Luke Littler continued his crusade towards the European Championship title that he covets so much, and he averaged 114.45 in a majestic 10-5 second round win against Nathan Aspinall in Dortmund.
Littler averaged over 130 in moving into a turbo-charged 4-0 lead, but Aspinall battled as he usually does, closing the gap to 5-4 aided by 112 and 121 finishes, only for Littler to break throw right before the second interval to lead 6-4.
That became 7-4, with Littler still averaging over 118, and a 100 finish quickly made that advantage four legs. Aspinall responded again, a 90 checkout breaking the Littler throw, but it was ultimately to no avail, as Littler took the win, and ended with the second-highest average that the event has ever seen to lay down a marker to his rivals.
Jonny Clayton completed the last eight line-up, but he nearly snatched defeat from the jaws of victory before winning 10-8 against Josh Rock.
Clayton led 3-0 and 6-3, but Rock would close to 7-6 down, only to fumble his throw and chance to level as Clayton stretched 9-6 ahead. He would then miss three match darts to win 10-6, and missed six chances overall before finding a crucial 121 finish to end matters.
Krzysztof Ratajski was the first winner of the evening, with the Pole timing his run to perfection to win 10-8 against Kevin Doets.
Doets made a fast start, moving 4-1 ahead, but Ratajski quickly moved into his stride, and pounced on four missed darts at double from the Dutchman to level at 4-4.
A 95 finish saw the Pole hit the front, but Doets then won three legs on the spin to lead 7-5 as it looked like the pendulum was swinging his way. That wasn’t the case though, with Ratajski winning five of the next six legs, pinning double three for a superb comeback win with an average north of 97.
Martin Schindler raced into the quarter finals, with the German delighting his home fans with a 10-4 win against Jermaine Wattimena.
Schindler bossed the match, reeling off three straight legs from 4-3 up to take a stranglehold on proceedings at 7-3, and he didn’t let up to complete victory and earn a first quarter final place at the tournament.
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2026 Machineseeker European Championship
Saturday October 24
Evening Session
Round Two
Krzysztof Ratajski 10-8 Kevin Doets
Martin Schindler 10-4 Jermaine Wattimena
Nathan Aspinall 5-10 Luke Littler
Jonny Clayton 10-8 Josh Rock
Sunday October 25
Afternoon Session (1300-1700 CET)
Quarter-Finals
Ross Smith v Luke Woodhouse
Gerwyn Price v Stephen Bunting
Martin Schindler v Jonny Clayton
Krzysztof Ratajski v Luke Littler
Best of 19 legs
