Littler advances past O’Connor as Doets stuns Van Gerwen at European Championship

Luke Littler opened his European Championship campaign with a 6-3 victory over William O’Connor on Friday, while debutant Kevin Doets produced a major upset by eliminating four-time champion Michael van Gerwen.

Littler delivered an impressive performance, averaging 105.05 — the highest average of the tournament so far — and recording six maximum 180s to overcome Irish number one O’Connor. The victory sets up a second-round showdown with Nathan Aspinall.

“I’m happy with the win,” Littler said, having secured only his second victory at the Westfalenhalle.

“I meet Nathan again tomorrow. I’ve just got to take it game by game.

“Obviously, it’s the last one missing, so I can’t put too much pressure on myself. I’m just happy to get back on stage and do my job.”

Aspinall booked his place in the next round after recovering from a difficult start to defeat Cristo Reyes. He won four consecutive legs, producing impressive checkouts of 134, 112 and 90 to complete the comeback.

Meanwhile, Doets stole the spotlight with a 6-3 triumph over fellow Dutchman Van Gerwen on his European Championship debut.

The Dutchman made an explosive start, taking out 106 before following it up with a spectacular 132 checkout on the bullseye to establish a 3-0 lead. He eventually sealed the victory with a 12-dart leg to send the four-time champion out of the competition.

“It was a tough game,” Doets said.

“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.”

Doets will now face Krzysztof Ratajski on Saturday after the Polish player defeated Dave Chisnall 6-2, extending his winning streak against the Englishman to eight matches. The victory also marked just Ratajski’s second win at the European Championship in eight appearances.

Home favourite Martin Schindler delighted the German crowd by defeating second seed Wessel Nijman 6-5 in a deciding leg. Schindler, who secured his place in the 32-player field at the final European Tour event of the year, converted 55% of his attempts at doubles to take advantage of Nijman’s missed opportunities.

“I’m very happy at the moment,” Schindler said. “I was really nervous, especially in the last leg.

“Right now I feel over the moon and very confident. Tomorrow is a new day and I will need to focus again.”

Schindler will meet Jermaine Wattimena in the second round after the Dutchman defeated Ryan Joyce 6-3, despite missing two darts that could have completed a whitewash.

Elsewhere, Jonny Clayton and Josh Rock both progressed with convincing victories. Clayton overcame Niko Springer 6-3, while Rock produced a dominant display to beat Chris Dobey 6-1 after winning six consecutive legs.

The results set up a second-round meeting between Clayton and Rock, adding another intriguing contest to Saturday’s schedule.

The European Championship continues with two sessions on Saturday as the remaining 16 players compete for places in the quarter-finals. Defending champion Gian van Veen will face Luke Woodhouse in the afternoon session, while Littler and Aspinall headline the evening action.

European Championship results