Luke Woodhouse produced a perfect nine-dart finish as he defeated Dirk van Duijvenbode 6-3 in the opening round of the European Championship in Dortmund. The moment came in the fourth leg, an individual game within the match. After scoring 180 twice, he hit triple 20, triple 19, and double 12 to complete the leg in nine darts, exciting the crowd.
Despite the excitement, Woodhouse quickly regained his focus and finished the match by hitting the bullseye, the center of the board. He said he had tried to remain calm because winning mattered more than the perfect leg. Feeling confident after a very good year, he did not want to follow his nine-dart achievement with a defeat.
Woodhouse will next meet defending champion Gian van Veen, who overcame Andrew Gilding 6-4. Gilding scored heavily, but Van Veen won the ninth leg and then secured victory on double eight. The result kept him in the race to become the tournament's first back-to-back winner since 2018. The European Championship takes place from October 22 to 25.
