Dutch delight in Hildesheim with five Dutch progressing as Nathan Aspinall books his place in the second round

Cameron Menzies battles past Wesley Plaisier in opening game of the Hildesheim European Championship 

Cameron Menzies opened the final PDC Pro Tour event for 2025 in a hard-fought match against Dutchman, Wesley Plaisier.

Coming off the back of an impressive run in the World Grand Prix in Leicester, Menzies looked to continue his form in Hildesheim.  However, Cammy did not get off the start he would have desired.

World number 98, Plaisier, produced some fire power in the opening two legs, with four visits to the oche resulting in scores over 140. He complimented this power scoring with some clinicality on the checkouts, gaining an early 2-0 lead.

The Scotsman knew he had to show some resistance to avoid the game slipping away from him. He did just that.

Menzies began showing signs of his form in the World Grand Prix as he fought back to win the next three legs and spin the game on its head.

Although, Plaisier was not willing to let the major quarter finalist run away with it. The dutchman held his throw before breaking the throw of Menzies for the second time in the match as he went 4-3 up.

A back-and-forth match continued with Menzies returning the favour of breaking throw, as he won the final three legs consecutively to win the game 6-4.

An impressive opening display from both, Cammy averaging 95.68 as Plaisier averaged 92.38.

Convincing display from Wessel Nijman sees him into round two 

Young Dutchman Wessel Nijman eased past qualifier, Martin Kramer in his opening game in the European Championship.

Much like the earlier showing from Cameron Menzies, Nijman was put on the back foot instantly as his throw was broken by the world number 174, Martin Kramer.

The youngster started well, hitting a maximum in his second visit, before missing darts at double tops, double ten and double five to allow Kramer to snatch the first leg, finding double ten himself.

Nijman did not let the early double trouble affect his game, breaking straight back in the next, finished with an impressive 101 checkout.

This seemingly brought the best out of the 25-year-old as he struck two consecutive maximums in the next, checking out 16 with Kramer still stranded in the 200s.

Kramer would have to produce his best darts to compete with the power scoring of Nijman. Averaging 78.63 throughout the match, in comparison to Nijman’s 95.76, this simply would not be enough.

The German did fight back, checking out 90 in the fourth leg to level the score at 2-2, a leg which saw another maximum from the Dutchman. One he would have to cherish.

The next four legs were pure domination, with Nijman winning each one. Continuing the impressive power scoring to completely dominate each leg, what looked an unexpected challenge in the early stages, soon became a breeze for the Player Championship 30 winner.

Krzysztof Ratajski makes easy work of German qualifier Felix Springer 

Krzysztof Ratajski dispatched German qualifier, Felix Springer in his round of 32 tie.

Ratajski looked to open his tournament with a convincing victory, hoping to produce more consistent darts than recent times.

His opponent, Felix Springer – brother of previous European Tour winner, Niko Springer. Taking part in this event meant that Felix and Niko became the 5th sibling pairing to both play in a European Tour event.

Unfortunately, this landmark was all the European Tour had to offer for Felix Springer.

The Polish Eagle dismantled the debutant, averaging 96.23, whilst taking 6 out of 11 possible checkouts.

Although, Springer did take a leg in the match and struck a maximum at the big stages, offering some sentimental success in what was otherwise, a dull performance.

The game finished 6-1, with Ratajski securing a match up against Ryan Searle in the next round.

Around the games 

In the other opening day matches, two Irishmen – Steve Lennon and William O’Connor – had victories against Jeffrey de Graaf and Andrew Gilding respectively.

Steve Lennon produced a fantastic display in dominating win over the Swede, de Graaf. Averaging 97.05 with a checkout rate of 60%, Lennon deservedly finds himself in the next round where he will face world number 12, Damon Heta.

O’Connor came out victorious in a challenging match against Goldfinger, winning 6-4. A relatively even match throughout, with both players averaging in the 90s and having a checkout rate of 40%. In the end, it was O’Connor that came out on top booking his spot in the round of 16 against the host nations’ Martin Schindler.

Two first round matches saw all English affairs, with Luke Woodhouse taking on Tom Bissell as Ryan Joyce took out Justin Hood.

Joyce produced a superb performance averaging 104.2, with nine scores over 140 and two maximums. Justin Hood put up a decent level of resistance with an average of 98.58, however the match ended in a harsh 6-2 defeat.

