Florian Hempel
| Florian Hempel | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Hempel in 2019 | |
| Personal information | |
| Full name | Florian Hempel |
| Born | 10 April 1990[1][2] Dessau, East Germany |
| Home town | Cologne, Germany |
| Darts information | |
| Playing darts since | 2017 |
| Darts | 25g Winmau[3] |
| Laterality | Right-handed |
| Walk-on music | "Kölsche Jung" by Brings |
| Organisation (see split in darts) | |
| PDC | 2018– (Tour Card: 2021-) |
| Current world ranking | 55  1 (31 October 2024)[4] |
| PDC premier events – best performances | |
| World Ch'ship | Last 32: 2022, 2024 |
| UK Open | Last 64: 2022, 2023, 2024 |
| European Ch'ship | Last 16: 2021 |
Florian Hempel (born 10 April 1990) is a German professional darts player and former handball player who plays in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events.
Hempel began his sporting career in handball, playing as a goalkeeper for Dessau-Roßlauer HV, where he made his professional debut in 2010, and later played for HC Burgenland. Achieving little success, Hempel quit the sport and began playing darts. He made his PDC European Tour debut in the 2019 Dutch Darts Masters, and gained his tour card in 2021.
Early life and career
[edit]Born in Dessau, East Germany,[5] Hempel was a goalkeeper in handball, beginning his career with SG Kühnau,[6] before moving to Dessau-Roßlauer HV in the 2010–11 2. Handball-Bundesliga season.[7] This proved to be his only appearance in the division,[8] and made a further two appearances in the third tier.[6] In 2016, Hempel ended his handball career in Cologne with Longericher Sport Club,[9] where he had moved to advance his educational studies;[6] he eventually qualified as a fitness coach and nutritionist.[10]
Darts career
[edit]Hempel began playing darts in his flat in 2017,[7][8] and in 2018 quit his job, registered for unemployment benefits, and took on darts as a full-time job.[11]
On his PDC European Tour debut at the Dutch Darts Masters in May 2019, he whitewashed Ryan Harrington 6–0.[12] Hempel lost to Simon Whitlock 6–3 in the second round.
Having previously attempted to gain a Tour Card in both 2018 and 2020,[13] Hempel won a PDC Tour Card at 2021 European Q-School, winning the event 3 final.[14] In March, he withdrew from the UK Open due to family reasons.[15] In April, he completed his first nine-dart finish during a European Super League whitewash victory over Marco Obst.[16]
Hempel made his PDC televised debut in October at the 2021 European Championship, eliminating reigning champion Peter Wright 6–3.[17] The following week, he reached his first semi-final on the PDC Pro Tour before losing there 7–3 to Michael Smith.[18] Ahead of his PDC World Darts Championship debut, Hempel featured as a guest commentator on Sport1 for the 2021 Grand Slam of Darts.[5] During the 2022 PDC World Darts Championship, Hempel caused a "major upset" when he defeated fifth seed Dimitri Van den Bergh in the second round, averaging 98.37,[10] and described it as "madness".[19] He would go on to lose 4–1 to Australia's Raymond Smith in the third round.
2024
[edit]At the 2024 World Championship, Hempel faced Dylan Slevin in the first round. Slevin won the first set and hit a 167 checkout in the second set, but Hempel managed to mount a comeback to win the match 3–1. In the second round, Hempel defeated Dimitri Van den Bergh 3–2, despite losing the first two sets. The match was a repeat of the 2022 second round tie which Hempel also won.[20] In the third round, Hempel was whitewashed 0–4 by Stephen Bunting.
World Championship results
[edit]PDC
[edit]- 2022: Third round (lost to Raymond Smith 1–4)
- 2023: Second round (lost to Luke Humphries 2–3)
- 2024: Third round (lost to Stephen Bunting 0–4)
Performance timeline
[edit]| Tournament | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PDC World Championship | DNQ | 3R | 2R | 3R | ||||||||||||
| UK Open | WD | 4R | 4R | 4R | ||||||||||||
| European Championship | 2R | DNQ | ||||||||||||||
| Career statistics | ||||||||||||||||
| Year-end ranking | 62 | 50 | 60 | |||||||||||||
PDC European Tour
| Season | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | EDO DNQ |
GDC DNQ |
GDG DNQ |
GDO DNQ |
ADO DNP |
EDG DNQ |
DDM 2R |
DDO DNQ |
CDO DNQ |
ADC DNQ |
EDM 1R |
IDO DNQ |
GDT DNQ |
| 2020 | BDC DNP |
GDC DNQ |
EDG DNP |
IDO DNQ | |||||||||
| 2021 | HDT 2R |
GDT 2R | |||||||||||
| 2022 | IDO 1R |
GDC DNQ |
GDG DNQ |
ADO DNQ |
EDO DNQ |
CDO 1R |
EDG DNQ |
DDC DNQ |
EDM 2R |
HDT DNQ |
GDO DNQ |
BDO DNQ |
GDT DNQ |
| 2023 | BSD 1R |
EDO 1R |
IDO 2R |
GDG 1R |
ADO DNQ |
DDC DNQ |
BDO DNQ |
CDO DNQ |
EDG DNQ |
EDM DNQ |
GDO 3R |
HDT DNQ |
GDC 1R |
| 2024 | BDO DNQ |
GDG DNQ |
IDO DNQ |
EDG DNQ |
ADO DNQ |
BSD DNQ |
DDC DNQ |
EDO DNQ |
GDC DNQ |
FDT DNQ |
HDT 2R |
SDT DNQ |
CDO 1R |
| Performance Table Legend | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| W | Won the tournament | F | Finalist | SF | Semifinalist | QF | Quarterfinalist | #R RR L# |
Lost in # round Round-robin Last # stage |
DQ | Disqualified |
| DNQ | Did not qualify | DNP | Did not participate | WD | Withdrew | NH | Tournament not held | NYF | Not yet founded | ||
References
[edit]- ^ "Florian Hempel - Mastercaller.com". Mastercaller. Retrieved 21 May 2019.
