Ritchie Edhouse remarkably secured his first major title at the European Championship with a crushing victory over Jermaine Wattimena in the final in Dortmund.
Edhouse, a 250/1 outsider at the start of the tournament, produced one of the most astonishing displays in PDC history to become the latest new major champion.
The 41-year-old had never previously made it beyond the Last 32 of a televised PDC tournament prior to his trip to the Westfalenhallen, but stunned the 32-player field to scoop the £120,000 top prize.
The Essex ace reeled off nine consecutive legs to demolish Wattimena in the final, with the Dutchman himself having enjoyed a ground-breaking weekend.
Edhouse had put down an immediate marker by thrashing Gian van Veen 6-1 in Thursday’s opening round with a 109.5 average, before recovering from 4-1 down to stun world number two Michael Smith in Saturday’s second round.
He then averaged 103 to complete a famous 10-5 win over Gary Anderson in Sunday afternoon’s quarter-finals, before brushing aside Luke Woodhouse 11-5 in the semi-finals.
Wattimena made a bright start to the final, but his doubling unravelled midway through the contest, with Edhouse converting a host of superb combination finishes on his way to victory.
“This is unbelievable,” said a shell-shocked Edhouse. “I just wanted to get a couple of wins under my belt and see what happened, so this is a dream come true.
“I think this could be a stepping stone for me because confidence breeds confidence, and now I am really confident and hungry for more!”
Wattimena led Edhouse 3-2 at the first interval, defying back-to-back 76 and 110 finishes from ‘Madhouse’ to seize the early initiative.
Edhouse, however, dominated proceedings after the restart, punishing a multitude of missed opportunities at doubles from Wattimena.
Having powered in a 106 checkout to lead 5-3, Edhouse took out 92 and 144 to move to the cusp of glory, which he sealed with another 92 checkout, pinning a brace of double 18s to seal the title in style.
Edhouse now moves into the world’s top 32 for the first time, climbing ten places to a career-high of 29th on the PDC Order of Merit, while also securing qualification for next month’s Grand Slam of Darts in the process.
Wattimena also sealed his place in Wolverhampton with a sensational run to the final, having dumped out four major title winners along the way.
The 36-year-old began his campaign with a whitewash win over reigning champion Peter Wright on Friday, before accounting for 2018 winner James Wade in a deciding-leg thriller in Round Two.
Wattimena then produced arguably the performance of his career in a shock quarter-final victory over world number one Luke Humphries, averaging 100.4 in a 10-4 rout.
This set up an all-Dutch semi-final showdown against Danny Noppert, and Wattimena held his nerve to sink the former UK Open champion in another gripping last-leg shoot-out.
“I’m really happy to reach the final,” said Wattimena. “I lost to the better player in Ritchie.
“On the stage we are enemies, but after the match we’re good friends. I’ve known him for a long time, so congratulations to Ritchie.
“This is a huge moment in my career, but there is going to be more. I’m proud of what I have done this weekend.”
Sunday’s remarkable conclusion to the European Championship saw the four lowest-ranked players in this year’s 32-player field making up the final five, alongside world number 15 Noppert.
Noppert overturned a 9-7 deficit to edge out Germany’s Ricardo Pietreczko in a dramatic quarter-final, only to succumb in the semi-finals for a second successive year.
Woodhouse, meanwhile, performed superbly on his debut in Dortmund, overcoming Ross Smith, Ryan Searle and Dirk van Duijvenbode across the weekend to reach a maiden major semi-final.
Humphries was an overwhelming favourite to clinch a first European Championship crown heading into Finals Day, only to be swept aside by Wattimena in the Last Eight, bringing to an end his run of six straight major ranking final appearances.
Two-time World Champion Anderson suffered the same fate at the hands of an inspired Edhouse, while home favourite Pietreczko and a resurgent Van Duijvenbode also lost out at the same stage.
European Darts Championship 2024 Day Four Results
Sunday October 27
Afternoon Session
Quarter-Finals
Dirk van Duijvenbode 4-10 Luke Woodhouse
Ritchie Edhouse 10-5 Gary Anderson
Luke Humphries 4-10 Jermaine Wattimena
Ricardo Pietreczko 9-10 Danny Noppert
Evening Session
Semi-Finals
Luke Woodhouse 5-11 Ritchie Edhouse
Jermaine Wattimena 11-10 Danny Noppert
Final
Ritchie Edhouse 11-3 Jermaine Wattimena
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