Tournament in the Ally Pally: A decal: Schindler’s failure at the Darts World Cup

Martin Schindler’s words almost sounded like an apology. “Many thanks to the fans, I appreciate it. But I have to perform up there,” said the 28-year-old, for whom the 3-0 loss to Callan Rydz was one of the biggest setbacks of his career. Germany’s number one bravely faced all interviews after his debacle on the largest darts stage in the world. But Schindler had no explanation.

Schindler wanted to win two or three games at Alexandra Palace – in the end it was three legs on a memorable evening in which Schindler almost became the first German to throw a rare nine-darter at the World Cup. But against the Englishman Rydz he missed the narrow double 12 field by millimeters and was eliminated completely half an hour later.

Schindler not only travels home without an additional bonus of 60,000 pounds (around 72,000 euros) for a nine-darter, but also without a return ticket. Schindler is off after Christmas, which is the worst news for “The Wall”.

“I had the feeling that I wasn’t in control of the situation. It feels really dirty. Overall, it was like I left too much on the doubles. It’s not a nice feeling,” said Schindler at DAZN.

Before the World Cup, he spoke of his victories over the big players in the industry and that the second or third round was “not an acceptable result” for him. Schindler did not live up to this high self-aspiration. Eleven percent on the double fields is disastrous. “I stood up there feeling like I was throwing doubles for the first time. I had no feeling at all about the doubles up there, it was really a disaster,” said Schindler.

German top duo disappointed

The evening was a reflection of darts Germany in recent years: sometimes outstanding phases, but never there at the crucial moment. Gabriel Clemens’s entry into the World Cup semi-finals two years ago was the only major exception so far.

This time Clemens was clearly eliminated in round two with a score of 1:3 against the Welsh outsider Robert Owen and thus fell out of the top 32 in the world rankings. In contrast to Schindler, the Saarlander left the Ally Pally without commenting. Year after year, the largely uncritical German darts public predicts a big leap into the world’s best – but this hasn’t actually happened yet.

Eight perfect darts are not enough

The sequence was also fitting when Schindler was asked in a TV interview by Sport1 what positive things he would take from the World Cup after the early exit. “For me, I’m one of the first to play eight perfect darts in the Ally Pally. I’m happy that I gave you a little heart attack,” said Schindler, looking resolutely into the camera.

Meanwhile, in the background you could hear stage presenter John McDonald announcing the Filipino Paolo Nebrida to 3,500 enthusiastic fans to a booming bass. Nebrida stunned with a win against former European champion Ross Smith and was allowed to come back after Christmas. Schindler’s eight perfect darts will soon be forgotten in the midst of a turbulent World Cup.