European Championship Darts: Luke Littler sets up Nathan Aspinall clash as Michael van Gerwen is dumped out in Dortmund
Luke Littler opened his Machineseeker European Championship title bid with a dazzling victory over William O’Connor on Friday, as debutant Kevin Doets dumped out Michael van Gerwen in round one
Friday 23 October 2026 22:53, UK
Luke Littler began his quest of completing the clean sweep of major honours with an opening win over Willie O'Connor at the Machineseeker European Championship on Friday night in Germany.
Littler is in Dortmund, trying to win the only big event he has yet to claim in a dominant first two years on the scene.
He got off to a good start on Friday night with a 6-3 win over O'Connor, with six 180s to set up a second-round clash with Nathan Aspinall.
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The teenager is set to take part in a huge Netflix show next week where 24 players are vying to win £501,000 by beating him in a one-off leg, and asked whether his focus is on this tournament, he said: "This is the next one after the World Youths, so I knew how much time I would have off.
"Obviously, (I've played) a few exhibitions, but yeah, just obviously been chilling out, practicing, and this is the one I really want."
The 19-year-old has not played since a surprise defeat in the World Youth Championship and has enjoyed the break.
"I think I'm more focused because of the amount of time we've had off," he added. "I mean, I have not been doing too much, but I've been practising.
"I've just got to take it one game at a time, and obviously it's the last one missing, so I can't be putting too much pressure on myself.
"I'm just happy to get back on stage and do my job."
Littler also revealed he had changed his grip and throw during a lengthy recent lay-off from competitive action to stave off a feeling of boredom in practice.
"I think it's just having so much time off. I had loads of weeks to prepare for this, so I can just go to the practice board at home and just kind of change it, really," he said.
"I hit a nine-darter the other night on DartCounter as well, so I was like... 'I think I will stay with this until something does go wrong'. But it is all going well so far."
Van Gerwen crashes out
After Luke Humphries withdrew with illness, Littler's possible path to glory looks even easier as Michael van Gerwen crashed out on Friday night.
Van Gerwen is not the player of old and went out 6-3 to Dutch compatriot Kevin Doets.
"It was a tough game," assessed Doets, who will take on Krzysztof Ratajski on Saturday evening.
"The draw comes out and I get Michael… it's still Michael van Gerwen. He is the one I looked up to for years and the most successful player from the Netherlands.
"He didn't play like he can, but I'm really happy to win. I felt through the whole game that I was the better player.
Ryan Joyce also had a day to forget as he suffered a 6-3 defeat to Jermaine Wattimena.
Joyce travelled from the North East on Friday morning, but his luggage did not make it to Dortmund.
He had to borrow some darts from a local collector, who had a similar set to the one he uses.
But he found himself 5-0 down and faced darts for a whitewash before putting up a brief fightback.
Aspinall set up his tie with Littler after reeling off four straight legs to see off Cristo Reyes, including finishes of 134, 112 and 90 to come back from behind.
There were also wins for Josh Rock and Martin Schindler.
The European Championship continues with a crucial double session on Saturday, as all 16 remaining players return for round two.
Defending champion Gian van Veen takes on Luke Woodhouse in the pick of the afternoon ties, while Littler and Aspinall lock horns in the evening session.
Saturday October 24
Afternoon session (12pm)
Round Two x4
Cameron Menzies v Gerwyn Price
Stephen Bunting v Kim Huybrechts
Ross Smith v Damon Heta
Gian van Veen v Luke Woodhouse
Best of 19 legs
Evening Session (6pm)
Round Two x4
Krzysztof Ratajski v Kevin Doets
Martin Schindler v Jermaine Wattimena
Nathan Aspinall v Luke Littler
Jonny Clayton v Josh Rock
Best of 19 legs
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