Luke Humphries and Luke Littler both produced dominant displays in Dortmund as Round One of the European Championship came to a close at in front of nearly 6,000 fans at Westfalenhallen, where top seed Nathan Aspinall also progressed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
World number one Humphries posted a blistering 109.98 average as he whitewashed Poland’s Krzysztof Ratajski in little over ten minutes of play.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The victory was sealed with a stunning 161 checkout, and Humphries’ bid to win a first European Championship title will now see him face Cameron Menzies in Round Two – with the Scot beating compatriot Gary Anderson 6-3 earlier in the evening.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“I’m really pleased with that performance,”\u00a0stated Humphries.\u00a0“My scoring was strong from the start and I think that was really important.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“If I start well, I’m always a far more dangerous player and I think those first few legs set the tone. I didn’t really give Krzysztof a sniff tonight, and that’s what you need to do against a player who is so solid.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Littler, who is hunting down Humphries’ world number one spot, booked his place in Round Two as he brushed aside Raymond van Barneveld by a 6-1 margin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The game turned in a key fourth leg, with Van Barneveld missing five darts to level at two-all before Littler put his foot to the floor to pull clear.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The World Champion also sealed his victory in style, pinning a 115 checkout to set up a clash with former European Championship winner James Wade, who breezed past Mike De Decker 6-1.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“It might have looked comfortable, but up there it wasn’t,”\u00a0confessed Littler.\u00a0“Me and Raymond both struggled in the first few legs, but I had to kick on and I got the job done.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“I’m looking forward to tomorrow now. I’ve got a very good record against James, and it should be a good contest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“I know the world number one spot is in sight, but I’ve just got to take it game by game and focus on James first.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Number one seed Aspinall lived up to his billing as he saw off two-time European Champion Rob Cross 6-1.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Fresh from winning his third European Tour title of the year last weekend, Aspinall looked in fine form as he averaged just over 100 in an emphatic win.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“I’m coming into this tournament off the back of a fantastic win last weekend, and I’m enjoying my darts at the minute,”stated Aspinall.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“It was a tough draw – playing Rob Cross when you’re the number one seed is not ideal, but I handled it well and I think I put a good performance in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“I’ve suffered a lot over the last three or four years, but when I’ve got a clear mind I’m a very tough opponent, and I think my darts are showing that.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Aspinall will now face Danny Noppert, who saw off Dutch rival Dirk van Duijvenbode 6-3 in the final game of the night.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Elsewhere, there was something for the buoyant home crowd to cheer as Ricardo Pietreczko surprised World Cup winner Josh Rock with a 6-4 victory.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
However, there was disappointment for German debutant Niko Springer in the night’s opener, as the youngster went down 6-3 to 2024 European Championship finalist Jermaine Wattimena – who was in inspired form to average almost 107 in a superb return to the Westfalenhalle. Luke Humphries and Luke Littler both produced dominant displays in Dortmund as Round One of the European Championship<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5126,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[44],"tags":[59],"class_list":["post-5125","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-international","tag-darts"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t
Round One<\/strong> Results: <\/strong>Jermaine Wattimena 6-3 Niko Springer; Cameron Menzies 6-3 Gary Anderson; James Wade 6-1 Mike De Decker; Ricardo Pietreczko 6-4 Josh Rock; Luke Humphries 6-0 Krzysztof Ratajski; Luke Littler 6-1 Raymond van Barneveld; Nathan Aspinall 6-1 Rob Cross; Danny Noppert 6-3 Dirk van Duijvenbode<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"