Four-time winner Michael van Gerwen survived seven match dart misses against Wessel Nijman to reach the second round of the European Championship in Dortmund.
World youth champion Gian van Veen showed why he is one of the game’s most exciting young talents with victory, but 2019 runner-up Gerwyn Price and World Cup partner Jonny Clayton both exited the opening round at Westfalenhalle.
Rising star Nijman crumbled under the pressure, wasting seven match darts to win his final match 4-2 down to four-time champion Van Gerwen.
Van Gerwen maintained a 100% record against his fellow Dutchman, winning all five meetings.
The Dutch will take charge. Chris Dovey ‘Hollywood’ then defied Stephen Bunting’s average of 109.2 to win at a high level with an average of 105.7, five 180s and 60% doubles.
Bunting broke the record for the highest loss average in tournament history with 109.20.
it was sweet revenge Are you Darryl? After losing to Price in Blackpool earlier this year, the Northern Irishman missed out on the ‘Iceman’s’ doubles to win 6-3.
Gurney caught a wild display of finish (3-17) from price to go.
Ryan Sully Clayton’s missed 11 doubles darts saw him reach the second round for the fourth time in his five European Championship appearances.
Former semi-finalist half empty With an average of 98.7, they safely dispatched Damon Heta 6-3.
This was Australia’s No. 1 win at the European Championships. 1 This is Heta’s fourth consecutive first round defeat. This includes two losses to Van Veen.
Home Favorites Martin Schindler beat Dave Chisnall in a thriller.
home hero Martin Schindler Came back from 3-0 down to beat Dave Chisnall in a last-leg thriller that sent the crowd into chaos.
The Wall finished with a cool average of 104 points and a doubles percentage of 66% to win their first European Championship at the sixth time of asking.
In a match between former European champions, ross smith Defeating Peter Wright 6-2, he recorded a massive 128 checkout for the Bull and averaged just under 95 en route to victory.
As a result, Wright, a former two-time world champion who spared no expense in winning the title two years ago, has fallen to provisional world number 30.
ryan joyce He beat last year’s semi-finalist Luke Woodhouse 6-3 with an average of 96.93 and a high check-out of 122 to become the first male player to reach the round of 16 on debut.
What’s happening in Dortmund on Friday night?
Luke Littler and Luke Humphries are competing in bumper cars in Germany on Friday night.
Nathan Aspinall returns to Germany as the No. 1 seed after scoring a hat-trick on the 2025 European Tour. He began his title bid against two-time champion Rob Cross in a blockbuster fight.
World No. 1 Humphries is in contention for the title against Poland’s best player, Krzysztof Ratajski.
Humphries is likely to give up his top dog status this weekend while Littler aims to overhaul his World Cup partner on German soil.
Littler faces five-time world champion Raymond van Barneveld in the opening match and the teenage wonderkid will become the new world number one if he wins the £120,000 top prize in Dortmund.
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Highlights from the World Grand Prix final between Littler and Humphries
2018 European champion James Wade and Belgian number one Mike De Decker will also battle. Gary Anderson and Cameron Menzies clash across Scotland.
Northern Ireland’s World Cup champion Josh Rock is Germany’s no. 2 against Ricardo Pietreczko, while another home favorite Niko Springer faces 2024 runner-up Jermaine Wattimena.
Elsewhere, Dutch duo Dirk van Duijvenbode and Danny Noppert will go head-to-head in a clash with recent European Tour finalists on Saturday evening, with either Aspinall or Cross awaiting the winner.
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