Martin Schindler

Martin Schindler (born 16 August 1996) is a German professional darts player who competes in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events, where he is currently ranked world number eighteen. A PDC Tour Card holder since 2017, he has won four ranking titles. He won 2025 Players Championship 8 and has won three PDC European Tours; the International Darts Open and Swiss Darts Trophy in 2024, and the 2025 Austrian Darts Open. Nicknamed "the Wall", Schindler is a two-time major televised event quarter-finalist, reaching the last eight at the World Grand Prix and UK Open, both in 2023.

In his youth career, Schindler finished as the runner-up at the 2018 PDC World Youth Championship and won three Development Tours.

Career

2017

Schindler won a PDC Tour Card at Qualifying School (Q-School) in January 2017. He represented Germany alongside Max Hopp at the 2017 PDC World Cup of Darts, reaching the quarter-finals, before losing to the Dutch pair of Michael van Gerwen and Raymond van Barneveld. In the same year he debuted on a ranking major, playing 2017 European Championship, where he lost to Rob Cross 6–0.

2018

Schindler qualified for the 2018 PDC World Darts Championship and faced Simon Whitlock in the first round, losing 3–1 in sets. After that he made his first appearance at the UK Open, making it to the 4th round at the 2018 edition. Along with Max Hopp he represented Germany at the 2018 PDC World Cup of Darts and once again they made it to the quarter-finals. For the second year in a row he qualified for 2018 European Championship, where he lost to James Wade 6–3 in the first round. Later on in the year he was the runner-up at the 2018 PDC World Youth Championship, losing to Dimitri Van den Bergh 6–3 in the final. Schindler qualified for the 2018 Grand Slam of Darts, and was drawn into Group D with Stephen Bunting, Mensur Suljović and Scott Mitchell. He lost the first two matches, to Bunting 5–3 and to Mitchell 5–1. In the last match he defeated Suljović 5–4 in the deciding leg. He finished bottom in the group in 4th and therefore was eliminated. He made his debut at the 2018 Players Championship Finals, where he lost to Nathan Aspinall 6–1 in the first round.

2019

As he was seventh on the Pro Tour Order of Merit list, Schindler qualified for the 2019 PDC World Championship and faced New Zealand qualifier Cody Harris in the first round, losing 3–2 in sets. At the 2019 UK Open he made it to the fifth round. During the year he struggled to qualify for European Tour events, making only two appearances that year and failed to qualify for the European Championship. Alongside Hopp he again represented Germany at the 2019 PDC World Cup of Darts, losing to Belgium in the second round. Schindler played at the 2019 PDC World Youth Championship, making it to the quarter-finals of the event, losing to Ryan Meikle. As the runner-up at the 2018 PDC World Youth Championship he qualified for the 2019 Grand Slam of Darts, being drawn in the Group H with Michael Smith, Glen Durrant and Nathan Aspinall. He was unable to win any of the three matches, and was eliminated in the round robin. He faced Michael Smith again at the 2019 Players Championship Finals and lost in the first round.

2020

Despite not qualifying for the 2020 PDC World Championship, Schindler was able to secure his Tour card and continued on the Pro Tour. The season was hit by the coronavirus pandemic. Schindler again reached the fifth round at the 2020 UK Open, but was unable to qualify for any other major event that season. He dropped down the rankings and his spot in Germany's World Cup team, his spot being taken by Gabriel Clemens. Schindler made his final appearance at the 2020 PDC World Youth Championship, again reaching the quarter-finals, where he lost to the eventual champion, Bradley Brooks.

2021

After four years on the tour, Schindler lost his Tour Card after the 2021 PDC World Darts Championship, having not qualified. He won his Tour Card immediately back at the 2021 European Q-School via the Order of Merit. He made it to the third round of 2021 UK Open, and qualified for the 2021 Grand Slam of Darts, via the PDC Tour Card Holder Qualifying Event in November. He was drawn into Group A with Gerwyn Price, Nathan Rafferty and Krzysztof Ratajski. He lost his first two matches against Ratajski, 5–1 and Rafferty 5–3. He defeated Price 5–4 in a last-leg decider, but finished bottom in the group in 4th and was eliminated. Schindler secured a first round win at the 2021 Players Championship Finals, defeating Ian White, but lost to Price in the second round.

Schindler then won the 2021 PDC Europe Super League to qualify for the 2022 PDC World Darts Championship.

2022

Schindler played at the 2022 PDC World Championship, but lost to Florian Hempel 3–0 in the first round. At the 2022 UK Open he made it to the fifth round, where he lost to Dirk van Duijvenbode. Later on, he made his debut in two other majors, qualifying for the 2022 World Matchplay and the 2022 World Grand Prix. Schindler returned to the Germany squad for the 2022 PDC World Cup of Darts and partnered Clemens. They made it to the quarter-finals, where they lost to Wales. He qualified for the 2022 European Championship but lost to José de Sousa, who averaged 105.28 to Schindler's 101.15, 6–1 in the first round.

2024

On the European Tour he won the 2024 International Darts Open, defeating Gerwyn Price 8–5 in the final. This was the first senior PDC title of his career. Schindler achieved victory over Joe Cullen 6–3, before defeating Richard Veenstra 6–1, Danny Noppert 6–5, in a deciding leg, and Chris Dobey 7–3 on his way to final. Schindler was only the third German to win a senior title.

Schindler became the first German to hit a nine-darter on stage during the 2024 Hungarian Darts Trophy.

A week later, Schindler won the 2024 Swiss Darts Trophy, defeating Ryan Searle 8–7 in the final. Schindler became the first German to win a second European Tour title and only the ninth player to win two European Tour titles in one season.

2025

On 18 March 2025, Schindler won his first Players Championship title by defeating Jeffrey de Graaf 8–1 in the final of Players Championship 8. The next month, he won his third European Tour title at the Austrian Darts Open with an 8–4 victory over Ross Smith. This saw him enter the top 20 in the PDC Order of Merit at a career-high ranking of 18th. At the World Cup of Darts, representing Germany with tournament debutant Ricardo Pietreczko, the duo produced a shock 8–4 win against defending champions and tournament favourites England in the second round. They reached the semi-finals of the tournament but were eliminated by eventual champions Northern Ireland.

World Championship results

PDC

* 2018: First round (lost to Simon Whitlock 1–3)
* 2019: First round (lost to Cody Harris 2–3)
* 2022: First round (lost to Florian Hempel 0–3)
* 2023: Third round (lost to Michael Smith 3–4)
* 2024: Third round (lost to Scott Williams 3–4)
* 2025: Second round (lost to Callan Rydz 0–3)

Performance timeline

BDO

PDC

PDC European Tour

PDC Players Championships

References

External links

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Schindler, Martin
Living people

1996 births
21st-century German people
German darts players
PDC World Cup of Darts German team
People from Strausberg
Professional Darts Corporation current tour card holders
Sportspeople from Brandenburg
PDC ranking title winners