Humphries exits European Championship as Woodhouse lands televised nine-darter

Luke Humphries withdrew from the European Championship in Germany because of gastroenteritis, while Luke Woodhouse marked the opening match with his first televised nine-darter. BBC Sport reported that the world number two's place went to Kim Huybrechts, who made the most of his late entry by beating Ryan Searle 6-1 in Thursday's first-round action in Dortmund.

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Humphries had arrived at the event after a successful spell that included winning the World Grand Prix and reaching the Swiss Darts Trophy final, where he lost to Jonny Clayton. His withdrawal brought in Huybrechts because the Belgian was the highest-ranked player in the 2026 European Tour standings who had not already qualified for the championship.

Huybrechts quickly converted that opportunity into a place in the second round. He registered six maximums against Searle and finished with a checkout success rate of 67%, according to the BBC's report. His next opponent will be Stephen Bunting, whose route through the opening round was much closer: Bunting beat Danny Noppert 6-5, producing a 160 checkout in the deciding leg to secure his progress.

Woodhouse's perfect leg came during a 6-3 victory over Dirk van Duijvenbode. In the fourth leg, he followed consecutive visits of 180 with a 141 finish to complete the nine-darter. Speaking after the match, Woodhouse described it as his first on a big stage and said he had tried to stay calm, with his focus on preventing his opponent from getting back into the contest.

The reward for Woodhouse is a last-16 meeting with defending champion Gian van Veen, who defeated Andrew Gilding 6-4. Elsewhere, Gerwyn Price advanced with a 6-2 win against Rob Cross. Price will face Cameron Menzies in the next round after Menzies overcame Niels Zonneveld 6-3, completing another of the second-round pairings established on Thursday.

Damon Heta also needed a deciding leg, edging James Wade 6-5. World number one Luke Littler had yet to begin his campaign at the time of the report. The reigning PDC world champion was scheduled to play William O'Connor on Friday, following an opening session featuring Humphries' withdrawal, a successful replacement appearance and Woodhouse's televised milestone.