Ross Smith is a European Champion for the second time after holding off home favourite Martin Schindler 11-8 in the final in Dortmund. The Englishman, who previously won the title in 2022, produced a devastating run of six legs in a row to storm into an 8-2 lead in the best-of-21 showpiece against Germany's Schindler.
Schindler refused to roll over, battling back to 9-7 to give the home crowd hope of a famous comeback. But Smith steadied himself and crossed the line for an 11-8 victory. "It's absolutely amazing," Smith told ITV. "I'm not going to lie, I was a bit sweaty there. He wouldn't let up would he? Full credit to him."
The win adds to a memorable year for Smith, who also won the World Series of Darts Finals in September. "To win another major, not just this year, but just to win another major, I'm absolutely over the moon and drained. I'm buzzing," he added.
Smith's route to the final saw him beat Luke Woodhouse 10-6 in the quarter-finals before overcoming Gerwyn Price 11-7 in the semis. Schindler, meanwhile, thrashed Jonny Clayton 10-1 and then defeated Krzysztof Ratajski 11-6 to reach the showpiece.
The tournament's biggest shock came in the afternoon session, where world champion Luke Littler was knocked out 10-6 by Ratajski in the final quarter-final of the day. "Played well in the lead up to today, but just didn't click for me earlier," Littler wrote in a social media post. "Thank you for all the support this weekend. The wait for this one goes on." Littler has yet to win the European Championship.
In the other quarter-finals, Price beat Stephen Bunting 10-3, while Clayton fell to Schindler's 10-1 demolition.
