The German darts duo Gabriel Clemens and Martin Schindler scored a mandatory win at the start of the Team World Championship.
The hosts beat Hong Kong 4-0 in the ice rink in Frankfurt am Main and thus cleared the first hurdle on the way to the knockout stages in front of a crowd of around 800 spectators.
World Cup semi-finalist Clemens and his partner Schindler are considered secret favorites at the World Cup and want to repeat the German success of 2020, when they reached the semi-finals. “Today was the first win, tomorrow there will be the next one”, said Schindler.
Friday against Jaan
On Friday, Clemens and Schindler need another win against outsiders Japan to safely make it into the round of 16. The round of 16 then begins on Saturday. England with world champion Michael Smith and Wales with Gerwyn Price and Jonny Clayton then also enter the tournament.
France surprise against Northern Ireland
Co-favorite Northern Ireland lost to the German team. Daryl Gurney and Brendan Dolan surprisingly lost to France 4-1 and can no longer avert a preliminary round elimination on Friday on their own. The same goes for 69-year-old Singaporean veteran Paul Lim, who lost 4-2 to the Czech Republic with Harith Lim.