Martin Schindler won his first-ever PDC ranking title Sunday night. 'The Wall' surprisingly took the title at the International Darts Open by defeating Gerwyn Price in the final, making Schindler the third German player to manage to win a Euro Tour tournament.
Schindler was already in a Pro Tour final two years ago. Then he lost in the final of Players Championship 8 to Michael van Gerwen. The Dutchman then also bothered Schindler the previous two times the German was in the semifinals at a Euro Tour tournament.
Of 'Mighty Mike' Schindler had no trouble in Riesa, as Van Gerwen had withdrew for the International Darts Open. Schindler successively defeated Jan Dueckers (6-1), Joe Cullen (6-3), Richard Veenstra (6-1), Danny Noppert (6-5) and Chris Dobey (7-3) to qualify for the final.
The biggest challenge, however, awaited in the final. Price had already won the Euro Tour tournament in Riesa four times and made it to the final match again after wins over Brendan Dolan (6-4), Ricardo Pietreczko (6-3), Ross Smith (6-5) and Stephen Bunting (7-5).
Price gained a 2-0 lead in the final, but let the lead slip out of his hands after missing four doubles in the fourth leg. Schindler equalized via double 16 and took over the lead with a 15-darter. The next two legs went to Price again, but "The Iceman" squandered another break. Schindler evened the score again after an 80 finish in the eighth leg and took over the lead with a 120 finish. The German then made it 7-4 via a 20-darter and a 10-darter.
Price made things exciting for a while by reducing the deficit to 7-5 with a 12-darter. Schindler then started the leg that would give him the title with a 140 score. 'The Wall' finally managed to finish it off with a 17-darter, after which he emotionally fell to the ground on stage.
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