2019 German Darts Championship Day One

European Tour

NATHAN ASPINALL put in a scintillating display in the performance of the opening round of the 2019 German Darts Championship.

Portela Amongst Final Qualifiers In For ET2

European Tour

DIOGO PORTELA, Mike De Decker and Jyhan Artut were amongst the final qualifiers for the German Darts Championship.

2019 German Darts Championship Draw & Schedule

European Tour

THE German Darts Championship begins on Friday, with Dimitri van den Bergh set to face Steve Beaton in the first round.

Nine-Dart Van Gerwen Lifts First European Title of 2019

European Tour

MICHAEL VAN GERWEN hit a nine-dart finish on his way to winning the first European Tour title of 2019.

2019 European Darts Open Day Two

European Tour

KRZYSZTOF RATAJSKI produced the performance of the day to knock Michael Smith out of the European Darts Open.

2019 European Darts Open Day One

European Tour

RAYMOND VAN BARNEVELD'S return to European Tour action ended in a 6-4 defeat to Steve Beaton in Leverkusen.

Artut Heads ET1 Host Nation Qualifiers

European Tour

JYHAN ARTUT headlined the four Host Nation Qualifiers for the European Darts Open.

2019 European Darts Open Draw & Schedule

European Tour

THE European Darts Open begins on Friday, with Raymond van Barneveld set to face Steve Beaton in the first round.

2019 European Tour 3-4 Qualifiers

European Tour

STEVE BEATON, Stephen Bunting and Kyle Anderson were among eight players to secure a European Tour qualification double.

Eight Players Land European Tour Places

European Tour

EIGHT players claimed spots in European Tour events at the three East Europe and four Nordic and Baltic Qualifiers.

Luke Humphries won his maiden European Tour title with a remarkable Easter success in the Interwetten German Darts Grand Prix at Zenith in Munich.

Former World Youth Champion Humphries has made huge strides towards establishing himself in the world's top 16 by the past 18 months, reaching the 2021 UK Open final and winning his first Players Championship earlier this year.

He has taken a further step on the ladder towards the sport's elite following a stunning German Darts Grand Prix victory, which was capped by an 8-2 defeat of Martin Lukeman in Monday night's final.

Humphries also achieved the remarkable feat of whitewashing Michael van Gerwen 7-0 in the semi-finals with a brilliant display, averaging 107 and finishing seven doubles from 12 attempts whilst limiting the Dutchman to just one dart at the outer ring.

The Newbury star had also followed up Sunday's second round win over Jeffrey de Zwaan with ton-plus averages in defeating Michael Smith and Wesley Plaisier during the final day.

He led 2-0 in the final before Lukeman hit back to trail 3-2, but five straight legs saw Humphries pull clear to close out a memorable win.

"This means the world for me and I'm absolutely over the moon with this win," said Humphries. "This is the biggest thing I've ever done in darts.

"It's been a gruelling, long day and I've worked hard. I hit three hundred averages to get myself into the final. 

"I think I deserved it but you don't always get what you deserve in life. I've got a ProTour title, a Euro Tour title and the next one's a major, isn't it?!"

Lukeman's dream run to a first European Tour final had begun on Saturday as he defeated Adam Gawlas before seeing off Germany's Gabriel Clemens in round two to book a spot in the final day.

The Watford thrower then edged out Keane Barry in a deciding leg, saw off Martin Schindler 6-4 and then overcame Damon Heta 7-5 to seal a place in the final, where he earned a career-high £10,000 pay-day.

Humphries added: "I've known Martin for a long time, since before he was on the tour.

"He smashed me in a competition about five or six years ago, and he said to 'you'll make it big-time, you'll win titles' and he was right.

"Little did we know six years later we were going to be in a big PDC final!"

Van Gerwen had produced ton-plus averages against Rob Cross and Keegan Brown as he won through to the last four, only to see his bid to claim back-to-back European Tour titles shattered by Humphries.

Heta was also in fine form during Monday's latter stages, defeating Scott Waites and Jonny Clayton before being edged out by Lukeman.

Plaisier won an all-Dutch third round tie with Dirk van Duijvenbode as he reached the last eight alongside Premier League star Clayton, German favourite Schindler and former World Youth Champion Brown.

The next PDC European Tour event will be the Austrian Darts Open in Graz from April 29-May 1.

Coverage will be streamed through DAZN for viewers in Germany, Austria and Switzerland and through PDCTV for subscribers in all other territories, as well as through bookmakers worldwide.

Drawboard