"I can beat the biggest players in the world!” - Wattimena faces toughest challenge yet in European Championship QFs after wins over Wade and Wright

Jermaine Wattimena has qualified for the quarterfinals of the European Championship for the first time in his career. The Machine Gun added James Wade's name to a growing list of scalps he's taking in Dortmund this week, winning 10-9 after a thriller. Next up though, the Dutchman will now face world champion and world number one Luke Humphries.

The Dutchman delivered a fine comeback, as Wade led 5-1 after six legs after a 14-darter and a 109 finish, among other things. Wattimena then came back to 6-6 before Wade regained the lead in the 13th leg. Wattimena produced a 52 finish to make it 7-7 again. Wade narrowly missed the double for a 9 darter in the next leg before the contest ultimately went all the way to a decider where Wattimena prevailed.

“To hit a 124 finish to win in a last-leg decider, I have no words for that,” reflected Wattimena afterwards in his post-match press conference, having already whitewashed 2023 champion Peter Wright in round one. “I was 5-1 down but I told myself to keep fighting. The smile is not coming off my face this evening! I haven’t played my A-game in the last few years, but I am growing now, and I am confident I can beat the biggest players in the world!”

As mentioned though. After knocking out two former champions in Peter Wright and James Wade, things don't get any easier for Wattimena as he will now take on the man in form, Luke Humphries for a spot in the last 4.

"To be honest, every game I play now is like a final," Wattimena previews. "Because you want to win and go through to the next round. It doesn't matter who I play, I just have to play my best and give myself a chance of winning."