European Championship Darts: Luke Littler to face William O'Connor in opener as Gian van Veen starts defends title
The European Championship Darts began in Dortmund on Thursday October 22, with Luke Littler facing Ireland's William O'Connor in first round; defending champion Gian van Veen beat Andrew Gilding; watch the Grand Slam of Darts live on Sky Sports from November 14-22
Thursday 22 October 2026 22:41, UK
Luke Littler will face William O'Connor in his European Championship Darts opener as the first round continues on Friday in Dortmund.
World champion Littler, who won two of the three European Tour events he played in this year, will seek to arrest a poor run of form which has seen him lose in the quarter-finals of the World Series of Darts Finals in Amsterdam, in the first round at the World Grand Prix and the semi-finals of the World Youth Championship.
Littler had been hoping to add the World Series of Darts, World Grand Prix, European Championship, Grand Slam of Darts and Players Championship Finals trophies to complete a historic clean sweep of the year. But his bid was derailed by Jonny Clayton in the Netherlands.
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World No 2 Luke Humphries was forced to withdraw on the eve of the tournament due to a diagnosis of gastroenteritis, and was replaced in the draw by Kim Huybrechts who powered through to the second round with a 6-1 win over Ryan Searle.
On opening night, the crowd were treated to a nine-darter from Luke Woodhouse in his opening match against Dirk van Duijvenbode.
On Friday evening, Littler and four-time champion Michael van Gerwen take centre stage.
Van Gerwen will face fellow Dutchman Kevin Doets in a tantalising round-one contest, while former World Grand Prix winner Clayton locks horns with Niko Springer.
German No 1 Martin Schindler will feature on home soil against No 2 seed Wessel Nijman, while former semi-finalist Nathan Aspinall takes on Spain's Cristo Reyes.
Saturday's action will see eight round-two ties played across the afternoon and evening sessions, before the quarter-finals take place on Sunday afternoon ahead of the semi-finals and final on Sunday evening.
The action gets under way at Dortmund's Westfalenhallen on Thursday, with a top prize of £150,000 up for grabs on Sunday October 25.
2026 Machineseeker European Championship
Thursday October 22
Round One x8
Luke Woodhouse 6-3 Dirk van Duijvenbode
Danny Noppert 5-6 Stephen Bunting
Niels Zonneveld 3-6 Cameron Menzies
Gerwyn Price 6-2 Rob Cross
James Wade 5-6 Damon Heta
Kim Huybrechts 6-1 Ryan Searle
Gian van Veen 6-4 Andrew Gilding
Ross Smith 6-4 Karel Sedlacek
Friday October 23 (6pm)
Round One x8
Ryan Joyce vs Jermaine Wattimena
Krzysztof Ratajski vs Dave Chisnall
Nathan Aspinall vs Cristo Reyes
Jonny Clayton vs Niko Springer
Luke Littler vs William O'Connor
Wessel Nijman vs Martin Schindler
Kevin Doets vs Michael van Gerwen
Josh Rock vs Chris Dobey
Saturday October 24
Afternoon Session (12pm)
Round Two x4 - order of games TBC
Smith vs Heta
Van Veen vs Woodhouse
Menzies vs Price
Bunting vs Huybrechts
Evening Session (6pm)
Round Two x4 - order of games TBC
Nijman/Schindler vs Joyce/Wattimena
Clayton/Springer vs Rock/Dobey
Ratajski/Chisnall vs Doets/Van Gerwen
Aspinall/Reyes vs Littler/O'Connor
Sunday October 25 - PLEASE NOTE CLOCKS GO BACK OVERNIGHT
Afternoon Session (12pm)
Quarter-Finals
Evening Session (6pm)
Semi-Finals
Final
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