Florian Hempel

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 . 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, Hempel was a goalkeeper in handball, beginning his career with SG Kühnau, before moving to Dessau-Roßlauer HV in the 2010–11 2. Handball-Bundesliga season. This proved to be his only appearance in the division, and made a further two appearances in the third tier. where he had moved to advance his educational studies;

Darts career Hempel began playing darts in his flat in 2017,

On his PDC European Tour debut at the Dutch Darts Masters in May 2019, he whitewashed Ryan Harrington 6–0. Hempel lost to Simon Whitlock 6–3 in the second round.

Having previously attempted to gain a Tour Card in both 2018 and 2020, Hempel won a PDC Tour Card at 2021 European Q-School, winning the event 3 final. In March, he withdrew from the UK Open due to family reasons. In April, he completed his first nine-dart finish during a European Super League whitewash victory over Marco Obst.

Hempel made his PDC televised debut in October at the 2021 European Championship, eliminating reigning champion Peter Wright 6–3. The following week, he reached his first semi-final on the PDC Pro Tour before losing there 7–3 to Michael Smith. Ahead of his PDC World Darts Championship debut, Hempel featured as a guest commentator on Sport1 for the 2021 Grand Slam of Darts. 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. 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

PDC European Tour

PDC Players Championships