The German Hempel knocked out Wright and meets the Austrian today in Salzburg.
Mensur Suljovic faces a duel with a former handball goalkeeper today. The Viennese will meet Florian Hempel in the second round of the 14th European Championship, which will take place in Salzburg for the first time (2 p.m. / live Sport 1 and DAZN). Suljovic, meanwhile slipped to 29th place in the world rankings, beat the Englishman Adam Hunt, No. 51 in the world, in round one on Thursday. “The Gentle” was in the match from the first throw and went unstoppably away to 5-0 before “The Hunter” was able to get on the scoreboard. With a break and his own throw he shortened to 2: 5. The 49-year-old Viennese scored an average of 91 points with three litters. And for the six throws on the double field, he needed twelve attempts.
Hempel caused a sensation at the start of the European Championship by beating Peter Wright, the former world champion and the current No. 2 in the world rankings. Hempel was a handball goalkeeper until four years ago. The 1.96 meter tall man from Cologne had his sporting climax ten years ago when he played with the Dessau-Roßlauer HV in the second Bundesliga. Hempel, who has been a darts player for four years and on the professional tour for the first time in 2021, made a memorable debut on the big stage and beat Peter Wright 6: 3. For the first time, the 31-year-old, who lives in Cologne, competed in a major tournament. For the first time ever, number 107 in the world rankings played in front of TV cameras.
The winner of the game will meet the winner from William Borland against Joe Cullen in the quarter-finals on Sunday in the Salzburgarena.
