The countdown is running.

At around 8 p.m. local time (9 p.m. CET) Fabian Schmutzler will take the stage at Alexandra Palace in London this Thursday evening.

On the way through the audience, the beats of “Turn it up” by the Dutch star DJ Armin van Buuren will sound, the fans will cheer, as they always do, and somewhere in the audience will be his mother, father and best friend sit.

Round one of the Darts World Cup, up to 3000 spectators are allowed, and for Fabian Schmutzler, the sixteen-year-old from Frankfurt, the step into the limelight could hardly be bigger.

So far he has only competed in youth and amateur tournaments.

Michael Wittershagen

Responsible for sports in the Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung.

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Now he sleeps in the Hilton in the middle of London, together with all the world-class players and their supervisors, he has a training room and all the other amenities that are available at a World Cup.

For the way to the "Ally Pally" he is provided with his own transport service, his friend can also ride, his parents take the train.

Fabian Schmutzler is already certain of prize money of 7,500 pounds (around 9,000 euros) - an early Christmas present.

And it can get even more.

Daily training in the nursery

Fabian Schmutzler tried to simulate the emergency as well as possible.

At home he trained for two or three hours every day in his children's room, listening to music loudly and looking for safety for his game.

"He makes a very, very calm and composed impression and is simply looking forward to this event," his mother Pina Schmutzler told the FAZ

In the past few years, the family has often tried to get tickets for a Darts World Cup in London - without success.

What is going on there cannot be found anywhere else.

So now he's having his premiere there - and right away as one of the main actors.

“I've already played in front of 300 people once online.

Live was the biggest event so far in Steinfurth.

There were already a lot of people there, around 70, ”says Schmutzler to DAZN.

The evening will show what the atmosphere does to him.

If Fabian Schmutzler can not be influenced and delivers a typical Schmutzler game - calm, focused, constant - then he has a chance against the Englishman Ryan Meikle.

Then the German suddenly appears in the darts history books as the youngest player to ever win a game at a Darts World Cup.

And then his very personal adventure goes a little further. 

His classmates are writing a math exam this Thursday, and on Wednesday a music work was on the schedule.

For Fabian Schmutzler that is just a long way off - for now.

On Saturday he will fly back to Frankfurt, on Monday he will be back in the classroom and catch up on what he has missed.

It doesn't matter how his very personal darts story continues.