Luke Littler began his quest for the only premier event to elude him in his fledgling career in ruthless fashion, as he bossed his first round tie with William O’Connor to record a 6-3 round one win at the European Championship in Dortmund.
Littler set his stall out early, with some monster scoring seeing him ease into a 3-0 lead, and although O’Connor offered scant resistance with 107 and 105 finishes, ‘The Nuke’ proved too hot to handle, and ended with a 105.05 average to book his last 16 place at the Westfallenhalle.
Littler’s next opponent will be very familiar, and no matter what position Nathan Aspinall is in the rankings, he seems to be able to attract the World Champion as a second round opponent, and that will be the case again on Saturday evening, with ‘The Asp’ finding four straight legs to see off Cristo Reyes in a 6-3 victory.
Aspinall was 3-2 behind, but consecutive finishes of 134, 112 and 90 put him 5-3 up and he duly completed the job to advance.
Michael van Gerwen’s recent rough patch continued, with Kevin Doets taking an assured 6-3 win on his European Championship debut.
‘Hawkeye’ averaged over 97 and ended the contest with a 12-darter.
Jonny Clayton is in strong recent form, and the Welshman began in controlled fashion, an average of over 96 enough to seal a 6-3 win against home hope Niko Springer.
There was German joy on the night, with Martin Schindler holding his nerve to find an 80 checkout that sank Wessel Nijman in a deciding leg.
Josh Rock rounded off the evening in some style, a 154 checkout and an average of over a ton the highlights during his 6-1 win against Chris Dobey.
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Ryan Joyce arrived in Dortmund with no luggage and no darts, and with borrowed equipment he was soundly defeated by Jermaine Wattimena.
Wattimena missed match darts to win 6-0, and eventually got the job done for a 6-3 win.
Krzysztof Ratajski proved too much for Dave Chisnall in their meeting, with the Pole running out a comfortable 6-3 winner.
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The second round kicks off on Saturday afternoon.
2026 Machineseeker European Championship
Friday October 23
Round One
Jermaine Wattimena 6-3 Ryan Joyce
Krzysztof Ratajski 6-2 Dave Chisnall
Nathan Aspinall 6-3 Cristo Reyes
Jonny Clayton 6-3 Niko Springer
Luke Littler 6-3 William O’Connor
Martin Schindler 6-5 Wessel Nijman
Kevin Doets 6-3 Michael van Gerwen
Josh Rock 6-1 Chris Dobey
Saturday October 24
Afternoon session (1300-1700 CEST, 1200-1600 BST)
Round Two x4
Cameron Menzies v Gerwyn Price
Stephen Bunting v Kim Huybrechts
Ross Smith v Damon Heta
Gian van Veen v Luke Woodhouse
