Barely a handful of seasons ago, Gabriel Clemens stood with destiny breathing down his neck. One match. One solitary contest separated him from history – from becoming the first German ever to grace a PDC World Championship final. By reaching the semi-finals, he had already carved his name deeper into the tungsten stone than any compatriot before him. But ambition is a cruel thing. Once the summit is visible, mere participation no longer satisfies.
From the heights of Muswell Hill, staring at the glowing cathedral of Alexandra Palace, Clemens prepared to face Michael Smith, with immortality waiting on the other side. Having dismantled the former champion Gerwyn Price in the quarter-finals, belief rippled not only through the German camp, but through a nation starved of a world champion of its own. Deutschland dared to dream. But history, as it so often does, chose a different author.
Clemens was halted, defeated 6–2 by Smith, in the very year Bully Boy would finally seize what many believed to be his ordained destiny. Yet defeat did not erase achievement. The German Giant departed with head held high, having carried the hopes of a darting nation that loves the sport deeply and yearns, desperately, for one of its own to sit atop the world.
That run propelled Clemens into the world’s top twenty. Expectations followed. Majors beckoned. Whispers of Premier League selection drifted through the corridors. The future, it seemed, was opening its arms. There were moments. Alongside Martin Schindler, Clemens marched to the semi-finals of the World Cup. Another final-four appearance followed at the Players Championship Finals in Minehead. Flickers of consistency. Glimmers of promise.
And then… the lights dimmed.
From late 2023 onwards, the story soured. Early exits. Missed qualifications. Television stages watched from afar. A couple of fourth-round runs at the UK Open represented the high-water mark in an otherwise barren stretch. The cruel arithmetic of darts rankings then delivered its verdict. Reaching the 2023 World Championship semi-final meant defending a mountain of points in 2025. Clemens could not. A first-round defeat to Robert Owen saw a brutal 85,000 points stripped from his Order of Merit total – a hammer blow that echoed throughout his calendar.
A last-16 appearance at the Winmau World Masters offered brief respite, but the pattern quickly reasserted itself. Another opening-match defeat at the UK Open – this time to Ricky Evans – and then the void. No World Matchplay. No Grand Prix. No European Championship. No Grand Slam. Even the World Cup came and went without him, overtaken in the pecking order by Schindler and Ricardo Pietreczko. He made the Players Championship Finals. Briefly. One match. One exit.
So when the 2026 World Championship dawned, Clemens’ name barely whispered its way into anyone’s predictions. By the time he walked onto the Ally Pally stage, it had been eleven long months since he last tasted victory on television. For most, that does not bode well. Ideally, you arrive in form. Clemens arrived with questions.
First hurdle: Alex Spellman. On paper, a match Clemens should win. In reality, after nearly a year without a TV success, a test of nerve as much as skill. He passed it. Calmly. Efficiently. A straight-sets victory. A healthy 90 average. One leg conceded. The monkey was not just nudged from his back – it was launched into the stratosphere.
Then came Wessel Nijman. Youth. Talent. Momentum. Few gave the 42-year-old German much of a prayer. He would need Nijman off-colour, off-rhythm, off-song. And so it transpired.
The Dutch youngster never reached his upper gears. Clemens, without needing to soar, simply stayed steady – the same measured tempo, the same quiet authority. Another whitewash. Another statement, whispered rather than shouted. And now, beyond Christmas, looms the true examination. A likely meeting with former champion Luke Humphries – though the evergreen Paul Lim may yet scribble his own footnote into the script.
So what are we witnessing? A revival? A renaissance delayed but not denied? Or merely a brief flicker before the night closes in once more? Two wins – one expected, one opportunistic. Encouraging, yes. Conclusive, no. The answers are coming. And soon.
—–ENDS—–
Images: PDC
