The Darts World Championship, Starting at the End of the Year, will be hero in a new format for the first time. However, Because not all details are known, Gabriel Clemens is now Expressing subtle criticism.
From the 2026 edition, the Darts World Championship will present itself in a new guise. More participants, more prize money, more drama – this is the PDC’s already published plan. The only problem: The Professional Darts Corporation has not yet named crucial details, which repeatedly provokes criticism. Now Gabriel Clemens has also commented on this.
“I would now like to know how to qualify and how many people will ultimately participate. If the PDC is listening, they can gladly publish that,” demanded the World Cup semi-finalist of 2023 on Thursday in the Sport1 program Madhouse. The background: For the first time, 128 instead of 96 players will participate. How the additional 32 starting places will be distributed is still open.
Gabriel Clemens is Looking Ahead to the 2026 Darts World Championship
It is also unclear how many players can qualify for the 2026 World Cup in which way. And that, although the season has been running for a long time. Ricardo Pietreczko also criticized this condition recently at Sport1: “That doesn’t work.” Clemens finds the innovations otherwise “basically good,” as he emphasized. The tournament will be “bigger, there is more prize money and it will continue to grow as a result.”
“Wood Like to Deliver Better Results Again”
Regarding his own form, Clemens remained positive. “I would like to deliver better results again. I think my game is not that bad, only the results are not quite right,” described the 41-year-old.
A little more than a week ago, he celebrated a respectable success on the ProTour. At the Players Championship 16 in Hildesheim, Clemens fought his way into the semi-finals and only lost there to Northern Irishman Brendan Dolan with 5:7.
It was the first time since November 2023 that the “German Giant,” who has been in a sportingly difficult phase for months, reached a PDC semi-final again.