Martin Schindler joins elite group with Pro Tour win

Martin Schindler has achieved an impressive feat by joining a select group of darters who have won both a Players Championship and a European Tour tournament. This makes the German the 34th player to accomplish this feat and is also among the eight players who have managed this within a year, TheRedBit180 writes.

The Pro Tour double refers to winning both a Players Championship and a tournament on the European Tour. The Players Championship tournaments are part of the regular PDC circuit and offer players a chance to collect prize money for the rankings. The European Tour consists of prestigious tournaments across Europe, with players competing in larger arenas in front of a wider audience.

Schindler joins not only the 34 players who have completed the double, but also the exclusive group of eight players who have done so within 365 days. Justin Pipe was the first player to achieve the Pro Tour double in 2012. 'The Force' won his first-ever floor tournament in October 2011 and became the winner of the first-ever Euro Tour tournament in April 2012. In the same year, Phil Taylor, Raymond van Barneveld, Adrian Lewis and Simon Whitlock also managed to complete their Pro Tour doubles.

In 2013, it was Wes Newton, Michael van Gerwen, Dave Chisnall, Steve Beaton and Kim Huybrechts who won their first Euro Tour tournament, having previously won a Players Championship tournament. Then Gary Anderson, Vincent van der Voort, James Wade, Peter Wright, Mervyn King and Michael Smith joined this company in 2014.

Later winners included Robert Thornton (2015), Alan Norris (2016), Mensur Suljovic (2017), Jonny Clayton (2018), Ian White (2018), Gerwyn Price (2018), Max Hopp (2018), Daryl Gurney (2019), Joe Cullen (2019), Krzysztof Ratajski (2019), Jose de Sousa (2020), Luke Humphries (2022), Damon Heta (2022), Rob Cross (2023), Luke Littler (2024) and Josh Rock (2024) to achieve the Pro Tour double.