"Patience, hard work, good choices and determination can genuinely take you a long way" - Paul Nicholson praises the rise of Martin Schindler

Martin Schindler scored his biggest PDC success last weekend. 'The Wall' won the International Darts Open, defeating Gerwyn Price in the final in front of a raucous German crowd.

Paul Nicholson, a former major winner and now expert analyst, was impressed by Schindler's performance. "A lot of people in the modern era think that darts players are born good and hit immediate success in lots of different ways. For some it doesn’t work that way. Some people have to work extra hard to create their own destiny. Just look at Peter Wright. He was a good player in the 90s, but in order to be the champion he craved to be, he had to work hard for another 25 years," Nicholson writes in a column for the PDC's website.

"Maybe that is the lesson that a lot of current PDC professionals are living by if they see themselves falling short of their potential. Patience, hard work, good choices and determination can genuinely take you a long way," Nicholson continues. "There was a school of thought that people like Schindler might perform better outside of Germany as there would be less pressure to perform. This, in a time when no German player had grasped a PDC title of any sort."

"We stuck by that notion for a while, but when Max Hopp won in Saarbrucken in 2018 at the German Darts Open, we had to think differently because home advantage was about to take the German players by the throat. When Max, Martin, Gabriel Clemens, Ricardo Pietreczko and others graced the stage thereon, it was like a force of nature and the players had to use that to their advantage. Over time, Martin and the others have used it expertly," he explains. "All the while, Schindler was sticking to his process of hard work, patience and good choices."

Schindler became a father for the first time in 2022. "Since then, he has become a much more vibrant and reliable commodity,'' Nicholson analyses, certain fatherhood was a turning point for the German. "He has gradually exposed his talents to more and more stressful situations and thrived in a drip feeding manner that has had us darts enthusiasts intrigued and wanting more. There were clues along the way. Getting through Q-School in 2017 was the first one. He didn’t want to just be a home nation qualifier who sometimes revelled in German support in places like Düsseldorf or Hildesheim. He wanted more. Then, when that Tour Card was lost, he went to retrieve it and didn’t just take it, he forced the world to take him seriously."

Price started the final of the International Darts Open as a heavy favorite and defending champion. There was no fear for Schindler however. "Who would have thought it? The guy who pretty much owns Riesa, the guy that set his personal best average against Schindler in the World Cup in 2022 and the guy who hadn’t lost a Euro Tour final for six years would fall victim to the man who is known as The Wall," Nicholson concludes.

"Martin Schindler IS Germany's number one player in everyone’s eyes and the rankings now, so we wonder if he can take further steps. Now he has a taste for success, I am sure it is easy to say there is more to come, but his journey tells us more than that. He will have to work hard to get more, but he has every physical and mental tool to succeed, and who wouldn’t want him to?"