World Darts Championship: Dimitri Van den Bergh stunned by Germany’s Florian Hempel | Darts News

Dimitri Van den Bergh’s hopes for the World Championship were shattered by Florian Hempel in the second round at Alexandra Palace; Michael Smith has a great start, while there were also victories for Merv King and Dave Chisnall

Dimitri Van den Bergh saw his World Championship hopes drop at the first hurdle as German Florian Hempel produced a sensational performance to knock the Belgian out.

Hempel, a former German handball player, started playing darts less than four years ago and only won his PDC Tour Card earlier this year.

The rookie crushed the hopes of dancing Dimitri with a red-hot performance on the Alexandra Palace stage.

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Florian Hempel couldn’t believe he had reached the third round of the world championship after knocking out one of the best seeds to Dimitri Van den Bergh

Hempel averaged 106.43 when he took the first set against throwing, winning it with a brilliant 11-dart leg against the fifth suit.

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Van den Bergh nailed this brilliant 142 checkout on his way to winning the second set

But former Matchplay champion Van den Bergh responded to Hempel’s opening with a staggering 115.62 average and finishes of 90 and 142. He rattled through the set in just 39 darts.

Hempel stopped the streak of four consecutive legs rot for the Belgian with a stark 104 outshot before breaking up with a final 89. He sealed the set by pinning the double 18 to move within one set of winning.

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After seeing Van den Bergh win a series of stages, Hempel responded with this final 104 …

The German was not short of many doubles and after knocking out a ton-out, he nailed 86 before completing a fabulous win thanks to a fantastic 64 two-darts final.

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It was a great start for Smith, winning the first leg with this 110 …

Saint Helena Michael Smith made an impressive and winning start, producing some outstanding darts to overtake Ron Meulenkamp with a whitewashed victory.

The 2019 finalist scored a 110 and averaged over 107 in a first-set demolition and a flashy 95 (19, D19, D19) gave him a break at the start of the second, which allowed “Bully Boy “to double his advantage.

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Watch Smith hit this double double 95 as he routs Ron

Smith nailed a combination of 96 classy darts to complete a glittering win in which he averaged 106.32 and finished with an impressive 75% in doubles.

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Despite beating Hunt 3-0, Van der Voort was not happy with his performance

Vincent van der Voort, making his fifteenth consecutive World Championship appearance, came in two sets against ‘The Hunter’ Adam Hunt.

It wasn’t quite a vintage display from the Dutch giant, but Van der Voort took a 106 checkout in the third set to make five straight wins against his opponent, who will blame 15 visits without hat-tricks for his lack of consistency.

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Vincent van der Voort achieved the one more milestone than his win against Adam Hunt

Next Monday Van der Voort will face world number 4 James Wade in the third round.

In the final match of the night, Raymond Smith he blew the opening set away and then landed a beautiful 121 on target to get the next one against Devon Petersen.

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Smith broke Petersen’s shot with this 121 bull-finish quality

‘The African Warrior’ showed a taste of his best form with a checkout of 114, but the Aussie dampened Devon’s mood by regressing before setting up a clash against Van den Bergh’s conqueror Hempel in the third round.

At the beginning of the day, Mervyn King produced a notable comeback to stun Ryan Joyce in a dramatic five-set affair.

‘Relentless’ lived up to its nickname in opening rallies, gaining a two-set lead with an average of 104. However, King roared back; rattling off nine consecutive stages to triumph with six 180s and 50 percent on the outer ring.

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Mervyn King said it took him a while to move on when he came 2-0 to beat Ryan Joyce

Somewhere else, Dave Chisnall knocked out Mike De Decker in two sets, despite the pair recording identical averages of 96.43. Chisnall – last year’s semifinalist – scored stunning 146 and 130 finishes to kick off his title run in style.

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Dave Chisnall believes he can go far at this year’s World Cup. Last year he was semifinalist

Lewy Williams crowned Alexandra Palace’s dream debut with an emphatic 3-0 success over Japanese qualifier Toyokazu Shibata. The 19-year-old Welshman averages 93 and has three 180s, and his reward is a fight with Gabriel Clemens for a spot in the third round.

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Chisnall produced this big milestone during his comfortable victory over De Decker

In the final match of the first round of this year’s tournament, Jason Lowe overcame some of the early double problems to get past Daniel Larsson, producing a thrilling third-set performance to set up a bout with seventh-seeded Jose De Sousa in the last 64.

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