WMartin Schindler had to explain himself so often in the past few weeks. What is he doing differently? What did he change? The famous run of the 25-year-old darts pro raises questions.
“You have to enjoy being up here. You have to work on yourself and love being up here. Luckily it’s working right now,” Schindler replied after his round of 16 victory at the European Darts Grand Prix.
He defeated Martin Lukeman 6:5 and, following his success in Munich, reached a quarter-final on the European Tour for the second time this year. “I think he has a lot of self-confidence because he already beat me in Munich and wanted to try the same here,” said Schindler about his opponent.
“Smash” also proved its strength of form in Stuttgart and made it into the round of 16 with a 6:1 win over Michael van Gerwen. It wasn’t enough this time against the German, who was seeded in the top 16 for the second time and, thanks to his 6-2 win over Madars Razma, also used his position this time to win £3,000 in prize money.
Schindler corrected the early break with a 122 finish to make it 1: 1, then checked 88 points via the bullseye to make it 2: 1, then carried out his throws confidently and worked persistently on the break. He just missed 164 points on the bullseye to make it 3:1, and the Englishman also had to show his class to make it 3:3, checking 90 on the bullseye.
Here darts professional Martin Schindler imitates his colleagues
Martin Schindler is not only one of the best German darts professionals. He is also an excellent impersonator. Here he recreates six world-class players. Do you recognize these players?
When the score was 5: 4, the German even earned a match dart, but after missing double 20 after 160 rest, he had to make the decider, which was supposed to become a thriller.
Also on the way up: Martin Lukeman caused a bang against Michael van Gerwen
Source: PDC Europe/Kais Bodensieck
Both players were level, so it was Schindler’s throw-off advantage that tipped the scales. After Lukeman missed 124 points on the bullseye, Schindler checked the 40 points with the third dart on double 10. “Martin made it difficult for me. It wasn’t easy,” said Schindler, “I’m just happy.”
Disappointment for Gabriel Clemens
It was also a win in the bull out that decided Schindler’s quarterfinals against Damon Heta – this time to the disadvantage of the German. “The Wall” lost 5:6 against the Australian despite another world-class performance.
He fell behind early on with 0:3 and 1:4, but then started to catch up. When he checked 164 points to make it 3:4, the Hanns-Martin-Schleyer-Halle was upside down, and Schindler took the momentum with him, immediately followed up with the next 180, had 56 remaining after nine darts and finished in twelve darts to 4: 4.
Heta only just managed to make it 5:4 – Schindler was waiting with 50 remaining – before the Brandenburger forced the decider in 13 darts, but then lost it with his weakest leg overall. Small consolation that his 99.21 average was six and a half points better than The Heat.
Nevertheless, Schindler continues to climb the Order of Merit and, thanks to his recent result, also has a good chance of being seeded again at the upcoming European Tour events. Already celebrated as “number one” by the fans in Stuttgart, “The Wall” jumped to 45th place in the world rankings calculated on the basis of the results of the past 24 months set for round two of the World Championship.
While Schindler is currently experiencing the best phase of his career, the knot does not want to burst with the other Germans. Florian Hempel and Max Hopp weren’t even able to qualify, Lukas Wenig (0:6 against Joe Murnan), Dragutin Horvat (3:6 against Nathan Rafferty) lost their opening games on Friday, and Gabriel Clemens also experienced the next disappointment. The German number one surprisingly lost 5:6 to the Swede Johan Engstrom.
In low form: Gabriel Clemens is not really getting going after an elbow injury
Quelle: pa/empics/Kieran Cleeves
European Darts Grand Prix Results
round of 16
Martin Schindler (GER) – Martin Lukeman (ENG) 6: 5
Ryan Searle (ENG) – Damon Heta (AUS) 5: 6
Daryl Gurney (NIR) – Rowby-John Rodriguez 3:6
Rob Cross (ENG) – Krzsyzstof Ratajski (POL) 6: 4
Brendan Dolan (NIR) – Andrew Gilding (ENG) 6:3
Luke Humphries (ENG) – Joe Murnan (ENG) 6: 3
Peter Wright (SCO) – Jonny Clayton (WAL) 6:1
Danny Noppert (NED) – Nathan Rafferty (NIR) 6: 4
Quarterfinals
Martin Schindler (GER) – Damon Heta (AUS) 5:6
Rowby-John Rodriguez – Rob Cross (ENG) 4:6
Brendan Dolan (NIR) – Luke Humphries (ENG) 0:6
Peter Wright (SCO) – Danny Noppert (NED) 6:1
semifinals
Damon Heta (AUS) – Rob Cross (ENG) 4: 7
Luke Humphries (ENG) – Peter Wright (SCO) 7:4
Finale
Rob Cross (ENG) – Luke Humphries (ENG) 7:8