Luke Woodhouse faced a trickier challenge in Tom Bissell, as he came out the successor in a 6-4 win. The match was a cagey affair throughout, with the pair trading legs, the score reaching 4-4. World number 109, Bisset, had a massive upset in sight. Unfortunately for the underdog, Woody had too much in the latter stages, taking the final two legs.

Daryl Gurney falls to heavy defeat against Christian Kist 

Daryl Gurney crashes out after surprise defeat to world number 114, Christian Kist. The Northern Irishman took a strong 2-0 lead.

That would be it for Superchin.

Remarkably, Christian Kist went on to win the next six consecutive legs. A remarkable feat for the world number 114.

Kist averaged 92.43 throughout the tie, edging the 90.88 put up by Gurney – a seemingly close affair, not reflected by the scoreline.

Nathan Aspinall gets the job done in round one 

Nathan Aspinall took on German, Maximilian Czerwinski, in his first-round match up.

The Englishman started with perfection, striking a maximum with the first three darts of the match. The Englishman then went on to take out 160 for a ridiculous opening leg win.

Czerwinski immediately fought back, holding his throw to level the score.

Looking to take control of the game, Aspinall stepped up his game to take the next two legs, recording two stores over 140 and a maximum in the process.

The German national looked to be overpowered, before breaking the Asps throw to keep the dream alive.

As the game looked in balance, Aspinall found another level once again. Showing why he’s Premier League worthy, Asp went on to win the next four consecutive legs, finishing with an impressive 103.78 average.

A valiant effort from Czerwinski, but the quality of Aspinall was too much to cope with for the host nation’s man.

Barney finds his place in the next round as he defeats Kevin Troppmann

Legendary Raymond Van Barnveld took on Kevin Troppman, looking to prove there’s still life in the old dog yet.

This was soon evident as Barney broke the German’s throw in leg one, before comfortably holding his own to create an immediate two leg gap.

All was looking well for the veteran, before Troppmann turned on his game. The German fought back to win three legs on the bounce, Barney looking like he could be facing trouble. A relatively low scoring match so far, consistency was needed from either player to be victorious.

Raymond found it. Immediately bouncing back from his poor showing over the previous legs, Van Barneveld began to score consistently to win four consecutive legs of his own.

Averaging 85.70, the Dutchman had too much for Troppmann, who could only score in the 70s. Simply not enough against a player like Barney.

Van Barneveld became the fifth Dutch player to win on day one of the European Championship and will face an in-form Jonny Clayton in round two.

Dutch delight in Hildesheim with five Dutch progressing as Nathan Aspinall books his place in the second round

Friday October 17

Schedule of play –

Cameron Menzies 6-4 Wesley Plaisier

Niels Zonneveld 6-2 Darius Labanauskas

Jeffrey de Graaf 2-6 Steve Lennon

Wessel Nijman 6-2 Martin Kramer

Ryan Joyce 6-2 Justin Hood

Luke Woodhouse 6-4 Tom Bissett

Krzysztof Rajatski 6-1 Felix Springer

Andrew Gilding 4-6 William O’Connor

Jermain Wattimena 6-2 Keane Barry

Daryl Gurney 2-6 Christian Kist

Ricardo Pietreczko 6-3 Radek Szaganski

Dirk van Duijvenbode 6-4 Karel Sedlacek

Raymond Van Barneveld 6-3 Kevin Troppmann

Ricky Evans 6-2 Joe Cullen

Gabriel Clemens 6-2 Tomislav Rosandic

Nathan Aspinall 6-3 Maximilian Czerwinski

Saturday October 18

Gian Van Veen v Niels Zonneveld

Damon Heta v Steve Lennon

Danny Nopper v Luke Woodhouse

Ryan Searle v  Krzysztof Ratajski

Mike De Decker v Wessel Nijman

Rob Cross v Cameron Menzies

Peter Wright v Ricardo Pietereczko

Dave Chisnall v Gabriel Clemens

Ross Smith v Nathan Aspinall

Jonny Clayton v Raymond Van Barneveld

Gerwyn Price v Christian Kist

James Wade v Jermaine Wattimena

Chris Dobey v Dirk Van Duijvenbode

Martin Schindler v William O’Connor

Josh Rock v Ricky Evans

Stephen Bunting v Ryan Joyce

Author Jacob Johnson.