Stats Analysis: Decision Time

European Tour

Christopher Kempf looks at when it all comes down to one leg on the European Tour, Michael van Gerwen reigns supreme.

Van Gerwen Beats Wright In ET1 Thriller

European Tour

MICHAEL VAN GERWEN clinched the first European Tour title of 2018 in a dramatic European Darts Open final against Peter Wright.

2018 European Darts Open Day Two

European Tour

PETER WRIGHT bounced back to form as he began his defence of the European Darts Open title in Leverkusen on Saturday.

2018 European Darts Open Day One

European Tour

ADRIAN LEWIS survived a missed match dart as he joined James Wade amongst the European Darts Open's first round winners.

Double ET Qualifying Success For Quartet

European Tour

DANNY NOPPERT, Jan Dekker, Jermaine Wattimena and Michael Rasztovits enjoyed a double European Tour qualifying success.

2018 European Darts Open Draw

European Tour

FORMER European Tour winners James Wade and Steve Beaton will clash on the opening day of the European Darts Open on Friday.

2018 ET3-4 UK Qualifiers

European Tour

CAMERON MENZIES landed a nine-dart finish as he claimed a double European Tour UK Qualifier success alongside six other players.

ET3 & ET4 Entries Confirmed

European Tour

THE entries have been confirmed for the German Darts Open and Austrian Darts Open European Tour events.

2018 ET1-2 UK Qualifiers

European Tour

JAMES WADE and Adrian Lewis were amongst six players to enjoy double success in the ET1-2 UK Qualifier.

2018 European Tour 1-2 Entries

European Tour

THE entries for the year's first two PDC European Tour events have been confirmed ahead of the UK Qualifiers on Friday February 16.

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