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London (dpa) - Gabriel Clemens surprisingly defeated world champion Peter Wright at the Darts World Cup in London and thus ensured a German premiere.
The Saarlander won the direct duel with the Scottish world class player after an extremely strong performance 4: 3 and is the first German in the history of the World Cup to reach the round of 16.
For the "German Giant", as the 37-year-old Saarlander is called, it is the greatest success of his career so far.
He also played the so far highest average of a German player at a World Cup.
In the second round, Clemens will now face Poland's Krzysztof Ratajski, who defeated Australian Simon Whitlock 4-0.
For co-favorite «Snakebite» Wright, who presented the fans in Alexandra Palace with a costume for Christmas thief «Grinch», the second world title is history for the time being.
Clemens, on the other hand, has a good chance against secret favorite Ratajski and thus has the opportunity to be the first German to reach a World Cup quarter-finals.
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For the German it's the best year of his career so far.
In 2020, Clemens defeated England's Nathan Aspinall and Rob Cross in important major matches.
He lost to the later title holder Wright at the European Championships in October - this time he won the thrilling duel of arrows.
© dpa-infocom, dpa: 201227-99-825899 / 2
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