Ryan Searle lost his first-ever Euro Tour final in devastating fashion when he blew a 7-4 lead against Martin Schindler at the Swiss Darts Trophy.
Heavy Metal lost four legs in a row in Basel against the German and missed seven darts at double to capture his first European crown.
Searle couldn’t get the victory over the line in Switzerland and he made a frank comment in his post-match interview.
Ryan Searle admits to losing nerve against Martin Schindler
Searle defeated Madars Razma, Daryl Gurney, and Callan Rydz to reach the final in Basel and flew out of the traps against Schindler.
Heavy Metal took a 4-0 lead and hit a 124 checkout as he looked like he would capture his first Euro Tour title at a canter.
Nerves got the better of Searle during Schindler’s impressive comeback and the 36-year-old admitted to losing his nerve.
“I bottled it a bit”, admitted Searle on stage to PDC TV after his narrow loss to the ecstatic German who produced one of the more impressive comebacks in recent history.
Ryan Searle aims to bounce back
Searle has experience bouncing back from disappointing final defeats and that’s what he aims to do after the loss to Schindler.
Speaking to PDC TV, Heavy Metal said: “That’s the way darts goes sometimes; for me, it’s a case of onto the next one”
“I’ve been in this position before where I’ve thrown games away and I’ve come back stronger, so I’ll be looking to respond in the same way again.”
Searle lost back-to-back finals at the Players Championship 1 and 2 to Luke Littler and Gary Anderson respectively, before putting it right by claiming the Players Championship 3 the week later.