"It's one of the greatest performances of my life for sure!" - Last German standing Ricardo Pietreczko into last 16 at PDC World Darts Championship for first time

For the first time in his career, Ricardo Pietreczko is into the last 16 at the PDC World Darts Championship. In a very impressive display on Saturday afternoon, 'Pikachu' dispatched last year's losing semi-finalist Scott Williams 4-1 at the Alexandra Palace, setting up a showdown with Nathan Aspinall in the next round.

Averaging exactly 97, with three 180s and a 52% checkout success rate, Pietreczko put a real marker down in victory over Williams. In the process, 'Pikachu' delighted the vast number of German supporters who had made the the journey to North London in order to support their compatriots, and went one step further than he did last year at the 2024 PDC World Darts Championship, where the third round proved a step too far.

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"It's a great thing for me. The first time into the last 16," assesses a delight Pietreczko when speaking to the English language darting media in his post-match press conference afterwards. "I've had 100 plus averages before, but to get into the last 16, it's one of the greatest performances of my life for sure!"

As mentioned, the German darting fans have travelled in their numbers to the Ally Pally once again this year, giving their heroes very vocal support. After the early exits of Martin Schindler, Florian Hempel, Kai Gotthardt and Gabriel Clemens though, Pietreczko is now the lone German remaining in the draw. "It's a very, very good feeling for me because the German crowd is really cool!" Pietreczko says with a smile. "But it's like a 50/50 between the English fans and the German fans and yeah, I like the atmosphere."

Pietreczko is the last German standing at the 2025 World Darts Championship 

Breaking new ground at the Alexandra Palace, Pietreczko has now gone one step further than his debut appearance last December, when eventual world champion Luke Humphries needed to pull out all the stops to defeat Pietreczko 4-3 with a stunning comeback. As the German has touched upon throughout his interviews this month though, that match last year has been marked as a real learning point for 'Pikachu'.

So what's the biggest difference between the Pietreczko of then and the one that's reached the last 16 this time around? "I think it's very much about experience," he explains. "Last year, I was a little bit nervous after going 3-1 ahead. But now, I went into a 3-1 lead and I pushed it over the line."

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