Martin Schindler calls for expanded World Cup of Darts

Martin Schindler wants to see the PDC World Cup of Darts following the World Championship's example.

The PDC sparked excitement by expanding the World Championship field to 96 players, which will offer new opportunities to a range of players. Along with the Ally Pally, the World Cup gives stage time to a wider variety of players than any major. Schindler's own rise to stardom came via the World Cup route. He and Max Hopp have formed a strong alliance for host nation Germany, reaching the quarter-finals in Frankfurt for two years in a row.
The Wall has now called for the World Cup to see a new expansion, especially after the 2018 appearance of China's Momo Zhou and the progression of the tournament's lesser-established national teams.
"The progression of the World Cup is excellent, to have more women competing is great, the same goes unknown nations. Switzerland played really well and I know they have good players and got what they deserved from the tournament," he told The Maximum.
"Unfortunately, there are only 32 nations competing in the World Cup, maybe there will be more in a few years' time. But as it is now, it's great to see 64 players representing their country and playing darts to a good standard."

Home passions

The scoring rarely meet the standards of other stage tournaments - though the World Cup provided two of the top 10 recorded televised averages - a fact which Schindler puts down to the format.
"The pairs format is difficult, it's hard to play with the slower rhythm, but there are positives," said the 21-year-old.
"When you aren't playing that well, you can rely on your partner a little more, and the encouragement I got from Max was fantastic."
The tournament has a permanent home in Frankfurt's Eissporthalle. That means vociferous support for Schindler and Hopp, though the Development Tour ace acknowledged the impact the crowd can have both on opponents and themselves.
"If you look at the World Cup there are a lot of German fans screaming their support, which can make you a bit nervous. You are always under pressure because you want to show them what you've got and that you're up there for a reason," he said.
"That can be considered a problem with the German fans, they mean good with their encouragement, but it can make it difficult for the players. There's usually booing for the opponents, but that makes it difficult for us as well."

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