LONDON (dpa) – As a professional athlete, Florian Hempel is currently going through the most exciting and successful phase of his World Cup darts career. As a normal person, the 31-year-old from Cologne has to cut back a lot. Due to strict quarantine rules, Hempel cannot go home over the Christmas period and spend the Love Festival in London, where he will play his third-round match against Raymond Smith of Australia on December 27 at Alexandra Palace.

“Of course this is not what you want when your son is at home and celebrates Christmas with the whole family, and you can associate yourself with maximum face-to-face time,” Hempel of the German news agency said. He added that he would make Christmas at the players’ hotel “definitely beautiful, depending on the circumstances.” The former handball player in the second division surprisingly won 3-1 against Belgian world number five Dimitri van den Berg on Tuesday evening.

© dpa-infocom, dpa: 211224-99-496198 / 2