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. In 2016, Hempel ended his handball career in Cologne with , where he had moved to advance his educational studies; he eventually qualified as a fitness coach and nutritionist.
Darts career Hempel began playing darts in his flat in 2017, and in 2018 quit his job, registered for unemployment benefits, and took on darts as a full-time job.
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. 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, and described it as "madness". 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 Tournament 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 2026 DNQ 3R 2R 3R 2RDNQ DNQ 1RDNQ UK OpenWD 4R 4R 4R 3RDNQ European Championship 2RDNQ DNQ 2RDNQCareer statisticsSeason-end ranking6250605372
PDC European Tour Season 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 2019Did not qualifyDDM2RDNQEDM1RDNQ 2021HDT2RGDT2R 2022IDO1RDNQCDO1RDNQEDM2RDNQ 2023BSD1REDO1RIDO2RGDG1RDid not qualifyGDO3RHDTDNQGDC1R 2024Did not qualifyHDT2RSDTDNQCDO1R
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 31 32 33 34 2021Did not participateNIE1RNIE1RNIE2RNIE1RMILDNPCOV3RCOV2RCOV2RCOV3RBAR3RBAR1RBAR1RBAR2RBAR2RBAR1RBARSFBAR1RBAR4RBAR1R 2022BAR1RBAR2RWIG1RWIG2RBAR1RBAR2RNIE1RNIE1RBAR1RBAR1RBAR1RBAR4RBAR3RWIG1RWIGQFNIE1RNIE1RBAR2RBAR2RBAR1RBAR1RBAR3RBAR1RBAR3RBAR2RBAR1RBAR2RBAR3RBAR2RBAR1R 2023BAR2RBAR1RBAR1RBAR2RBAR1RBAR2RHIL2RHIL2RWIGDNPLEI2RLEI1RHIL1RHIL3RLEI1RLEI1RHIL3RHIL1RBAR1RBAR4RBAR3RBAR1RBAR1RBAR2RBAR1RBAR2RBAR2RBAR4RBAR1RBAR1R 2024WIG1RWIG2RLEI1RLEI4RHIL3RHIL1RLEIDNPHIL1RHIL1RHIL2RHIL2RMIL2RMIL3RMIL1RMIL3RMILSFMIL2RMIL2RWIG3RWIG2RLEI1RLEI1RWIG1RWIG1RWIG2RWIG1RWIG3RLEI3RLEI2R 2025WIG1RWIGQFROS2RROS1RLEI2RLEI1RHIL1RHIL2RLEI1RLEI1RLEI2RLEI1RROS1RROS1RHIL1RHIL1RLEI2RLEI1RLEI3RLEIDNPHIL1RHIL2RMIL3RMIL3RHIL1RHIL1RLEI2RLEI1RLEI1RWIG2RWIG2RWIG2RWIG2R
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