Also successful without luggage: Martin Schindler defeated opponent Lukeman (in the background) in the first round of the Darts World Championship.
Image: dpa
Martin Schindler has reached the third round of the Darts World Cup and thus won the opening game of the World Cup for the first time. The 26-year-old took advantage of the first chance to win. Now a hard lot awaits.
Martin Schindler won a game for the first time at the Darts World Championship in London and thus secured a third-round duel with England’s last year’s finalist Michael Smith. The 26-year-old Strausberger defeated the Englishman Martin Lukeman 3-1 on Friday evening and will now face fellow favorite Smith on December 28 (10:45 p.m. on Sport1 and DAZN). After three first-round defeats against Simon Whitlock, Cody Harris and Florian Hempel, Schindler ended a dry spell at the World Championships. “The Wall”, as Schindler is called, played its strongest year to date in 2022.
Although Schmidt’s luggage was initially lost in London, he showed nerves of steel. At least Schindler had his usual darts at his disposal and immediately took his first chance to end the match. Even before the game he had emphasized that he would go into the match with confidence despite the adversity.
This leaves two German players for the third round after the Christmas break. While Schindler is a clear underdog against Smith, Gabriel Clemens is a slight favorite after beating William O’Connor 3-0 in the opening match against Welshman Jim Williams.
The unseeded Florian Hempel was eliminated on Thursday evening after a thrilling 2:3 against Luke Humphries. Clemens is also the only German player who has reached a World Cup round of 16 so far. In the World Cup round of eight, the German darts players have never been represented.
