Florian Hempel

Florian Hempel
Hempel in 2019
Personal information
Full name	Florian Hempel
Born	(1990-04-10) 10 April 1990 (age 34) [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	( PDC ) 53 (12 January 2025) [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
PC Finals	Last 32: 2024
Masters	Last 32: 2025

Florian Hempel (born 10 April 1990) is a German professional darts player and former handball player who competes 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  [ de ]. 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. He has since qualified for four World Championships, reaching the last 32 on two occasions.

Early life and career

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  [ de ], ^[9] where he had moved to advance his educational studies; ^[6] he eventually qualified as a fitness coach and nutritionist. ^[10]

Darts career

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

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

PDC

• 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)
• 2025: Second round (lost to Daryl Gurney 2–3)

Performance timeline

Tournament	2021	2022	2023	2024	2025
PDC World Championship	DNQ	3R	2R	3R	2R
PDC World Masters	DNQ				1R
UK Open	WD	4R	4R	4R
European Championship	2R	DNQ
Players Championship Finals	DNQ			2R
Career statistics
Season-end ranking	62	50	60	53

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

PDC Players Championships

Season	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30
2021	BOL DNP	BOL DNP	BOL DNP	BOL DNP	MIL DNP	MIL DNP	MIL DNP	MIL DNP	NIE 1R	NIE 1R	NIE 2R	NIE 1R	MIL DNP	MIL DNP	MIL DNP	MIL DNP	COV 3R	COV 2R	COV 2R	COV 3R	BAR 3R	BAR 1R	BAR 1R	BAR 2R	BAR 2R	BAR 1R	BAR SF	BAR 1R	BAR 4R	BAR 1R
2022	BAR 1R	BAR 2R	WIG 1R	WIG 2R	BAR 1R	BAR 2R	NIE 1R	NIE 1R	BAR 1R	BAR 1R	BAR 1R	BAR 4R	BAR 3R	WIG 1R	WIG QF	NIE 1R	NIE 1R	BAR 2R	BAR 2R	BAR 1R	BAR 1R	BAR 3R	BAR 1R	BAR 3R	BAR 2R	BAR 1R	BAR 2R	BAR 3R	BAR 2R	BAR 1R
2023	BAR 2R	BAR 1R	BAR 1R	BAR 2R	BAR 1R	BAR 2R	HIL 2R	HIL 2R	WIG DNP	WIG DNP	LEI 2R	LEI 1R	HIL 1R	HIL 3R	LEI 1R	LEI 1R	HIL 3R	HIL 1R	BAR 1R	BAR 4R	BAR 3R	BAR 1R	BAR 1R	BAR 2R	BAR 1R	BAR 2R	BAR 2R	BAR 4R	BAR 1R	BAR 1R
2024	WIG 1R	WIG 2R	LEI 1R	LEI 4R	HIL 3R	HIL 1R	LEI DNP	LEI DNP	HIL 1R	HIL 1R	HIL 2R	HIL 2R	MIL 2R	MIL 3R	MIL 1R	MIL 3R	MIL SF	MIL 2R	MIL 2R	WIG 3R	WIG 2R	LEI 1R	LEI 1R	WIG 1R	WIG 1R	WIG 2R	WIG 1R	WIG 3R	LEI 3R	LEI 2R

Performance Table Legend
W	Won the tournament	F	Finalist	SF	Semifinalist	QF	Quarterfinalist	#R RR Prel.	Lost in # round Round-robin Preliminary round	DQ	Disqualified
DNQ	Did not qualify	DNP	Did not participate	WD	Withdrew	NH	Tournament not held			NYF	Not yet founded

References

1. "Florian Hempel - Mastercaller.com". Mastercaller. Retrieved 21 May 2019.
2. "Dart Profis - Florian Hempel". Dartn.de. Retrieved 21 May 2019.
3. Verbeek, Pieter (3 December 2022). "Winmau announces signing of German star Hempel: Felt I needed to make another change". Darts News.
4. "PDC Order of Merit". PDPA. 12 January 2025. Retrieved 12 January 2025.
5. 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.
6. "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.
7. 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.
8. 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.
9. 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.
10. 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.
11. Flottmeyer, Lukas (24 February 2021). "Florian Hempel: When one career is not enough…". Sky Sports . Retrieved 28 December 2021.
12. "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.
13. Hudd, Ben (16 January 2020). "From professional handball to Qualifying School: the story of Germany's Florian Hempel". Darts Planet. Retrieved 28 December 2021.
14. "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.
15. Gill, Samuel (4 March 2021). "Reyes and Hempel withdraw from UK Open due to family reasons". Darts News. Retrieved 29 December 2021.
16. Gill, Samuel (19 April 2021). "Hempel hits first nine-dart finish of 2021 PDC Europe Super League". Darts News. Retrieved 29 December 2021.
17. "Peter Wright crashes out of European Darts Championship to German Florian Hempel". Sky Sports . 15 October 2021. Retrieved 29 December 2021.
18. "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.
19. "Debütant Hempel wirft Mitfavorit raus" [Debutant Hempel throws out co-favourite]. Der Spiegel (in German). 22 December 2021. Retrieved 28 December 2021.
20. 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

• Media related to Florian Hempel at Wikimedia Commons
• Florian Hempel player profile at Darts Orakel