German Darts Championship featured only third unseeded final in history between Nathan Aspinall and Dirk van Duijvenbode

For the third time in the history of the European Tour, two unseeded players met in the final. This clash was between Nathan Aspinall and Dirk van Duijvenbode in the German Darts Championship, with The Asp coming out on top 8-6.

It was a tournament of high-quality darts, with the pair themselves producing some scintillating stuff. Van Duijvenbode pinned a nine in the first round before following that up with the third highest average on the Euro Tour, racking up a 117.74 average in the process of demolishing Chris Dobey. This was similar for Aspinall, who averaged 103, 107 and 110 in his opening three ties. While the quality drifted off near the end, the pair did enough to force their way into the final.

These numbers do not look like the work of unseeded players, and maybe even more surprising that the pair meet in a final without one of them having a number next to their name.

After a poor 2024, Aspinall has once again found his best game, previously winning two titles on the Euro Tour and making it to the Premier League Finals night. His opening round defeat in the World Matchplay saw a huge chunk of cash come off his rankings which saw his tumble down to outside the top 16, meaning he had to play first round games in Europe. This has been the reality for the Aubergenius, who has been battling with inconsistent form all year.

This is the first case of it occurring since the 2019 Czech Darts Open, where Jamie Hughes broke onto the scene to defeat Stephen Bunting 8-3 in the final. This triumph is even more incredible when you realise that Hughes failed to qualify for the previous two Euro Tour events.

This was the pair's first final in Europe, and it would be Hughes last to date, last featuring on the Euro Tour back in the 2024 European Darts Open. For Bunting, he entered the recent event in Hildesheim as the number one seed, showing how far he has come in the sport.

However, this was not the first unseeded final, with it coming back in the 2013 UK Masters. John Part was the victor over Stuart Kellet, with the former World Champion rolling back the years with a 6-4 triumph.

It is very likely that an unseeded final will crop up once more, with the depth in darts at an all-time high.