Ralf Sandner and his Erdinger friends experience the Darts World Cup and are enthusiastic about precision and party mood.
Erding
– The Alexandra Pallace was freshly aired when the five Erdingers entered.
"It still didn't smell good, because there's always a bit of the scent of poured beer in the air.
But after half an hour you no longer notice it.” Ralf Sandner says it with a laugh.
He and his four friends have been at full throttle for four hours, and everyone at Ally Pally is responsible for that: the 3,000 fans who either sing or drink or dance – sometimes all at the same time – and the darts professionals who crowned their world champions here.
Sandner, himself a footballer all his life and currently head of department at FC Erding, is very enthusiastic about this sport: "It's the highest precision.
And yet everything goes fast.
It's never long-winded.
The players are often in the finish area with eight or nine arrows.
And how reliably they hit the triple fields – even if they train for six or more hours a day – is simply amazing.”
He's been following the World Cup for over a decade, "but now also the Premier League," he says.
He has already experienced such a tournament live in Sindelfingen.
And then there was this birthday present for his 50th. Unfortunately, then there was also Corona.
"That's why I had to wait another two years."
But then came the day in July when advance sales began on the Internet.
Christian Gärtner, Ben Göllert, Mathias Bartke and Timo Dörhofer secured tickets for the afternoon session on December 27th.
"That was before the great successes of Gaga Clemens," says the 52-year-old.
"That's why this afternoon was still very much dominated by the English fans.
But that didn't matter to us at all."
Darts don't have much to do with comparing nationalities anyway, Sandner finds and sees himself confirmed in the four hours in Ally Pally.
"Every player was cheered on, every 180 and every finish celebrated - no matter by whom." The fact that Gerwyn Pryce was booed a week later "probably has to do with his personality," says Sandner, "none of us had that Player".
The Erdinger quintet saw, among other things, the third round victories of the later Belgian semi-finalist Dimitiri Van den Bergh and Johnny Clayton as well as the defeat of Nathan Aspinall against newcomer Josh Rock.
"That was definitely the best game in terms of sport," enthuses Sandner.
But the Darts World Cup is so much more.
There's the outfit.
"Actually, it's like we have in carnival.
Apart from a few, everyone is dressed up.” What he liked best was the car wash: four men spinning in brightly colored plush rollers, through which a fifth drove through and was brushed off.
Two Trump doubles would have had a lot of fun with their drinking.
Every player is cheered
The Erdingers had ordered T-shirts on which the Bavarian-British friendship was invoked.
They set a special sign with their hats, which are emblazoned with a dartboard and a 180.
And it was still blinking.
"That's why you saw where we were sitting on TV," says Sandner.
The cameraman also found the quintet original and often had his sights set on them.
"We were seen several times during the Sky broadcast," enthuses Sandner.
Speaking of seeing: "The Ally Pally is built ingeniously," enthuses the man from Erding.
“You have an absolutely good view of what is happening.
The hall is not as huge as it often appears on television.
And the screen is huge too.”
If some no longer have all the results on the screen, it was more due to the alcohol.
"There's no question that half the people were drunk after an hour anyway," says Sandner.
The beer is served in three-liter mugs and, at around 28 euros, is not exactly cheap.
Sandner: "To be honest, the drinks are very expensive, but you know that when you fly there."
What particularly impresses Sandner: there was no excess alcohol.
“The level of aggression here is zero.
I have never experienced something like that.
Things get hot in football stadiums, but there was only good humor here.
No argument, nothing."
And that continued in the evening when the five residents of the Duchy of Duchy watched the next games in the pub.
"The World Cup will be broadcast in every pub," he says, adding: "Maybe next year we'll get tickets for an evening session."
Thursday is Darts-Stüberl-Day
Because it has long been clear to Sandner that this was not the last darts trip.
"And then we'll plan a bit of London sightseeing as well."
"I rarely play myself, although I have a record in the basement," he says.
But his son Mathias is often there when the cheats fly in the former swimming pool kiosk.
"Timo (Dörhöfer, ed.) also plays very well," says Sandner.
But the best is Ben Göllert, who not only hunts goals for the FCE, but is also active in the Erding steel dart club.
"On Thursdays it's hot in our Darts-Stüberl," says Sandner - a touch of Ally Pally is also blowing through Erding - maybe not quite as strict as in London.
