When Gabriel Clemens has to appear on the stage of the Alexandra Palace for the obligatory winners' interview, you can tell that he's not cut out for this kind of attention.

While other darts professionals behave in the limelight like prizefighters at a provincial fair, Clemens seems reserved, even shy.

When he answered the Sky presenter's questions after his sensational victory against Gerwyn Price in the quarter-finals of the World Cup in London on Sunday, he said in the middle of the conversation: "I don't understand the question, it's so loud in here" - and solved it with it Admission only wilder cheers from the fans.

On Monday evening, Clemens met the Englishman Michael Smith, who had already reached the final at the previous World Cup, in the "Ally Pally", as darts lovers call the venerable building in the north of the British capital.

A historic encounter: Before Clemens, no German had made it that far at a World Championship organized by the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC).

He had already written German darts history in December 2020 when he made it into the round of 16 in seven nerve-wracking sets by beating the then reigning world champion Peter Wright.

"I have no words," he said at the time, visibly moved: "He usually wins the game."

Opponents and the media praise Clemens

However: The dream of the final has burst this time too.

In a fast-paced and high-class semi-final, the favored Smith won 6-2 sets, after the score was 2-2 in the meantime.

Both players threw high scores - in the end it was 11 180s for Clemens and 19 for Smith - and six of the eight sets had to be decided in the fifth leg.

The final result therefore looks clearer than the actual course of the game.

This was appreciated not only by the fans in Alexandra Palace, among whom were hundreds of Germans, but also by the British media.

The BBC spoke of a "hard test" that Smith had to pass in order to finally move into the final against Michael van Gerwen;

the "Mirror" called Clemens a "brave" opponent who more than lived up to his role.

In the subsequent press conference, Smith said: "I apologized to him for defeating him." Clemens makes the sport more popular in Germany through his achievements, which means that darts in Germany finally have the "superstar" that it has been after for so long have longed for.

Of course, the warm words don't change Clemens' disappointment about his defeat.

But for the industrial mechanic, who only gave up his job in 2018 to devote himself to his professional darts career, this tournament is still the next step in a promising development.

39 is still a comparatively young age in this sport.

His entry into the World Championship semi-finals also brings him over 100,000 euros, which means he has climbed a few places in the PDC world rankings sorted by prize money won in the past two years.

Before the tournament he was in 25th position, now he is even considered a candidate for the prestigious and prize-money Premier League Darts invitation tournament.

Gabriel Clemens was spared the winner's interview on stage in front of the cheering fans at Ally Pally on Monday.

Nevertheless, he spoke up – and presented himself in front of the television cameras as a sincere sportsman.

Smith played a "fantastic" match, praised Clemens, who was particularly impressed by the consistently high scores of his opponent and his strong nerves: "He only threw 180s." around him would probably never come across the lips: "The better player won."