darts. "We are in a good place. With a good World Cup also it was a very good year for German darts and the year is not over yet!" Clemens says with a smile.

With Luke Woodhouse awaiting Clemens in the quarter-final, the German will begin the match as favourite. "Luke's played brilliant, I watched his game before I played. I hope we can have a good game and the best player wins."