Luke Woodhouse lands sensational nine-darter in European Darts Championship opener

Luke Woodhouse produced a show-stopping nine-darter en route to victory over Dirk van Duijvenbode on the opening night of the European Championship in Dortmund on Thursday.

Woodhouse raised the roof on a thrilling night of action at the Westfalenhalle, achieving perfection during his 6-3 win over Van Duijvenbode in the opening match of the tournament.

The 2024 semi-finalist, who averaged 99 in the process, will now face defending champion Gian van Veen in the Last 16 on Saturday.

“That felt really good,” admitted Woodhouse. “I had a chance for a nine-darter at the World Championship and that didn’t go very well!

“I know it’s a cliché but the most important thing is the win, so I tried to get myself nice and calm and just crack on with the game.

“I’m feeling really good at the moment. I’ve probably had the best 12 months of my life darts wise, so let’s hope it’s my weekend!”

Van Veen, meanwhile, became the first defending European Champion to register victory at this event since 2018 courtesy of a battling 6-4 defeat of Andrew Gilding.

Gilding started strongly to establish a 3-2 lead, but the Dutch number one bounced back strongly, winning four of the last five legs to kick off his bid for back-to-back titles in Dortmund.

“Andrew put me under pressure every leg, but I took my chances and the defence is up and running,” reflected the world number three.

“After the game I was told about the previous champions losing in the first round and luckily I didn’t know that before the game, because that would have been extra pressure for myself!

“It’s going to be a tricky game against Luke, but it’s a match I’m looking forward to and thankfully I got this one out of the way.”

Gerwyn Price also impressed on opening night, landing a brace of ton-plus checkouts during his 6-2 rout of two-time champion Rob Cross.

The Welsh number one kicked off proceedings with a superb 127 finish on the bull, before capping off a stellar display with a 135 checkout to progress with a 99.3 average.

Former champion James Wade was another high-profile casualty as he squandered four match darts against Damon Heta – who fought back from 5-3 down to snatch victory.

However, 2022 champion and top seed Ross Smith avoided a similar fate, defeating a spirited Karel Sedlacek 6-4 to confirm a second round tie against Australian number one Heta.

Stephen Bunting also came out on top in a dramatic affair against Danny Noppert, landing a spectacular 160 checkout to eliminate the fifth seed in a decider.

Bunting’s reward will be a meeting with Kim Huybrechts, after the Belgian capitalised on his late call-up for the event with a remarkable 6-1 demolition of Ryan Searle.

Huybrechts – drafted in as a replacement after Luke Humphries withdrew from the tournament through illness – averaged 103.8 to celebrate his first win at the European Championship since 2015.

Scottish number two Cameron Menzies accounted for newly crowned Dutch Darts Champion Niels Zonneveld, running out a comfortable 6-3 winner to set up a showdown against Price.

European Darts Championship 2026 Day One Results

Thursday October 22

Round One

Luke Woodhouse 6-3 Dirk van Duijvenbode – *Woodhouse hits a nine-darter*
Danny Noppert 5-6 Stephen Bunting
Niels Zonneveld 3-6 Cameron Menzies
Gerwyn Price 6-2 Rob Cross
James Wade 5-6 Damon Heta
Kim Huybrechts 6-1 Ryan Searle
Gian van Veen 6-4 Andrew Gilding
Ross Smith 6-4 Karel Sedlacek