A Tale of Two Lukes: Cool Hand Survives, The Machine Stops The Other.
yAnother night, another belter in Dortmund – or as it’s now officially known, Dartmund. The European Championship once again delivered all the tension, tungsten, and top-class entertainment you could ask for.
By the end of the evening, Luke Humphries had survived an absolute thriller against Cameron Menzies, just an hour after James Wade ended Luke Littler’s hopes of completing the full major ranking set. But first, let’s rewind to the opening act – and to the man named after a Pokémon character keeping Germany’s darting dreams alive.
Jermaine Wattimena 6–10 Ricardo Pietreczko
Pikachu keeps the German flag flying. Ricardo Pietreczko lit up the Dortmund stage, dispatching an out-of-sorts Jermaine Wattimena.
The Dutchman, dressed in Borussia Dortmund’s synonymous yellow and black, was never going to be enough to win the crowd over their national number two.Doubling, as ever, was the theme of the night. Wattimena hit just 20% of his 30 darts at the outer ring – the sort of stat that makes the words barn door and banjo spring to mind.
With two Players Championship triumphs recently – the first PDC titles of his career – The Machine Gun is in fine form. However, TV darts is a different beast to floor tournaments, and once again, he was exposed on the big stage.
Pietreczko, meanwhile, was electric. A 164 checkout early on set the tone, before a sensational 125 finish on bull–outer–bull brought the crowd to its feet. It was a complete performance, and the German number two thoroughly deserved his spot in the quarter-finals.
Nathan Aspinall 7–10 Danny Noppert
The Freeze iced Aspinall’s ambitions of a fourth 2025 European crown with yet another rock-solid display. Noppert seems to have a love affair with this event – he’s reached the semi-finals in the past two tournaments and is now one win away from another.
The story was familiar: Aspinall’s scoring was fierce (eight maximums tell their own story), but his doubles went missing at the worst possible times. Noppert opened up a commanding 9–5 lead, which against most opponents would mean game over – but Aspinall is built differently.
Two legs later, it was 9–7, and with The Asp poised on a double, the comeback looked on. Then came a stunning 130 checkout on the bull from Noppert to end it in style – a mix of pure relief and icy satisfaction.
Next up? Noppert versus Pietreczko – the German number two against the Dutch number two. Expect fireworks and probably a few frostbitten doubles.
Luke Littler 7–10 James Wade
The Nuke’s quest to tick off every ranking major will have to wait. The ever-resilient James Wade produced a classic Wadey performance – full of precision, patience, and a dash of stubborn brilliance – to outwit the teenage phenom in a superb clash of generations.At the second interval, Wade led 6–4 thanks to a classy 110 checkout with Littler sat on double ten.
The youngster came out firing, levelled it at six apiece, but couldn’t quite find that next gear. Wade did what he’s made a career out of being unphased, calculated and incredibly efficient. The sort of ingredients you expect from someone who, almost two decades on, it still perched on one of the tree’s high branches.
With Bunting now out, Wade’s eyes are fixed on the number four spot in the Order of Merit. He’ll need to lift the trophy to get there – but having won this title before, you’d be brave to bet against him. Write him off at your peril.
Luke Humphries 10–9 Cameron Menzies
And finally – the match of the night. Cool Hand Luke was forced to dig deep against an inspired Cameron Menzies in a pulsating, see-saw battle that had everything but a lightsaber.
The pair were locked at 5–5 after the second break, and from there, it was pure chaos. Menzies took the next two, Humphries hit back, and before anyone could blink it was 8–8.
A final-leg decider felt inevitable, and with darts in hand, the world number one made no mistake – sealing victory and roaring in pure relief at surviving what he later called “a ginger grenade.”
Menzies was magnificent in defeat, so close to sending home back-to-back world champions, and he leaves Dortmund with his reputation and confidence sky-high. As for Humphries, his reward for surviving one Luke?
A date with the man who ended the other – James Wade. If that doesn’t scream Super Sunday, nothing does.
—–Ends—–
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