Darts: German Darts sensation! "Pikachu" throws first nine-darter

Historic success for German darts

What a sensational evening for German darts! In the "European Darts Open" in Leverkusen, Gabriel Clemens aka "Gaga" caused a stir on Sunday evening. The Saarlander sensationally succeeded in the first German nine-darter on the big stage of the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) and thus wrote German darts history.

Clemens in top form

Clemens prevailed over the Dutchman Danny Noppert with 6:3. In the fifth leg, the 39-year-old then managed the perfect game and brought the fans in the arena to a boil. With the perfect leg, Clemens secured the tournament victory and thus his second European Tour title after 2018.

A dream came true

"It's a dream come true," said Clemens afterwards on Sport1. "If you hit the first nine-darter of your life at a European Tour, I think you can't ask for more." Clemens has long been regarded as the German darts figurehead. In 2022 he reached the semi-finals of the World Cup in London and thus caused a real sensation.

What is a nine-darter?

In darts, a nine-darter is the perfect game. In this, the player throws all nine darts at the required double fields and thus finishes the game in the fewest possible darts. The two-time world champion Adrian Lewis had the honor of being the first player to throw a televised nine-darter in 2011 at the World Matchplay. Clemens is now the first German to achieve this feat.

A great success for German darts

Clemens' success is a great success for German darts. Darts has been booming in Germany for years, and the German Darts Association now has over 50,000 members. The fact that a German has now also succeeded in throwing the first nine-darter shows that German darts is on the right track.