Backed by a partisan German crowd in Riesa, 'The Wall' Martin Schindler proved to be too much for some of the biggest names in the PDC as he stormed to victory in this past weekend's International Darts Open, winning his very first PDC title and becoming the new German No.1 seed.
Previously, Max Hopp and Ricardo Pietreczko were the only two Germans to have won a senior PDC title, but after a run to the semi-finals of the German Darts Grand Prix in Munich, there was a lot of faith in Schindler to go even further this time around.
This faith felt particularly justified as the tournament reached its final session on Sunday evening. With European Tour stalwarts like Michael Van Gerwen (the man who ended Schindler's hopes in Munich) and former World Champion Gary Anderson absent from the Open, Luke Littler having not qualified and Luke Humphries eliminated in the last 16 by Stephen Bunting, fans were getting excited that a new name could be added to the European Tour title roll of honour.
Schindler began his tournament campaign demolishing his compatriot Jan Dueckers 6-1, where his opponent could only conjure up a 69.46 average. In round 2, he beat the highly-fancied Joe Cullen in a quality affair, averaging just over 105 to send the Rockstar packing.
Read More: 2024 GERMAN DARTS GRAND PRIX: LUKE HUMPHRIES MARVELLOUS IN MUNICH TRIUMPH
Facing the unseeded Richard Veenstra in the third round, 'The Wall' showed no signs of crumbling under the pressure, as he dismantled his Dutch opponent 6-1 to set up another clash with another Dutchman: Danny Noppert. The 27-year-old just barely scraping through in a last leg decider against 'The Freeze'.
In a surprisingly easy win in the semi-finals, Schindler kept home hopes alive by once again beating Chris Dobey, who until the semi was arguably the tournament's form player. Now all that awaited in the final was the defending champion, and former four time winner of the Open: Gerwyn Price.
The game started with Price, the pre-match favourite, in total control and winning the first two legs with ease. But the resilient Schindler bounced back in style to take the next three without reply and lead 3-2 before the Welshman wrestled back control and move to 4-3 ahead.
But some clinical doubles and immense scoring saw Schindler once again blow Price away, moving to 7-5 and within a leg of the match. Checking out on 48, Martin Schindler had finally realised his aspirations of darting glory on home soil as he became the winner of the 2024 International Darts Open.
SCHINDLER MAKES HISTORY IN RIESA!!! 🏆
— PDC Darts (@OfficialPDC) April 14, 2024
The German has done it on home soil 🙌
Martin Schindler beats reigning champion Gerwyn Price 8-5 to win his first ever European Tour title.
He is the 2024 https://t.co/Nw9IKxvF5P International Darts Open Champion 🥇 pic.twitter.com/qh3Ybko0Bp
By Jaspar Shepherdson
(@jasparshepmedia on X/Twitter and Instagram)
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