The 2025 Darts World Cup starts on December 15th. If player Martin Schindler has his way, it will end on January 3rd with world champion Martin Schindler. The number 1 in German darts does everything for this. Mental training, strength training, and when things don’t go well, the little daughter helps.
Of the six German World Cup participants – there have never been so many at the biggest darts event of the year – Martin Schindler initially has to be the most patient. As 22nd on the seeding list, he has a bye in the first round and is only allowed to take part in the action two days before Christmas Eve. The Englishman Callan Rydz or the Croatian Romeo Grbavac will then “The Wall“, both belong to the solid middle class of the field. Schindler says quite honestly, without seeming arrogant or careless: “That could have been worse.“He won’t take anyone too lightly or hit anyone in passing, but he says he hasn’t lost a match against either of them so far.
An early exit would be “unacceptable”
Schindler seems calm and extremely self-confident when he talks about the most important time of the year now, a few days before the start of the World Cup. “I want to break my own record and get beyond the top 32“, he defines his minimum goal. “An exit in the first two rounds would not be acceptable to me.“
But from Schindler’s point of view, a possible round of 16 doesn’t have to be the final destination. “I want to be in the top 16, but then it could also be the quarter-finals, then the semi-finals and then of course the world championship title. If I bring my checks, then I can be dangerous to every player“, says Schindler and recalls his past: “Luke Littler, Luke Humphries, Michael van Gerwen – I’ve beaten them all, even on the big stage.“
Historical – two victories on the European tour
He has already proven several times this year that he can handle pressure. He was the first German to win two tournaments on the PDC European Tourfirst in Riesa in April, then after a sensational comeback in Basel with 8:7 against Ryan Searle, who was already leading 4:0 and 7:4 and had a total of seven match darts.
“The results were excellent, but it wasn’t my best year in terms of play“, says Schindler and mentions the consistency in the doubles and his repeatedly disappointing results in the doubles majortournaments as his “Achilles heel”. He works hard on it and on several levels.
An hour and a half of mental training every day
He throws arrows for two hours in the morning and two in the afternoon. In addition, there is now an hour and a half of mental training every day in the run-up to the World Cup. One goal is “to break up the usual routines in my everyday life“. He also got into the habit of thinking about his almost two-year-old daughter Hailey in moments of crisis: “I draw a lot of strength from the fact that I want to make her proud of her dad.”
Another component is strength training in order to be able to endure a tournament that lasts as long as possible at the highest possible level. Schindler explains: “That’s a pretty ambitious plan that I’ve strapped onto my own back. In addition, there are the many appointments for the public that I have to attend to as the German number one. Sometimes it’s not easy to reconcile all of this with optimal preparation for London.“
World Cup move to the Main Hall – or even abroad?!
London has been the venue for this event since 2007, in the West Hall of the Alexandra Palace around 3,100 spectators can fit. The organizing one PDC According to association boss Matthew Porter, he is “absolutely happy” with this – Schindler sees it differently. He can definitely imagine a move to the Main Hall, where around 10,000 fans would fit. And Schindler goes even further. He advocates increasing the field of participants from 96 to 128 players. “The importance of this event is growing and growing, so a larger field would be appropriate. That’s how it is in football at the European Championships and World Cups.“
Darts fans from all over the world are celebrating the World Cup – and themselves – at London’s Alexandra Palace
His next suggestion sounds almost revolutionary: “I can also imagine another hall and even another country as the venue. You just have to see what kind of atmosphere there was at big events in Frankfurt, for example, or most recently at the European Championships in Dortmund. It would be an honor for darts that he would have managed to leave England with the World Cup.“