“I feel a little bit lucky” – Ryan Joyce battles crowd and nerves to reach first European Championship quarter-final

Ryan Joyce admitted he “felt a little bit lucky” after battling past Germany’s Martin Schindler to reach the European Championship quarter-finals for the first time.

The 40-year-old Geordie produced a gritty 10–7 win in Dortmund, surviving waves of crowd noise and a patchy scoring display to continue his best run yet on the European stage.

“Yeah, I feel a little bit lucky to win that game because the performance wasn’t really very good,” Joyce admitted afterwards in conversation with Dartsnews.com among others. “A lot of my darts at treble 20 were hitting the wire and just not landing the right side. And when I finally did start to hit the treble, the next two darts would go wayward as well. We were both scoring around the hundreds, and I got a little bit frustrated during the match with the scoring side of things. I had to rely on Martin missing a lot of doubles – but when he did, I was there to punish him, and I thought I did a good job of that.”

Joyce began strongly but briefly lost control midway through the contest, though he steadied himself when it mattered most.

“It’s one of those things,” he said. “I’m not used to getting frustrated with my scoring anymore, so I just try to tell myself: ‘Look, this isn’t working – try something else.’ Throw the darts a little bit harder, hold them a bit lighter, just try something different. Because if you’re only scoring 60 or 59 at this level, you’re going to lose.”

That 76 checkout on double 18 proved the turning point, and for the first time all night, Joyce showed real emotion on stage.

“Yeah, that felt like a big moment in the match,” he smiled. “I think it was the only time I celebrated hitting a finish because, to be honest, I was in a bit of a mood from not playing great. It would have been nice to dismantle Martin when he was struggling, with a big ton-plus average, and make a statement – that’s what I was hoping to do. But it didn’t work out that way. Still, those little moments can make a huge difference. It’s the difference between being 7–5 up or 6–6. If you let Martin get momentum and the crowd get going, it becomes a very different game.”

The atmosphere inside the Westfalenhalle was, unsurprisingly, heavily in Schindler’s favour, but Joyce handled it with typical composure.

“I had prepared for a hostile atmosphere,” he explained. “I’ve played Martin a couple of times before on the Euro Tour, so I know what the German crowd’s like – that’s just the way it is. But I wouldn’t say they were quiet! I could hear them all through the game, don’t worry about that. Every time he hit a treble 20, there was a big roar. But I expected it, and if you’re expecting it, you can handle it much better than if it’s your first time and you’re not prepared.”

Joyce’s strength, as so often, lay in his finishing. While his scoring was patchy, his checkout percentage remained deadly. “That’s pretty much all I practice, really,” he admitted. “I don’t spend a lot of time on treble 20s – as you can probably tell from the erratic scoring – but I’m pleased I’m good at finishing. I think it’s the most important part of darts. You can win any match with any average if you hit your doubles. If you take every chance you get, you can beat anybody in the world. That’s been my philosophy since I joined the PDC – to focus on being really good at that part of the game. And I’m happy the hard work has paid off because the stats show I’m one of the best in the world at it.”

Even double top, once a weakness, has become a weapon. “Yeah, I’ve been putting a lot of work into double top,” Joyce said. “Before, if I had three darts at tops, I’d sometimes rather hit a big 8 than have two at double 16. But that doesn’t look great on TV. A professional should be competent in every segment on the board, so over the last year or so I’ve worked hard on improving that. Even on the Pro Tour, my tops finishing has been much better this year.”

Joyce described his 2025 season as “unusual” – a mix of highs and lows. “It’s been an unusual year,” he reflected. “I’ve had my best ever Euro Tour season, but one of my worst Players Championship seasons. I think I’m just about scraping into the top 64 for the Players Championship Finals. I’ll need to manage my schedule better next year. Playing so much and being away from home every week can wear you down and affect your game. I’ll look to balance it better because there are so many events now – it sometimes feels like you only get one day a week at home.”

He also remains committed to his long-held belief that nothing replaces real match practice. “I’ve always believed match practice is the best practice,” he said. “Playing top players on stage regularly brings your game on far more than throwing at a board at home."

"This year, the big difference is that I’ve qualified automatically for a lot more Euro Tours – no more qualifiers, just in as a ProTour Order of Merit player. And I’ve made a real effort to travel to every event," he added. "That experience – being on stage against top players every week – is massive. Especially with the prize money going up next year, I feel I’m in a good position to have a big push and do really well.”

True to form, Joyce refuses to make big statements or set numerical goals. “I haven’t set any goals or targets,” he said. “I always take it the same way: three darts at a time. When you walk on stage, just focus on the next three darts. If you’ve had a bad visit, think about why and fix it for the next one. Make sure you follow through properly, keep it simple. That’s all that matters – just the next three darts.”

Joyce’s win over Schindler may not have been a display of dominance, but it showcased the mental resilience and composure that define his game. “I didn’t play great,” he summed up. “But I did what I needed to do to win. And that’s what it’s all about.”