Booed, but hard-nosed: For the first time in his career, Martin Schindler wins a game at the Darts World Championship. On the way to the premiere victory, the 26-year-old German provided a historic moment in "Ally Pally".
Throughout the game, Martin Schindler was booed again and again in London's Alexandra Palace, but at the end of the third set in his opening game at the Darts World Cup, the mostly English spectators cheered with him. The reason for the short-term mood swing of the 3,000 darts fans is a special moment. It's not as rare as the perfect game, the nine-darter, but it's still so rare that the audience is happy with a German even if it's against an English local hero: triple 20, triple 20, bullseye.
Martin Schindler brings 170 points to zero at this moment. A higher score cannot be identified with a shot in darts. For the first time ever, the so-called "Big Fish", as the highest finish is called, will be landed at the 2023 Darts World Cup. The highest possible checkout is also historic for darts Germany: never before in the 30-year history of the world championship has a German checked out the high finish.
The spectacular end of the third set put Schindler on the road to victory on Friday evening. The game was against the world number 41. balanced out from Schindler's point of view. Schindler grabbed the first set 3-2 on the last groove. Set two, in turn, went to Lukeman after missed chances on the doubles. Then Schindler suddenly caught the "Big Fish".
In the fourth sentence, Lukeman is initially noticeably unsettled. Schindler can take advantage of this, pulls away to 2-0 and is only one leg away from the next round. Although Lukeman turns up the heat again for a short time, Schindler uses his first match dart directly when the score is 2:1. He succeeds so quickly and unorthodoxly that even the cameraman can't keep up. 92 points remaining are on the scorecard at Schindler. bulls-eye. Single 14. Double 14. Unlimited cheers.
"I will never forget that," Schindler said after the game at Sport1. His enthusiasm is not surprising, after all it wasn't just a win for the world number 29 at the most important tournament of the year. "It's the first time at the World Cup that I've progressed a round. And now I'm allowed to come back here after Christmas - how cool is that!? The 170 was the icing on the cake."
Schindler has always been eliminated in the first round of three World Cup appearances, most recently last year against his compatriot Florian Hempel. This time, Schindler was only allowed to enter the tournament in round two because he was among the top 32 in the world rankings after strong performances on the Pro Tour in the run-up to the World Cup. After its premiere success, "The Wall", as the native of Brandenburg is called, is now in the third round.
On the evening of December 28, Schindler meets an Englishman again, but this time he is a clear outsider. Michael Smith is waiting for the 26-year-old German. The "Bully Bolly" won a major title for the first time at the Grand Slam of Darts in November and has since been considered one of the top favorites for the World Championship title.
In order to create the sensation against Smith, Schindler would have to play even more consistently than in his opening game. Schindler is aware that his point average, the average of 93 per shot, "won't be enough against Michael Smith". And still sends a small declaration of war: "The average doesn't always say everything. When there are moments like 170, the average doesn't matter."
The turbulent opening match was preceded by a real roller coaster ride for Schindler. Schindler's flight from Frankfurt to London was canceled on Thursday afternoon due to heavy fog in the British capital. With a two-hour delay, the 26-year-old and his manager Ioannis Selachoglou finally headed for Great Britain.
But when he arrived in London, Schindler suddenly found that his checked luggage, including his darts, had not come with him. Luckily, Selachoglou had spread the darts between his and Schindler's suitcases. "A set came in his suitcase, a set in mine, I don't know exactly how I came up with it, but I guess I had an intuition," Selachoglou told the "Welt".
Schindler is now flying back to Hesse to his wife and recently born daughter for Christmas. To be on the safe side and not to leave the sporting fate in the hands of the baggage carousel, the German darts hope will leave his darts in the hotel in London.
A day before Schindler contests his third round game, the second remaining German in the tournament continues. Gabriel Clemens meets Welshman Jim Williams on December 27th. The "German Giant" goes into the game as a slight favorite and hopes to repeat his place in the round of 16 two years ago. The qualification for the round of 16 is the best result of a German at the Darts World Cup in "Ally Pally" to date.
With the start of the third round, the tournament traditionally really picks up speed. That should be even more the case this year: of the 32 seeded players, 29 made it into the hot phase of the tournament. This is by far the highest rate of all time. The surprises or sensations that have been missing so far mean that there are nothing but top games. For example, the World Cup favorites Nathan Aspinall and Josh Rock will meet on December 27th, and the world number one and winner of the 2021 title, Gerwyn Price, will meet five-time champion Raymond van Barneveld.
