Over 15,000 fans flocked to the WT Energiesysteme Arena in Riesa last weekend, celebrating a long-overdue maiden winner at the ELTEN Safety Shoes International Darts Open. Ross Smith crowned himself champion for the first time on the Winamax PDC European Tour, ending a personal streak of four consecutive final defeats. In the final, “Smudger” left Ryan Searle no chance with an 8-3 victory, keeping a remarkable streak alive: the first seven European Tour events of 2026 have produced seven different winners.
In the all-English final, Ross Smith and Ryan Searle initially went toe-to-toe. After Searle missed a spectacular 140 finish via tops-tops, Smith held his throw and followed it up shortly after with the first break of the match to go 3-1 ahead. Searle responded immediately with a re-break, but Smith struck right back with another break to pull away to 4-2. Moving 5-2 up, “Smudger” increasingly took control of the final. Searle managed to pull one back at 5-3, but a further comeback was not on the cards. Smith secured the title, marking his first-ever European Tour triumph in his 76th attempt on the tour.
I’m just so happy to finally win this European Tour title. It starts to eat away at you after a while. You ask yourself: ‘Are you ever even going to win one?’ This is for my mum and my dad.
First European Champion – now European Tour Champion
Back in 2024, Ross Smith had already crowned himself European Champion at the seasonal highlight in Dortmund. However, despite reaching four finals, “Smudger” had never claimed a title on the European Tour. Defeats against Dave Chisnall at the European Darts Open 2024, against Gary Anderson at the European Darts Grand Prix 2024, against Martin Schindler at the Austrian Darts Open 2025, and against Gerwyn Price at the European Darts Grand Prix 2026 are now officially a thing of the past.
Searle misses out on debut title once again
For Ryan Searle, it was his second lost final on the European Tour. The Englishman had previously lost the final of the Swiss Darts Trophy in 2024. He heavily shaped the weekend in Riesa with a strong tournament run, but his maiden title remains elusive.
Menzies with the comebacks of the weekend
One of the biggest comeback stories of the weekend was written by Cameron Menzies. The Scot survived three match darts against Michael Unterbuchner in the first round and subsequently turned a 0-4 deficit into a 6-4 victory against both Josh Rock and James Wade. By reaching his first-ever semi-final on the European Tour, Menzies rewarded himself for his extraordinary fightbacks throughout the weekend. However, his run came to an abrupt end against eventual winner Ross Smith, with Menzies failing to win a single leg in a 0-7 defeat.
Defending champion out in the Last 16
Rob Cross entered the tournament as a late replacement for Michael Smith and made an impressive impact. The former World Champion first knocked out defending champion Stephen Bunting 6-2 in the Last 16 and reached the semi-finals, just as he had done two weeks prior in Graz (losing 6-7 to Ryan Searle).
Manby impresses on debut – Schindler and Pietreczko best Germans
With Charly Manby, a 20-year-old Englishman stepped onto the European Tour stage for the first time in Riesa and immediately left a strong impression. The youngster defeated Niko Springer 6-3 in the first round before being stopped by eventual finalist Ryan Searle in the second round.
From a German perspective, the World Cup duo of Martin Schindler and Ricardo Pietreczko stood out. Both reached the Last 16. For Schindler, it marked his fifth consecutive final day on the European Tour. Pietreczko stood on the stage on a final day for the first time in about a year. The other German Host Nation Qualifiers, Finn Behrens, Michael Unterbuchner, Liam Maendl-Lawrence, and Paul Krohne, were all eliminated in the first round.
Heading way up north in Germany
The European Tour moves on to the coast. From May 29 to 31, the stars of the scene will be back on board at the ELTEN Safety Shoes Baltic Sea Darts Open. Tickets for the northernmost of all European Tour tournaments are available on the official PDC Europe ticket website.
