MARTIN SCHINDLER has issued a self-imposed TV ban over “disgusting” coverage in his homeland.

The German No1 moved into round two of the Paddy Power World Championship with a comfortable win over Stephen Burton.

However, after the match Schindler blanked his country’s official tournament broadcaster Sport1 due to a row over reporting.

‘The Wall’ has been unhappy with what he’s been hearing and pointed to the exit of young compatriot Niko Springer the previous day.

Schindler said: “You don’t really get support unless you’re successful. If you win, you’re the hero. If you lose, you’re the bad guy. It’s disgusting.

“Niko has done some really good stuff this year. He really has. The pressure he’s receiving is massive. He also gets pressure from German fans and German media saying he’s had a great year, great averages and now he’s going to the Worlds and going to achieve this and that.

“He’s just 24, maybe 25, and he needs to grow. He needs to get used to the situation, the same way I had to learn it. He was playing under a lot of pressure that a guy in his first Q School year really shouldn’t have.”

Schindler was happy to speak in the official press conference and his manager Loannis Selachoglou gave an overview of the situation.

He said: “We have jointly decided not to give interviews to Sport1 at this time and for the remainder of the Worlds. This is not an impulsive move after one match. It’s a result of the way German darts has been reported on and how that coverage has then been presented and marketed by the editorial team.

“Martin wants the attention on his game. He has worked hard to be here and wants to use his energy where it matters most, on the stage.”

The channel, who have a huge team at the Ally Pally covering the German stars and the entire tournament, have insisted their coverage is “balanced, fair, and where necessary, critical” and voiced the hope of welcoming Schindler again for interviews in the future.

The German No1 was all focus during his win over Burton and said: “I was aware of the fact that he’s not a player to be underestimated. I was punished straight away in the second set when I missed a couple of chances and he went bang, bang, bang straight through it. But in the end I think I played well and I need to carry on with that.”

Schindler got his usual abuse from the English crowd, but also some backing from the big contingent of Germans at the Ally Pally.

He said: “I have to say, for a couple of years now, every time there’s a walk-on I get booed. People are always going to boo me when there’s a walk-on. I can only assume there were 200, 300, maybe 400 or 500 people from Germany here and they made it feel a bit like a European Tour event for me. It was a good experience.”

Image by TAYLOR LANNING.