# 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 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, 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 Longericher Sport Club [de], 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 |
| PDC World Championship | DNQ | 3R | 2R | 3R | 2R |
| PDC World Masters | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | 1R |
| UK Open | WD | 4R | 4R | 4R | 3R |
| European Championship | 2R | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | |
| Players Championship Finals | DNQ | DNQ | 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 | 31 | 32 | 33 | 34 |
| 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 |
| 2025 | WIG 1R | WIG QF | ROS 2R | ROS 1R | LEI 2R | LEI 1R | HIL 1R | HIL 2R | LEI | LEI | LEI | LEI | ROS | ROS | HIL | HIL | LEI | LEI | LEI | HIL | HIL | MIL | MIL | MIL | HIL | HIL | LEI | LEI | LEI | WIG | WIG | WIG | WIG | WIG |
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 | #R RR Prel. | Lost in # round Round-robin Preliminary round | NYF | Not yet founded |