Ross Smith has won the Machineseeker European Championship for a second time after overcoming a late Martin Schindler fightback to claim an 11-8 victory in Dortmund. The 2022 champion fired a 107 average in his last-eight victory over Luke Woodhouse and rallied from 4-1 down to beat Gerwyn Price 11-7, setting up a showdown against German No 1 Schindler at Westfalenhallen. Smith edged a tight opening session before reeling off six straight legs against Schindler, who almost fell 9-2 behind before capitalising on some wayward finishing to sneak a 20-dart break of throw.
Victory sees Smith join Michael van Gerwen, Phil Taylor, Rob Cross and Peter Wright as the only players to win multiple European Championship titles, with his latest success following his World Series of Darts title in September and lifting him to world No 6. Luke Littler was the pre-tournament favourite to claim the only missing ranked major from his glittering CV, only for the world No 1 to suffer a shock quarter-final exit to Krzysztof Ratajaski. Schindler thrashed Jonny Clayton 10-1 and despatched Ratajaski to reach his maiden ranked TV final, with the German missing chances to grab the early lead against Smith.
He wasted multiple opportunities to break in the third leg but responded with a 14-dart hold in the next, levelling the match, before Smith quickly pulled away. Smith took out an 86 finish to break and kept the German crowd quiet by sweeping all five legs in the next mini session, with Schindler only allowed back in when his opponent squandered five darts at double to open a seven-leg lead. The pair traded breaks of throw before Schindler followed a 15-dart hold by firing successive ton-plus checkouts, with Smith stuttering over the closing legs before wrapping up victory with his fifth match dart.
Source: Sky Sports Champions League · Summarized by HeadlinesBriefing