"If Mike can do it, why can't we?" - Ritchie Edhouse takes inspiration from De Decker's recent major success

Making his return to the European Championship for the first time since 2021, Ritchie Edhouse looked incredibly impressive on Thursday night in Dortmund, throwing an average of 109.48 in victory over World Youth Championship finalist, Gian van Veen. 

Edhouse immediately started the match sharp with a 12-darter, before Van Veen threw out 64 to level the score. The Englishman then retook the lead and ran out to a 4-1 advantage with a 12-darter and a 56 finish. On his own throw Van Veen was on 85 after twelve darts, but he did not get the chance to finish the leg. With his third 12-darter of the match the sixth leg also went to Edhouse, who took a 5-1 lead. Edhouse then ended the match with a 16 darter.

"For the last 3 or four weeks I've been scoring well with no finishing at all, so to come up on that stage and just have everything in one match is yeah, beyond words," reflects Edhouse in his post-match press conference afterwards. "I came off stage and I said to a few security guys: why have I not done it before? This is the first time I've had the whole package on stage so it's been good."

In 2024, Edhouse has really stepped up a level, starring on the European Tour circuit, reaching the quarter-finals of the International Darts Open and the Baltic Sea Darts Open. "If I can keep hitting my doubles up to a certain standard, then yeah, I can win titles. It's that bit at the end that I am struggling with but I'm working on it, so we'll soon see."

In his search for a breakthrough performance on the big stage, Edhouse has also taken some recent inspiration from World Grand Prix winner, Mike de Decker. "When I watched that game (the final ed.), the next day I saw Luke and I said: you're not a machine, I thought you were a machine!" Edhouse recalls. "So there is confidence there because if Mike can do it, why can't we?"