Ross Smith and Michael Smith reach semi-finals at European Darts Open after surviving thrillers
PDCSunday, 23 June 2024 at 21:18
Michael Smith and Ross Smith have joined Damon Heta and Dave Chisnall in the semi-finals at the European Darts Open. The two Smiths meet in the last four for a place in the final of the Euro Tour tournament in Leverkusen.
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Smith beat Martin Schindler 6-5 in front of his own crowd. He broke Schindler in the third leg with a 114 finish and made it 3-1 with a 58 check-out. 'The Wall' then returned to 3-3 and took over the lead with a 56 finish.
Schindler then came within one leg of victory by throwing out 74 in the eighth leg. In the ninth leg, the German missed one matchdart before Smith halved the deficit with an 86 finish. With a 12-darter, Smith forced a last leg. Schindler missed another matchdart in the last leg, before 'Bullyboy' decided the match with a 13-darter.
In line with the other quarter-finals, the match between Ross Smith and Gian van Veen was also decided after a decisive leg. The Dutchman had chances to reach the semi-finals, but could not capitalise on his chances.
Smith immediately led by a break, but had to surrender that break in the sixth leg after Van Veen threw out 82 for 3-3. Via double 8, 'GVV The Giant' then took the lead for the first time in the match.
Van Veen missed a chance on tops to double the lead to 5-3. Smith hit the double 6 to make 4-4, after which both players held their own leg once more. Van Veen was allowed to start the last leg, but missed two matchdarts to reach the semi-finals. Smith took advantage and threw out 25 to force a clash with Michael Smith.
The European Darts Open is one of the longest running Euro Tour tournaments. The first edition was played back in 2012, when it was won by Raymond van Barneveld. Michael van Gerwen is the record winner of this tournament with five titles. In 2023, this event was won by Gerwyn Price, who beat Dirk van Duijvenbode 8-7 in a thrilling final.
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I stumbled into the world of darts quite by accident back in 2013. For a Journalism School assignment, I had to produce a live sports report and as it happened, the European Tour event in Veldhoven was the only available option. That weekend, I caught the darts bug. The post-match interviews especially appealed to me, as darts players tend to be much more open and approachable than what you usually see with footballers on television.
After a few detours, I joined Dartsnieuws.com in 2017 as editor-in-chief. I don’t have much competitive experience myself, although I once entered a PDC Development Tour weekend just to experience what it’s like from a player’s perspective. I even managed to win a leg against a Tour Card holder and, quite by accident, earned £50 in prize money.
In 2022, I was also involved in the founding of the TOTO Dart Kings, a commercial darts team, where I worked as media manager for three years. Unfortunately, due to new legislation in the Netherlands, that project came to an end in 2025.
Through my work in darts, I’ve been fortunate to travel to some incredible events, from Premier League nights at Ahoy Rotterdam, to several World Championships, and even the US Darts Masters at Madison Square Garden in New York.
Beyond darts, I’m a passionate sports fan in general. You can always wake me up for a game of tennis or padel, and I love following football, tennis, padel, cycling, Formula 1, and ice skating.
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- I loved Jan and loved his walk on music "Explode" by Jordan & Baker. I think if he stuck around the BDO he definitely would have been World Champion, should have won in 2014, he never really showed any of his talent in the PDC. I remembered he worked in a bank or in finance and maybe that was his priority, he was also a fan and interested in magic. Definitely should have achieved much more in darts than he did. Wherever you are nowadays Jan, hope all is well and I was always a fan.richieburnettrocks11-09-2026
- Not much of a tournament really,is it? Now they've all pulled out,it's open for everyone. I'm sure if you bought tickets,you'd be disappointed. Doesn't that seem to bother the withdrawals? Not at all!!rick6710-09-2026
- Need to see her take part in the womens tour. She'll break the inernet.medinabello08-09-2026
- If he can be bothered? He won't play darts in Germany yet he'll go over and get an award!??rick6702-09-2026
- Why is this the main story? He chose not to compete in loads of tournaments,yes he's number 1 in the world,but he does have to turn up at tournaments! Play the next world championship in Dortmund and see if he turns up!!rick6727-08-2026
- This is exactly what I mean,littler survives the 1st round,I think you'll find a lot of other players did. Can you just report on the real sport,and not just 1 person. I like Luke,but this is getting boring now,as Kevin painter once said to Taylor!! The sport is about every player,not 1 who everyone seems to have put the sport on the map.,which he hasn't,he's just got in when the money is massive. Great as he is,it seems like what's the point in anyone trying,he's going to win everything,unless it's in Germany or Australia!!!rick6726-08-2026
- I mean look, Littler's picture is first,wattimena is second and he won! Level it up. I know littler is fantastic,but the sport was here before him,and will be when he's retired. Any player in the top 64/128 can beat each other,it's not big news. Poor Jermaine,wins it,and not even the headline!!rick6726-08-2026
- I appreciate that littler is a fantastic player,but the top 3 articles are about him. Before he'd thrown a dart in the tournament. Level it out a bit, Taylor and van gerwen soon got disliked as the media could only see them,and nobody else seemed to matterrick6725-08-2026
- The two-point Lucky Loser qualifiers are Ross Smith, Robb, Whitlock, Sakai, Ilagan and Toylo. Jermaine is not on the entries list on Dartconnect for the TCH qualifier so the four from the main OoM are probably Searle, Nijman, Dobey, Wattimena.Scoobedybop24-08-2026
- The two-point Lucky Loser qualifiers are Ross Smith, Robb, Whitlock, Sakai, Ilagan and Toylo. Jermaine is not on the entries list on Dartconnect for the TCH qualifier so the four from the main OoM are probably Searle, Nijman, Dobey, Wattimena.Scoobedybop24-08-2026
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