2018 European Tour: Top Five Moments So Far

European Tour

THE 2018 European Tour has produced some magnificent moments so far, with memorable first-time victories, emerging new talent and all-round stunning darts thrown.

Unibet European Championship Qualification Latest

Machineseeker European Championship

THE BATTLE to qualify for the Unibet European Championship remains tight heading into the final six European Tour events.

Nicholson Determined To Build On Gibraltar Success

European Tour

PAUL NICHOLSON is determined to continue his revival after enjoying a stunning run to the semi-finals of the Gibraltar Darts Trophy last weekend.

Flawless Van Gerwen Targets Glorious Summer

News

MICHAEL VAN GERWEN is targeting a summer of success after claiming the Gibraltar Darts Trophy on Sunday.

Van Gerwen Clinches Gibraltar Title

European Tour

MICHAEL VAN GERWEN claimed his 25th European Tour title and a fifth of the year as he defeated Adrian Lewis 8-3 in the final of the Gibraltar Darts Trophy.

2018 Gibraltar Darts Trophy Day Two

European Tour

ROB CROSS produced a stunning comeback to defeat Cristo Reyes 6-5 in the second round of the Gibraltar Darts Trophy on Saturday.

Entries Confirmed For Hamburg & Hildesheim

European Tour

ENTRIES have been confirmed for the PDC European Tour events in Hamburg and Hildesheim in June and August ahead of the forthcoming UK Qualifiers.

2018 Gibraltar Darts Trophy Day One

European Tour

MAX HOPP produced a fine display at the Gibraltar Darts Trophy with a 6-0 whitewash of Mark Dudbridge as the European Tour event began on Friday.

Lopez Heads Gibraltar Qualifiers

European Tour

ANTONY LOPEZ was joined by three European Tour debutants in qualifying for the Gibraltar Darts Trophy.

Trio Seal Gibraltar & Denmark Spots

European Tour

MAX HOPP, Cristo Reyes & Jermaine Wattimena enjoyed a qualification double for the events in Gibraltar and Copenhagen.

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