Luke Humphries withdraws from 2026 European Darts Championship

World number two Luke Humphries has withdrawn from the 2026 European Darts Championship through illness.

Humphries has been forced to pull out of this week’s ranked major after being diagnosed with gastroenteritis.

The 31-year-old was set to make his sixth consecutive appearance in Dortmund, having finished runner-up to Gian van Veen last year.

Under PDC rules, Humphries will be directly replaced in the field by Kim Huybrechts – who is the highest-ranked non-qualified player in the 2026 European Tour Order of Merit.

The Belgian will now take on Ryan Searle in the opening round on Thursday evening, with the winner set to face Danny Noppert or Stephen Bunting in Saturday’s Last 16.

Humphries was vying to make it back-to-back major titles, having regained the World Grand Prix trophy at the beginning of the month before going on to finish runner-up in the Swiss Darts Trophy.

Huybrechts has been handed a reprieve after agonisingly missing out on automatic qualification when he missed match darts in his crucial clash against Sebastian Bialecki at the Flanders Darts Trophy.

The Hurricane now makes his first European Championship appearance since 2021 and is bidding for a first win in the event since 2015.

European Darts Championship 2026 Schedule of Play

All times BST (local time +1 hour)

Thursday October 22

Round One

6pm-1opm
Luke Woodhouse v Dirk van Duijvenbode
Danny Noppert v Stephen Bunting
Niels Zonneveld v Cameron Menzies
Gerwyn Price v Rob Cross
James Wade v Damon Heta
Kim Huybrechts v Ryan Searle
Gian van Veen v Andrew Gilding
Ross Smith v Karel Sedlacek

Friday October 23

Round One

6pm-10pm
Ryan Joyce v Jermaine Wattimena
Krzysztof Ratajski v Dave Chisnall
Nathan Aspinall v Cristo Reyes
Jonny Clayton v Niko Springer
Luke Littler v William O’Connor
Wessel Nijman v Martin Schindler
Kevin Doets v Michael van Gerwen
Josh Rock v Chris Dobey

Saturday October 24

Second Round (Order of Play TBC)

Afternoon Session (12pm-4pm)
R Smith/Sedlacek v Wade/Heta
Van Veen/Gilding v Woodhouse/Van Duijvenbode
Zonneveld/Menzies v Price/Cross
Noppert/Bunting v Huybrechts/Searle

Evening Session (6pm-10pm)
Nijman/Schindler v Joyce/Wattimena
Clayton/Springer v Rock/Dobey
Ratajski/Chisnall v Doets/Van Gerwen
Aspinall/Reyes v Littler/O’Connor

Sunday October 25

Afternoon Session (12pm-4pm)
Quarter-Finals

Evening Session (6pm-10pm)
Semi-Finals
Final