Michael Smith whitewashes 'Chizzy' as Van Duijvenbode dumps out no1 seed Schindler at European Championship 2024

Michael Smith and Dirk van Duijvenbode have recorded handsome victories at the 2024 European Championship on Thursday evening. The Dutch dart player won 6-3 over Martin Schindler, the number one seed at the tournament in Dortmund, whilst Smith whitewashed Dave Chisnall 6-0.

Schindler was making history, as never before had a German player led the field at a PDC major. The German owed this status to winning two tournaments on the Euro Tour in 2024. Whereas Schindler did not really have to worry about qualifying for the European Darts Championship for a moment, for Van Duijvenbode it was exciting until the end whether he was going to make it to this tournament. By losing to Kim Huybrechts in the final of the Czech Darts Open, Van Duijvenbode eventually qualified as the 32nd and final player for the European Darts Championship. Two years ago 'Aubergenius' was still in the semifinals of this tournament and that means he will have to defend that result this year.

Van Duijvenbode took his chances well in the beginning of the match. Schindler missed two chances to make 1-1, after which the Dutchman forced a break. Schindler broke back, but two 14-darters then gave Van Duijvenbode a 4-1 lead.

A third 14-darter in a row followed in the sixth leg, after which Schindler managed to halve the deficit from 1-5 to 3-5. Van Duijvenbode stayed on top and decided the game with a 13-darter.

In the last match of the evening, Michael Smith dominantly won 6-0 over Dave Chisnall. The scoring level was not very good with both men. However, the difference was that Smith hit his doubles, while Chisnall missed no less than twelve darts on the outer ring.

In the first leg, Chisnall already missed seven darts on the double. Smith then put the score at 2-0, before throwing out consecutive 104, 148 and 161. The verdict was delivered in leg six by Smith, who ended the match with an 18-darter.