Home favourite Martin Schindler surged to victory in his first European Tour final after beating Gerwyn Price in the International Darts Open.

The 27-year-old German powered his way to an 8-5 win over the two-time defending champion at the WT Energiesysteme Arena in Riesa to claim his first senior PDC crown.

Price opened the final with an 11-dart leg, but world number 24 Schindler – nicknamed 'The Wall' – refused to buckle and checked out on 120 to take a 5-4 lead before throwing in a 10-dart leg to go 7-4 up.

Having left himself 48 to clinch victory, he made no mistake, putting his first dart in the single 16 bed and hitting the double with his second to popular acclaim from the home crowd.

Schindler's passage had been secured by a 7-3 semi-final demolition of England's Chris Dobey, who never recovered from losing the first five legs, with the German having disposed of Dutchmen Richard Veenstra and Danny Noppert on his way to the last four.

Price earned his place in the final with a 7-5 victory over Stephen Bunting, who hit a stunning 164 finish to level at 4-4 after trailing 4-1, but could not deny the reigning champion victory.

However the 39-year-old, who had averaged 115.74 in a 6-3 win over Ricardo Pietreczko to make it into the last eight, found the going significantly tougher against quarter-final opponent Ross Smith, who led 3-0 and 5-2, but ultimately succumbed 6-5.

Earlier Dobey, who whitewashed Germany's Gabriel Clemens in the last 16, landed a 167 check-out on his way to a 6-2 quarter-final success against Ryan Searle which was clinched with a 10-darter.

Bunting, who had accounted for world number one Luke Humphries 6-4 in the third round, was pushed further by Rob Cross' conqueror Ritchie Edhouse in the quarter-finals.

Edhouse had a match dart at 5-5, but missed double 12 and saw Bunting calmly hit single 12 and double to to take the decider.

Humphries was not the only big name to go out in the last 16 with Nathan Aspinall, Cross and Damon Heta falling to Noppert, Edhouse and Searle respectively.

"My knees are shaking right now," claimed a tearful Schindler, who climbs to a career-high of world number 22.

"It's just crazy. I've been playing this tour for seven to eight years now. It's been such a long journey, and now I'm standing here with one of these beautiful trophies.

"I could never have dreamed of this ten years ago, but I have worked so hard for this, I've invested so much and right now, I might just be the happiest man on earth.

"I want to be one of the best dart players in the world, and when you win a title on the European Tour, I think you are one of the best.

"My main priority for me was to improve my ranking for the World Matchplay and the World Grand Prix and that went completely to plan. I'm so happy about that, and I'm so happy to win this trophy."

Price had won 20 of his last 21 matches at this event prior to this weekend, and he continued his incredible record in Riesa to pocket the £12,000 runner-up prize.

The Welshman fended off a resilient Brendan Dolan in his second round tie on Saturday, before powering in an astonishing 115.74 average – a new tournament record – to dispatch Ricardo Pietreczko in round three.

Price then fought back from 5-2 down to deny Ross Smith in the last eight – aided by a sensational 161 skin-saver in leg nine – and he followed this up with a hard-fought victory over Stephen Bunting in the semi-finals.

"I'm a little bit disappointed in myself," reflected Price, who was featuring in his tenth European Tour final.

"I felt I should have won this game, but fair play to Martin, he's a fantastic player and he played well there."