Ross Smith storms to second European Darts Championship title

Ross Smith surged to a second European Darts Championship title with an 11-8 victory over home hero Martin Schindler in the final in Dortmund on Sunday.

Smith, who clinched a first major title on the same stage four years ago, repeated the feat at the Westfallenhalle, denying Schindler a fairy-tale triumph.

The victory comes just six weeks after Smith had doubled his major title tally at the World Series Finals and sees him climb eight places to a career-high world number six.

After four holds of throw to commence the final, Smith reeled off six legs on the spin to take a commanding 8-2 lead and move three away from a dominant win.

However, Schindler battled back with four consecutive legs, including checkouts of 116 and 127, to reduce the deficit to 9-6 and threaten a remarkable turnaround.

Nevertheless, Smith steadied the ship with a hold of throw to go one leg away, before eventually sealing victory with his fifth match dart to secure the £150,000 top prize.

“To have this trophy in my hands and to win another major, I’m absolutely over the moon,” said Smith.

“I was a little bit nervous going into that last break. Martin wouldn’t let up would he? Full credit to him.

“I’ve played Martin many times on the circuit and he’s fantastic. He’s a really lovely guy as well, but he’s so hard to play. He’s a fighter.

“I just play the game in front of me. Every game I play is a final, I’m buzzing to have won another major, and that’s for my Mum and Dad!”

Smith, seeded number one following his brace of European Tour titles this season, opened up with a 6-4 win over Karel Sedlacek on Thursday, before fending off Damon Heta with a 10-7 triumph on Saturday.

The 37-year-old then averaged 107 in 10-6 victory over Luke Woodhouse in the quarter-finals, defying an average of over 103 and a 60 per cent checkout success rate from his opponent.

Smith then saw off Gerwyn Price 11-7 in the semi-finals, recovering from 4-1 down to deny the Welshman a place in a fourth consecutive televised final.

“It’s a strange one. I really don’t think I played great this week,” added Smith, who became the first top seed to win the European Championship since 2017.

“I had a really good game against Luke Woodhouse; I think a lot of players let me off as well, but sometimes you have to win ugly.

“I’m proud of doing that because you have got to dig deep. You have to really fight hard and I think I’ve done that this weekend.

“I’ll keep doing what I’m doing. I’m loving the darts and I’m enjoying playing in front of amazing crowds like this. They were so respectful. They’ve been absolutely brilliant today.”

Despite just falling short of a first major title, Schindler made history in reaching the European Championship final on home soil, becoming the first German to reach a televised ranking final.

Schindler began his campaign with a tense deciding-leg victory over second seed Wessel Nijman on Friday, before sweeping aside Jermaine Wattimena 10-4 with a clinical display to reach the quarter-finals.

The German number one produced a astonishing performance to demolish Jonny Clayton 10-1, averaging 103 and missing only five darts at doubles whilst restricting the world number five to just two attempts at the outer-ring throughout the contest.

The three-time European Tour winner then denied Krzysztof Ratajski in the semi-finals, holding off a late-match fightback from the Polish number one to triumph 11-6.

Schindler’s exploits on home soil have secured him a spot in next month’s Grand Slam of Darts, as well as climbing back up to 20th in the Order of Merit.

“When I started playing darts ten years ago, I didn’t expect anything and now I made a major final,” confessed an emotional Schindler, who entered Dortmund as the 31st seed after narrowly securing qualification in the final European Tour event of the year.

“I tried everything to win this one, but fair play to Ross, he played well.

“I lost but I’m still very happy, I really am, and I’m going to be in the Grand Slam now. That’s probably the best part of it!

“The crowd were always supporting me and I really appreciate it. Thank you Dortmund!”

Ratajski had earlier dumped out world number one Luke Littler to reach a first major ranking semi-final since 2021, fending off a late rally from the World Champion to prevail 10-6.

In the other quarter-final, Price swept aside Stephen Bunting 10-3 with a 103 average, but again failed to seize the opportunity to end his five-year wait for a major ranking title.

European Darts Championship 2026 Day Four Results

Sunday October 25

Afternoon Session

Quarter-Finals
Ross Smith 10-6 Luke Woodhouse
Gerwyn Price 10-3 Stephen Bunting
Martin Schindler 10-1 Jonny Clayton
Luke Littler 6-10 Krzysztof Ratajski

Evening Session

Semi-Finals
Ross Smith 11-7 Gerwyn Price
Martin Schindler 11-6 Krzysztof Ratajski

Final
Ross Smith 11-8 Martin Schindler