Preview Sunday night European Championship 2025: Humphries vs Holland as Dutch trio join World No.1 in semi-final reckoning

Luke Humphries remains the leading light involved at the European Championship and he is joined by a trio of Dutchman in Dortmund as we head towards crowning a winner this evening.

From 2014 to 2017, Michael van Gerwen won the European title four times in a row, but after that, Dutch success on the final tournament of the Euro Tour circuit failed to materialize.
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Van Gerwen came close to a fifth title in 2021, but then lost in the final to Rob Cross. Jermaine Wattimena was a surprising finalist in Dortmund in 2024, but lost to Ritchie Edhouse.

Of the four semi-finalists, Van Gerwen is the only one who has reached the European Championship final at all before, as Luke Humphries also does not yet have this title on his record. Around 10 o'clock tonight we will know who has won the eighteenth edition of the European Championship.

It will not be the first time Gian van Veen and Michael van Gerwen meet at the European Championship, because two years ago they met in the quarterfinals. Then Van Veen surprisingly won 10-6.

For the time being there is no beating Van Veen at this tournament. The 23-year-old dart player won easily against Damon Heta (6-3), Ryan Searle (10-2) and Ryan Joyce (10-5). Van Veen showed his best form in his second round match against Searle, a match in which Van Veen posted an average of 109.92.

Van Gerwen survived seven match darts in his first match against Wessel Nijman (6-5), but after that the player from Vlijmen had no more problems. He triumphed convincingly 10-5 against Chris Dobey, and then won 10-7 against Daryl Gurney.

It will be the ninth meeting between Van Gerwen and Van Veen. In the head-to-head, 'Mighty Mike' currently leads 5-3. The most recent encounter was at the Flanders Darts Trophy at the end of August. Then Van Veen won 6-3. Earlier this year they also faced each other in the final of the German Darts Grand Prix in Munich. Then Van Gerwen won 8-5.

Then onto Noppert v Humphries. 'The Freeze' is having an excellent autumn, in which he reached a Euro Tour final and the semi-finals of the World Grand Prix. At the World Grand Prix, Noppert eventually stranded against Humphries.

Noppert began his tournament with a convincing 6-3 victory over Dirk van Duijvenbode thanks to an average of 104.88. After that, the Friesian also pushed aside Nathan Aspinall (10-7) and Ricardo Pietreczko (10-5). This puts Noppert in the semifinals of the European Darts Championship for the third consecutive year.

For Luke Humphries it is only the first time he has reached the last four at this tournament. At the three previous editions he stranded in the quarterfinals each time. Cool Hand Luke' got off to an excellent start by defeating Krzysztof Ratajski 6-0 with a moyenne of 109.98. Humphries then dealt with Cameron Menzies (10-9) in a spectacle match, before also beating James Wade (10-3).

Looking at the head to head between them, Humphries clearly has the advantage. Of the previous 12 encounters, eight were won by Humphries, including the last three confrontations.