The 2026 Machineseeker European Championship began with a bang, as Luke Woodhouse pinned the perfect leg en route to a 6-3 first round win against Dirk van Duijvenbode in Dortmund.
Woodhouse nailed the nine-darter in the fourth leg of his contest with the Dutchman, and he largely controlled the contest to record a comfortable win in the evening’s opening offering at the Westfallenhalle.
“That felt really good,” said Woodhouse post-match.
“I had a chance for a nine-darter at the World Championship and that didn’t go very well!
“I know it’s a cliche 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!”
Next up for ‘Woody’ will be defending champion Gian van Veen, who broke the hoodoo of a champion not winning his opening match since 2018 with a 6-4 win against Andrew Gilding.
van Veen was 3-2 down against ‘Goldfinger’, but rallied to win four of the next five legs to advance.
Gerwyn Price started in solid fashion, as he took out finishes of 127 and 135 to help the Welshman to a 6-2 win against two-time former winner Rob Cross.
Top seed and 2022 champion Ross Smith was involved in a topsy-turvy affair against Karel Sedlacek, with several breaks of throw included, and he stumbled over the line to record a 6-4 win, although Sedlacek will rue five missed darts at double to send the match to a final leg where he would have had the throw.
2018 champion James Wade was an early casualty, missing four match darts before being defeated 6-5 by Damon Heta, and Stephen Bunting found a 160 finish from the gods in the final leg to sink Danny Noppert.
Kim Huybrechts was brought in as a very late replacement for the unwell Luke Humphries, and he grabbed his chance with both hands, averaging nearly 104 in a 6-1 thrashing of Ryan Searle.
Cameron Menzies was also a winner, as he put out recent Dutch Darts Championship winner Niels Zonneveld in an assured 6-3 success.
The action continues on Friday evening, where Luke Littler begins his quest for the only major missing from his collection.
2026 Machineseeker European Championship
Thursday October 22
Round One
Luke Woodhouse 6-3 Dirk van Duijvenbode (Luke Woodhouse hit a nine-dart finish)
Stephen Bunting 6-5 Danny Noppert
Cameron Menzies 6-3 Niels Zonneveld
Gerwyn Price 6-2 Rob Cross
Damon Heta 6-5 James Wade
Kim Huybrechts 6-1 Ryan Searle
Gian van Veen 6-4 Andrew Gilding
Ross Smith 6-4 Karel Sedlacek
Friday October 23 (1900-2300 CEST, 1800-2200 BST)
Round One
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
