German darts is heading in the right direction, with recent successes on the floor highlighting the nation’s growing strength. German commentator Basti Schwele and expert Robert Marijanovic examined the recent achievements of their fellow countrymen on the SPORT1 show Madhouse, noting that a German has appeared in the semi-final stage of the last three Player Championship events. The highlight came at Players Championship 14, where a rejuvenated Max Hopp stormed to the final but was thrashed 8-1 by a rampant Wessel Nijman.
In the weeks that followed, both Niko Springer and German number one Martin Schindler reached the latter stages of floor tournaments. Schindler averaged over 108 in a very respectable performance, only to lose 0-7 to Michael van Gerwen, who averaged 122.34 in a tremendous display. Schwele said: “Despite all the hype around Michael van Gerwen — Schindi averages 108 and still loses 0–7 against him. The last two weeks have been very good for the German players.” Marijanovic agreed: “Yes, it’s been very good. We already mentioned Schindler with the semifinal, Springer with a semifinal, Clemens with a quarterfinal. Things are slowly starting to roll for the German players.”
Beyond those three, Lukas Wenig reached the quarter-final of the Grand Slam of Darts last year, while Gabriel Clemens and Ricardo Pietreczko remain tricky challenges on their day, although Pietreczko is suffering with dartitis. Schwele added: “Leon Weber also deserves a quick mention. He’s currently very close to the World Championship qualification spots. If he picks up a few more good results, he’ll play in his first World Championship too. It really could become the year of the Germans.” Marijanovic noted: “We’ve now had three German players in a row reach the semifinals at Players Championships. I think that’s fantastic.”
However, Marijanovic cautioned that the field has been weakened by withdrawals from Premier League players. “At the last tournaments, seven out of eight Premier League players weren’t there, and sometimes there were up to 17 withdrawals. That naturally opens up the field more.” He added: “Then of course it’s great when a German player steps into that gap and fills it. But it won’t always stay like this, so consistency is extremely important.” Schwele concluded: “The nice thing is that we’ve had four different names involved in these semifinals and finals. Step by step, there’s always someone there. What the Germans are doing on the floor currently looks really good.”
