Luke Littler reminded the darting world of his quality by posting a 105.05 average to beat William O’Connor in round one of the 2026 European Championship.

The Nuke, who is aiming to win this title for the first time in Dortmund this weekend and complete the clean sweep of TV titles, beat The Magpie 6-3 to move into round two. He will face Nathan Aspinall on Saturday evening, after The Asp beat Cristo Reyes by the same scoreline.

However, the two big casualties of the night were Michael van Gerwen and Wessel Nijman. Van Gerwen, a previous four time winner of this event, lost to fellow Dutchman Kevin Doets 6-3, in a game in which The Green Machine was completely outplayed by Hawkeye. Nijman, the number two seed, squandered multiple opportunities at double to lose to Martin Schindler in a last leg decider.

Littler sails through as MvG struggles continue

Littler came into this event off the back of defeat to Luke Woodhouse in round one of the World Grand Prix, but if that had affected The Nuke, he certainly did not show it tonight.

It took the world number one 43 darts to reel off the first three legs, before O’Connor got on the board with a 107 outshot in leg four. Littler then won the next two legs in 31 darts, and despite a 105 checkout for a break, and a 13 dart hold from The Magpie to close the gap to 5-3, the World Champion held in leg nine in 15 darts to seal the victory, averaging 105.05 in the process.

Littler faces Nathan Aspinall in round two, after The Asp defeated Cristo Reyes by the same scoreline.

After both broke and held in the first few legs, Reyes got another break in leg five, hitting double eight for a 16 darter. Aspinall responded with a 134 outshot in leg six, with his opponent on 20, for 3-3. A 112 to hold followed in leg seven, and after Reyes missed darts for leg eight, Aspinall cleaned up 90 to go two in front, ending the game with a 17 dart hold.

Michael van Gerwen’s struggles this season continued as the former three time World Champion lost to Kevin Doets 6-3, in a game that Hawkeye dominated.

In their first meeting on a TV stage since the 2021 Players Championship Finals, Doets struck first, breaking the MvG throw with a 106 outshot, followed by holding with a 132 checkout to go 3-0 in front. The Green Machine opened his account in leg four, before Hawkeye won back to back legs to go 5-1 ahead.

Van Gerwen then found consecutive 15 darters to half the deficit, but it did not alter the outcome, as Doets pinged a 12 dart hold in leg nine to win the match.

Doets meets Krzysztof Ratajski on Saturday night, after the number three seed beat Dave Chisnall 6-2.

Ratajski won the first three legs comfortably, but missed two darts for leg four, allowing Chizzy to finally get on the board with a 22 dart hold. Back to back 17 darters for The Polish Eagle saw him move within one, and despite Chisnall winning leg seven, Ratajski won the match with a 16 dart hold to progress, with Chizzy ending 2/14 on the outer ring.

Nijman loses last leg decider as Clayton begins European Championship bid with victory

Another big casualty of night two at the 2026 European Championship was the number two seed Wessel Nijman, who lost 6-5 to Germany’s Martin Schindler.

Schindler won the first three legs to establish control, but Nijman fought back, winning the next three legs which featured a 100 outshot. Both then held twice to force the last leg decider, in which Schindy found a 15 dart hold on 80 to complete the win, as Nijman finished just 5/20 on the checkouts.

It will be another Dutchman for Schindler in round two, after Jermaine Wattimena took down Ryan Joyce 6-3 in the opening match of the night.

Relentless missed seven darts at a double across the opening five legs, allowing Machine Gun to go within one of the match, hitting checkouts of 106 and 120 to break his throw.

Wattimena then missed a dart for a clean sweep, as Joyce pinged double ten to get his first leg on the board. Joyce then won the next two legs to get back in the match, but then squandered a dart at double 18 in leg nine, allowing Wattimena to finally end the match by hitting tops for a 20 dart break.

Jonny Clayton saw off Germany’s Niko Springer 6-3 to get his European Championship campaign off and running.

The Ferret raced into a 3-0 lead, before Springer hit a 74 outshot to get into the contest. Four holds followed, meaning Clayton led 5-3 going into leg nine. He missed bull for a 121 checkout and the match, but eventually cleaned up the 25 remaining to move into round two, despite hitting only 26% of his doubles in the match.

Clayton takes on Josh Rock on Saturday evening in round two, after Rocky took advantage of a below par Chris Dobey to take a 6-1 victory in the final match of the night.

Hollywood won the first leg on double five, before Rock hit back to back 11 darters to go in front for the first time. He followed that with back to back 18 darters, as Dobey missed multiple darts for leg five to stop the rot. Rock had a 4-1 lead, which he converted into a place in round two, hitting a stunning 154 checkout in leg six, before breaking the Dobey throw in leg seven to complete the victory, averaging 100.74 in the process as Hollywood finished 1/12 on the checkouts.

2026 European Championship Day Two Results

Friday 23 October (1900 CEST, 1800 BST)

Westfalenhalle, Dortmund

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

2026 European Championship Day Three Schedule of Play

Saturday 24 October

Westfalenhalle, Dortmund

Afternoon Session (1300 CEST, 1200 BST)

Cameron Menzies v Gerwyn Price

Stephen Bunting v Kim Huybrechts

Ross Smith v Damon Heta

Gian van Veen v Luke Woodhouse

Evening Session (1900 CEST, 1800 BST) – Order of games TBC

Martin Schindler v Jermaine Wattimena

Jonny Clayton v Josh Rock

Krzysztof Ratajski v Kevin Doets

Nathan Aspinall v Luke Littler