International Darts Open: Martin Schindler upsets Gerwyn Price to win first PDC title
- Published
Martin Schindler's previous best on the European Tour was two semi-final appearances
Germany's Martin Schindler upset third seed Gerwyn Price to claim the first PDC title of his career at the International Darts Open on Sunday.
Price, 39, was the two-time defending champion and has won the European Tour event a record four times overall.
The Welshman led the final but 27-year-old Schindler fought back to win 8-5, cheered on by a home crowd in Riesa.
He became the latest winner on the European Tour - 10 years after working for PDC Europe as a steward.
At one point the world number 24 was two legs down to the 2021 world champion, but he recovered to clinch victory and become just the third German player to win a PDC title.
Schindler's previous best on the European Tour was reaching the semi-finals of last year's event in Riesa and the German Darts Grand Prix two weeks ago, which was won by current world champion Luke Humphries.
The third European Tour event of this year's schedule saw Humphries dealt an early exit at the hands of Stephen Bunting, losing 6-4, while fellow top-10 players Nathan Aspinall, Rob Cross and Damon Heta joined him in being knocked out in the third round.
Cross' conqueror Ritchie Edhouse was beaten 6-5 in the quarter-finals by Bunting, who then lost 7-5 in the semis to Price - a 6-5 winner over Ross Smith in the quarters.
After getting past Heta, Ryan Searle lost 6-2 to Chris Dobey and despite dumping out Aspinall, Danny Noppert lost 6-5 to Schindler.
The home favourite brushed aside Dobey 7-3 in the semis before sealing a memorable evening, dropping to his knees in disbelief after overcoming Price.