“I want to be one of the best dart players in the world'' - Martin Schindler brushes off German number one tag

Martin Schindler scored the greatest triumph of his career last Sunday by winning the International Darts Open. As a result, the 27-year-old German climbed to 22nd place in the world rankings.

Schindler had a hard time holding back his tears afterwards. "My knees are shaking right now," he reflected afterwards. "It's just crazy. I've been playing this tour for seven to eight years now. It's been such a long journey, and now I'm standing here with one of these beautiful trophies. I could never have dreamed of this ten years ago, but I have worked so hard for this. I've invested so much and right now, I might just be the happiest man on earth.”

Schindler moved up to 22nd place, one place higher than previous German number one Gabriel Clemens, thanks to this tournament victory. "I’ve said before that I don’t play darts to be above Gabriel Clemens in the rankings," Schindler said of that fact. “I want to be one of the best dart players in the world.''

“When you win a title on the European Tour, I think you are one of the best, and that’s the most important thing," he concludes. “The top priority for me this weekend was to improve my ranking for the World Matchplay and the World Grand Prix, and that worked completely to plan. I'm so happy about that, and I'm so happy to win this trophy.”