Martin Schindler missed his first final on the European Tour at the German Darts Grand Prix. His conqueror Michael van Gerwen later lost the final to Luke Humphries.
Humphries outclassed veteran van Gerwen from the Netherlands 8-1 in just 13 minutes on Monday evening (04/01/24). The Englishman converted his first match dart. He had previously taken the leg to 7:1 with a “big fish” (170 points in one shot).
Schindler in the semi-finals for the second time
With a strong run in Munich, Schindler reached the semi-finals for only the second time on the tour, but was defeated by three-time world champion Michael “Mighty Mike” van Gerwen with 2:7 legs.
Schindler got into the game well against van Gerwen, supported by the Munich crowd, but missed the great chance for an early break in the third leg. His opponent did better in the sixth round and extended his lead in the following two legs. The second match dart finally sealed Schindler’s sixth defeat in a row against the Dutchman.
Dobey and Aspinall beaten
On his way to the semi-finals, Schindler had previously defeated some well-known opponents. After “The Wall” had already eliminated world number nine Damon Heta from Australia at the weekend, he beat Chris Dobey and number four in the Order of Merit Nathan Aspinall (both England) 6-4 in the round of 16 and quarter-finals on Easter Monday ) through.
Germany’s number one Gabriel Clemens (Saarwellingen) had already failed against his opening opponent Dimitri van den Bergh (Belgium). Ricardo Pietreczko (Nuremberg), who is 34th in the world rankings, twelve places behind Clemens and ten behind Schindler, was eliminated in round two.