- ^ "Dart Profis - Florian Hempel". Dartn.de. Retrieved 21 May 2019.
- ^ "Winmau announces signing of German star Hempel: Felt I needed to make another change". 3 December 2022.
- ^ "PDC Order of Merit". PDPA. 31 October 2024. Retrieved 31 October 2024.
- ^ a b Csányi, Béla (17 November 2021). "Dank Hoffnungsträger Hempel, Kölner Kult-Hit läuft jetzt auch bei der Darts-WM in London" [Thanks to Hope Bearer Hempel, Cologne cult hit now also runs at the Darts World Championships in London]. Express.de (in German). Retrieved 28 December 2021.
- ^ a b c "Florian Hempel gelingt Darts-Überraschung gegen van den Bergh" [Florian Hempel succeeds in darts surprise against van den Bergh]. Infowelt (in German). 21 December 2021. Retrieved 28 December 2021.
- ^ a b Bürkmann, Silvia (27 December 2021). "Ex-Torwart Florian Hempel mischt die Darts-Welt auf - Mama Hempel drückt in Dessau die Daumen" [Ex-goalkeeper Florian Hempel stirs up the darts world - Mama Hempel keeps her fingers crossed in Dessau]. Mitteldeutsche Zeitung (in German). Retrieved 28 December 2021.
- ^ a b Landwehr, Tobias (27 December 2021). "Die zweite Chance des Handballtorwarts" [The second chance of the handball goalkeeper]. Die Zeit (in German). Retrieved 28 December 2021.
- ^ Eisele, Florian (22 December 2021). "Florian Hempel: Aus dem Handball-Tor zur Darts-WM" [Florian Hempel: From the handball goal to the Darts World Cup]. Augsburger Allgemeine. Retrieved 28 December 2021.
- ^ a b Gorton, Josh (22 December 2021). "World Darts Championship: Former Handball star Florian Hempel making his mark at Alexandra Palace". Sky Sports. Retrieved 28 December 2021.
- ^ Flottmeyer, Lukas (24 February 2021). "Florian Hempel: When one career is not enough…". Sky Sports. Retrieved 28 December 2021.
- ^ "Dutch Darts Masters: Hopp, Hempel und Rodriguez in Runde 2" [Dutch Darts Masters: Hopp, Hempel and Rodriguez in Round 2]. Dartn (in German). 24 May 2019. Retrieved 28 December 2021.
- ^ Hudd, Ben (16 January 2020). "From professional handball to Qualifying School: the story of Germany's Florian Hempel". Darts Planet. Retrieved 28 December 2021.
- ^ "PDC Q-School: Florian Hempel and Jake Jones win Tour Cards as Raymond van Barneveld stumbles". Sky Sports. 16 February 2021. Retrieved 28 December 2021.
- ^ Gill, Samuel (4 March 2021). "Reyes and Hempel withdraw from UK Open due to family reasons". Darts News. Retrieved 29 December 2021.
- ^ Gill, Samuel (19 April 2021). "Hempel hits first nine-dart finish of 2021 PDC Europe Super League". Darts News. Retrieved 29 December 2021.
- ^ "Peter Wright crashes out of European Darts Championship to German Florian Hempel". Sky Sports. 15 October 2021. Retrieved 29 December 2021.
- ^ "Super Series: Michael gewinnt Smith-Finale, Hempel unter den Top 4" [Super Series: Michael wins Smith final, Hempel in the top 4]. Dartn (in German). 22 October 2021. Retrieved 29 December 2021.
- ^ "Debütant Hempel wirft Mitfavorit raus" [Debutant Hempel throws out co-favourite]. Der Spiegel (in German). 22 December 2021. Retrieved 28 December 2021.
- ^ Gill, Samuel (22 December 2023). "Fabulous Florian Hempel produced astonishing great escape to defeat Dimitri Van den Bergh again at World Darts Championship". Darts News. Retrieved 16 March 2024.
External links
[edit]
Media related to Florian Hempel at Wikimedia Commons- Player profile for Florian Hempel from Dartsdatabase
