Ross Smith held off home favourite Martin Schindler to win the European Championship title for a second time, with world champion Luke Littler having been knocked out in the quarter-finals.
England’s Smith reeled off six legs in a row as he took an 8-2 lead in the best-of-21 final against Germany’s Schindler in Dortmund.
Schindler got it back to 9-7 before Smith, who won the tournament in 2022, managed to cross the line for an 11-8 victory.
“It’s absolutely amazing,” Smith, who beat Luke Woodhouse 10-6 and Gerwyn Price 11-7 to get to the final, 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.”
Smith won the World Series of Darts Finals in September and added: “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.”
Schindler thrashed Jonny Clayton 10-1 before beating Littler’s conqueror Krzysztof Ratajski 11-6 to reach the final.
Littler’s shock exit came in the final match of the quarter-finals in the afternoon session, with Ratajski beating him 10-6.
“Played well in the lead up to today, but just didn’t click for me earlier,” wrote Littler, who has yet to win the European Championship, in a social media post.
“Thank you for all the support this weekend. The wait for this one goes on.”
