Darts drama about Martin Schindler – Clemens and Pietreczko overcome the opening hurdle

Martin Schindler had a very bitter evening at the Players Championship Finals 2023. The German number two in darts narrowly lost his opening match 5:6 against the Belgian Kim Huybrechts.

Meanwhile, things were looking extremely good for “The Wall”. After trailing 2-0, the German won four legs in a row and put Huybrechts in trouble.

However, Schindler then gave away four match darts – an invitation that his opponent gratefully accepted.

Things went better for Gabriel Clemens. The “German Giant” defeated the Englishman Connor Scutt 6:3 in the first round of the major tournament in Minehead on Friday afternoon.

An average of 95 and a checkout rate of 50 percent ensured Clemens made it into the top 32. There the Northern Irish shooting star Josh Rock is waiting for the German number one.

Pietreczko has overcome his opening hurdle at the last major tournament before the World Darts Championship (LIVE on December 15th). SPORTS1) also confident. The 29-year-old Berliner scored a clear 6-1 win against Dutch outsider Christian Kist.

Things are likely to be more difficult for Pietreczko on Saturday when he meets number ten seed Ryan Searle (England) in the second round.

The first round was less successful for Daniel Klose. The German debutant lost to Ryan Joyce 3:6 and was eliminated from the tournament early. Although Klose was initially able to equalize the score at 1-1, he then let his opponent take the lead to 5-1.

The Players Championship Finals will see 64 players compete over three days for a total of £600,000 in prize money. The field of participants consists of the top 64 of the Players Championship Order of Merit, i.e. the players who won the most prize money at the 30 Players Championship events this year.

Ross Smith – Scott Williams 6:2

Ryan Searle – Boris Krcmar 6:4

Damon Heta – Jules van Dongen 6:1

Gian van Veen – Chris Landman 6:1

Rob Cross – Cameron Menzies 6:3

Josh Rock – Rowby-John Rodriguez 6:4

James Wade – William O’Connor 6:2

Radek Szaganski – Ian White 6:2

Luke Woodhouse – Simon Whitlock 6:4

Ryan Joyce – Daniel Klose 6:3

Mike De Decker – Mario Vandenbogaerde 1:6

Ricardo Pietreczko – Christian Kist 6:1

Stephen Bunting – Mickey Mansell 6:4

Gabriel Clemens -Connor Scutt 6:3

Dimitri van den Bergh – Jim Williams 6:4

Jonny Clayton – Stephen Burton 6:4

Dylan Slevin-Matt Campbell 5-6

Chris Dobey – Raymond van Barneveld 6:3

Michael Smith – Richard Veenstra 3:6

Gary Anderson – Steve Beaton 6:5

Gerwyn Price – Ricky Evans 6:0

Callan Rydz – Michael van Gerwen 3:6

José de Sousa – Kevin Doets 5:6

Krzysztof Ratajski – Maik Kuivenhoven 4:6

Brendan Dolan – Ritchie Edhouse 6:4

Andrew Gilding – Steve Lennon 3:6

Daryl Gurney – Niels Zonneveld 3:6

Kim Huybrechts – Martin Schindler 6:5

Luke Humphries – Martin Lukeman

Dirk van Duijvenbode – Jermaine Wattimena

Joe Cullen – Jamie Hughes

Dave Chisnall – Lee Evans