By Phil Lanning

ROSS SMITH was "gutted" as his European Tour final jinx continued in the Austrian Open. 

The Dover thrower lost his third final, this time missing out 8-4 to Martin Schindler in Graz on Sunday night. 

Having beaten Chris Landman 6-1 on day one, Smith came through a tough trio of games; beating Peter Wright 6-5, Dirk Van Duijvenbode 6-4 and then Ryan Joyce 7-4.

But he couldn’t recover from a slow start in the final as Schindler roared into a 5-1 lead. 

The former European Champion battled hard but couldn’t find the consistency to reel in the German. 

Afterwards Smith joked: “I’m over the moon. No, I didn't play well. I was absolutely c**p.

“But Martin played really well, fully deserved it. Well deserved winner, 100 per cent. Top professional, top lad. Fair play to him.

“To be fair I probably rode my luck to get into the final. 

“I take it on the chin. But it’s great for the rankings. I’m absolutely gutted I haven’t turned up. 

“I feel like I played like that all day. I felt like I was lucky against Peter Wright, lucky against Dirk (Van Duijvenbode) and lucky against Ryan (Searle). My luck ran out there. 

“Again I’m in the final but not played well. I take that all day long. If I’m not playing well and making finals, then I’m obviously doing something right. I’ll crack on with the next one.”