European Championship Round-Up | Luke Humphries knocks out James Wade as trio of Dutch stars make up semi-final spots

Luke Humphries was dominant in his 10-3 win over James Wade in the quarter-final of the European Championship, with him joining a trio of Dutchman in tonight’s semi-finals. The former world number one racked off eight legs in a row to dispose of Wade.

It was a sluggish start for Wade, but he still went ahead thanks to Humphries missing five on the outer ring. Cool Hand Luke would win two legs to take the lead, but Wade fought back immediately with two legs of his own.

The world number one came out in the second session a different man, sweeping up all five legs to race into a 7-3 lead. He was not at his best, with missed doubles going unpunished by The Machine. He won the remaining three legs to secure his spot in the semi-finals, with a 121 checkout on double 18 the highlight of those checkouts. Humphries will continue as the number one for at least another competition, with the hopes of winning a major he has never won still on the cards.

Michael van Gerwen got the better of Daryl Gurney 10-5 to keep him enroute for a fifth European Championship title. The tie was started with two 13-dart breaks of throws, with Gurney squandering three darts at double 16 to claim his advantage back. Van Gerwen punished him, and once again survived another missed opportunity from Gurney who missed the bull for a 130 checkout at the end of the first session.

The breaks continued, with three consecutive legs against the throw beginning with a sublime 124 outshot from The Green Machine. This was finished by another ton+ checkout, this time a 120 from van Gerwen to put him 6-3 ahead. He was pegged back by a ton+ from Gurney, as he pinned the bull for a statement 127 checkout. This was upstaged in the next leg by the four-time champion, who took out 134 to prolong the holds. Gurney came close to extending the ton+ checkouts but missed tops for a 120 before cleaning up to make the score 7-5.

From here it was just routine hold of throws, with either opponent unable to make any headway when not throwing first. This would be a disaster for Gurney, who would be able to get back into the match, allowing van Gerwen to casually wrap up the match on double eight. He is set to play in his seventh European Championship semi-final.

Gian van Veen has been one of the standout players in Dortmund and continued his progress with a convincing 10-5 victory over debutant Ryan Joyce. Early missed doubles at tops from Joyce allowed van Veen to snatch a break. He followed that with another 14-darter, then found the triple 20 seven times on the bounce to get the German crowd on their feet but could not find the rare perfect leg. Two missed big numbers allowed Joyce to clinically take out 107 to get his first leg on the board. He should have made it 3-2 on that same target, but his missed opportunity allowed van Veen to race 4-1 ahead.

After falling four legs behind, Joyce wone three consecutive legs to get back in it, but a crucial hold from van Veen prevented the match from going level. At this point, Joyce was 15 points behind in the averages but was only two legs behind thanks to his superb finishing. Two legs at the start of the third session saw van Veen take further command in the tie, before another two-leg spurt culminated the match, putting him through to his second European Championship semi-final.

Danny Noppert saw off home-favourite Ricardo Pietreczko 10-5 to reach a fourth major final in 2025, and third in the European Championship. Noppert took control from the start, going ahead in the first leg after missing a number of doubles. Pietreczko levelled up before Noppert won three on the spin, including a clinical 130 checkout on the bull. Pietreczko came out in the second session much more competitive. After going 5-1 down, he won two legs while keeping his 100% checkout rate.

Numerous holds followed, with Noppert struggling to consistently put the leg away, while the German stuck with him. This same pattern occurred until the penultimate leg of the match, where a number of missed doubles from most players made for a nervous ending. Noppert eventually found double five to clinch an important break to go 9-5 ahead before comfortably seeing the match out to join his fellow countrymen in the semi-finals in Dortmund.