9-darter at the European Championship 2026: Luke Woodhouse throws a perfect leg in Dortmund

Luke Woodhouse throws a 9-darter at the European Championship 2026 in Dortmund and beats Dirk van Duijvenbode 6:3. All the facts about the perfect leg.

The European Darts Championship 2026 in Dortmund has barely got under way – and it already has its highlight. Luke Woodhouse threw the perfect leg at the Westfalenhalle on Thursday evening (22 October 2026). In the tournament's opening match the 38-year-old Englishman landed a 9-darter against Dirk van Duijvenbode and then moved into the second round with a 6:3 win.

Perfect leg in the very first match

Woodhouse, seeded ninth, opened the evening session against Dutchman van Duijvenbode (no. 24). In the fourth leg the moment arrived: two 180s to start, then the 141 finish – the final dart landed in double 12. The Westfalenhalle erupted, Woodhouse moved 3:1 ahead and never let the lead slip again.

In the end it was 6:3 in legs. The statistics underline the Englishman's superiority: an Average of 99.11 against 84.82 for van Duijvenbode. Round one was played in the Best of 11 Legs format.

Only the fifth 9-darter in European Championship history

A perfect leg at this major is a rarity. Woodhouse is only the fifth player to manage the feat at the European Championship – after Adrian Lewis, Michael van Gerwen, Kyle Anderson and José de Sousa. The last 9-darter at this tournament was six years ago, back in 2020. At the 2026 World Championship in London there was not a single nine-darter either.

For Woodhouse himself it is not the first big moment of this season: at the World Grand Prix he knocked Luke Littler out of the tournament.

Thursday's programme at the Westfalenhalle

The first round is spread over two days. On Thursday evening eight matches were on the card from 19:00:

Luke Woodhouse – Dirk van Duijvenbode 6:3
Danny Noppert – Stephen Bunting
Niels Zonneveld – Cameron Menzies
Gerwyn Price – Rob Cross
James Wade – Damon Heta
Kim Huybrechts – Ryan Searle
Gian van Veen – Andrew Gilding
Ross Smith – Karel Sedláček

Defending champion Gian van Veen starts his tournament in the penultimate match of the evening against Andrew Gilding. In the 2025 final the Dutchman beat Luke Humphries 11:10.

Humphries missing, Huybrechts steps in

Last year's runner-up had to pull out at short notice: Luke Humphries was withdrawn from the field with a gastrointestinal illness. Kim Huybrechts took his place as the highest-ranked player who had missed out, and now faces Ryan Searle.

Woodhouse is back in action on Saturday

The second half of the first round follows on Friday from 12:00 with eight more matches, including the two German appearances: Martin Schindler faces Wessel Nijman, Niko Springer plays Jonny Clayton. Also in action on Friday: Luke Littler against William O'Connor and Michael van Gerwen against Kevin Doets.

The rest of the schedule:

Friday, 23.10., from 12:00: the remaining eight first-round matches
Saturday, 24.10., 12:00 and 19:00: second round (Best of 19)
Sunday, 25.10., from 12:00: quarter-finals
Sunday, 25.10., from 18:00: semi-finals and final (Best of 21)

Woodhouse has to wait until Saturday. In round two he takes on the winner of the match between van Veen and Gilding.

Prize money and coverage

A total of 750,000 pounds is being paid out in Dortmund. The breakdown:

Winner: £150,000
Runner-up: £80,000
Semi-finalists: £50,000 each
Quarter-finalists: £35,000 each
Out in round 2: £20,000
Out in round 1: £7,500

So with his 6:3 Woodhouse has already secured at least 20,000 pounds. The 19th edition of the tournament is shown live in Germany by Sport1 and DAZN.

The field is made up of the 32 best players in the European Tour Order of Merit; there is no classic draw – the bracket comes straight from the ranking, no. 1 plays no. 32 and so on. From 2027 the field will be expanded to 48 players, the tournament extended to six days and the prize money increased to one million pounds.