"Marble, stone and tungsten breaks" - Kai Gotthardt looks confidently towards second round match at the World Darts Championship after bizarre scene

Kai Gotthardt managed to win his first round match against Alan Soutar 3-1 on the second day of the World Darts Championship 2025, where he made his debut in the Ally Pally. This was not without obstacles for The Tunnel.

Gotthardt's dart broke in the fourth leg of the first set. The German had to leave the stage in the middle of the match. He went into the catacombs to get a new dart - and promptly returned to the stage with a 64 checkout to break 2-2. This scene was commented on by Max Hopp with the words "Marble, stone and tungsten breaks, but Kai's nerve doesn't".

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After the match, The Tunnel was interviewed by Sport 1 and described the curious situation from his point of view: "I've been playing with the same set of darts for over four years. That's never happened to me. Never in over four years, and now all of a sudden it breaks me here on the biggest stage in the world! I didn't know how to react. I stayed calm, went through with it - and yes, I got through."

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The cameras didn't catch the moment of the break, and Gotthardt himself wasn't 100 percent aware of it either: "To be honest, I don't even remember," he commented. "I think it was on the floor, but I'm not so sure now at that moment. I was so focused, I don't even remember. I think he was on the ground, flying down. It broke off under my (grip) hollow and as I said, that was my barrell for over four and a half years. Nothing ever broke off. Not at the tip or anything."

"Then I'm standing there on the biggest stage in the world and then the dart breaks off, that was crazy," Gotthardt added, still stunned.

Despite the completely unfamiliar situation, The Tunnel managed to keep their nerve and react ambivalently. "I sent my manager backstage. He got the spare dart from my dart case."

Ironically, Gotthardt had already considered taking his spare darts on stage before the match, but then decided against it, as he revealed. "I asked beforehand: 'Should I take my spare darts on stage with me? I thought to myself, nothing has happened for four and a half years, you're not taking anything with you. That's exactly when it breaks off! It was crazy," said Gotthardt.

"I no longer knew what to do. I was also completely perplexed at that moment."

Nevertheless, this incident did not take The Tunnel out of his focus. After losing the first set, he came out of the break with renewed vigor and won the second, third and fourth sets. "I missed a lot of darts at the doubles in the first set and I knew that if I could take the second set, if I could make it 1-1, then everything was possible."

With an average of 89.1, Gotthardt was five points better than his Scottish opponent. "I was better than Alan Soutar in scoring the whole game," explained Gotthardt. "That was my strength, I had to hit my doubles. I knew that if I hit my doubles, then anything is possible, then I can win the match. That's how it was in the end."

In his second round match, which will be played on Friday, December 19, Gotthardt will face Stephen Bunting. A big name that doesn't scare The Tunnel: "Stephen Bunting is seeded 8th and is of course one of the world players at the moment. But anything is possible in set mode. It's completely different to playing 'first to ten' here. You can make up any deficit here and anything is possible. That's why: I believe in myself and we'll see how it goes on Friday."

Kai Gotthrdt shows his broken barrel