Florian Hempel

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

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 in the Dutch Darts Masters in May 2019, he defeated Ryan Harrington 6–0.[12] Having previously attempting to achieve his Tour Card in both 2018 and 2020,[13] Hempel won his PDC Tour Card during the 2021 European Q-School event.[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 début in October in the 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 7–3 to Michael Smith.[18] Ahead of his PDC World Darts Championship début, 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.

PDC European Tour

• Media related to Florian Hempel at Wikimedia Commons
• Player profile on Florian Hempel from Dartsdatabase