PREVIEW | Who will crown themselves European champion? These are the biggest favorites to succeed Ritchie Edhouse at the European Championship

After fourteen Euro Tour tournaments played over the past year, the European Championship 2025 will take place next week from Thursday, October 23 to Sunday, October 26. This major tournament is the final piece of the European Tour. Who will succeed Ritchie Edhouse and can call himself European Champion on Sunday night? In this article, we preview the tournament and look at the main favorites for the title.

As mentioned above, the European Championship is the culmination of all previously played Euro Tour tournaments over the past season. The 32 players who performed best on the European Tour managed to qualify for this final tournament. In contrast to other tournaments, there was no draw, but players compete against each other based on the ranking. Number 1 on the European Tour Order of Merit meets number 32, number 2 meets number 31, and so on. In total there is an impressive prize pool of no less than £600,000 to be divided, of which the winner earns £120,000.

The first edition of the European Championship took place in 2008, held in Frankfurt at the time. Big names like Phil Taylor, Adrian Lewis, James Wade, Raymond van Barneveld and Dennis Priestley were all present. It is no surprise that Phil Taylor won the first edition. He did so by beating Adrian Lewis 11-5 in the final.

The three subsequent editions in 2009, 2010 and 2011 were also victorious for "The Power." In 2009 he was far too strong for Steve Beaton in the final. With an average of over 109, he beat "The Bronzed Adonis" 11-3. A year later, he faced even less opposition in the final. He conceded only one leg and defeated Englishman Wayne Jones 11-1. His fourth consecutive title came again against Adrian Lewis. As in 2009, he reached an average of over 109, beating "Jackpot" 11-8.

In 2012, for the first time, we saw a winner other than Taylor — namely Simon Whitlock. The Australian faced Wes Newton in the final, where he won 11-5. A year later, "The Wizard" again reached the final, this time against Adrian Lewis, who thus reached the final for the third time in his career. After two lost finals, Lewis finally took the title in 2013. After beating Michael van Gerwen 11-8 in the semifinals, he reached the final against Simon Whitlock, winning 11-6.

From 2014 through 2017, it became Michael van Gerwen’s tournament. The Dutchman, like Phil Taylor before him, managed to win the tournament four years in a row, the first of which was in 2014. That year he faced Terry Jenkins in the final, whom he easily brushed aside 11-4. A year later, he faced Gary Anderson in the final. It was a cracker in which both men averaged well over 100, but in the end Van Gerwen narrowly won 11-10.

In 2016, "Mighty Mike" recorded the highest average ever in the final at the European Championship. The Dutchman reached 111.62 in the final match with Mensur Suljovic, who himself did not exceed 85.91. Van Gerwen then easily won this final 11-1. A year later came the last title for the Dutchman at the European Championship, after he was too strong for Rob Cross with an average of almost 109, winning 11-7.

Between 2018 and 2024, we then saw many different winners. Starting with James Wade, who took his first European Championship title in 2018 by beating Simon Whitlock 11-8 in the final. Rob Cross, after losing his final in 2017, also managed to become European Champion for the first time two years later by beating Gerwyn Price 11-9 in the final, before Peter "Snakebite" Wright claimed the title in 2020 after being too strong for James Wade in the final match 11-4.

In 2021, Michael van Gerwen finally managed to reach the final again, but could not claim the title for the fifth time. Indeed, Rob Cross was too strong for the Dutchman with 11-8, winning the tournament for the second time. The following year we saw a surprising winner: Ross Smith. "Smudger" surprised everyone by reaching the final, where he met his namesake Michael Smith. In the final, he managed to keep up his good line of the tournament and won 11-8 to win a major tournament for the first time in his career.

Peter Wright then managed to win the European Championship for the second time in 2023 by beating James Wade 11-6 in the final, followed by perhaps the most surprising final the tournament has ever seen last year. All the big names like Littler, Humphries, Price and Van Gerwen were present, but were eliminated early on. This left us with a final between Englishman Ritchie Edhouse and Dutchman Jermaine Wattimena. Both had never won a title at the PDC until that point, which created extra pressure for both Edhouse and Wattimena. In the end, Edhouse was able to handle that best in the final and managed to win his first major title by beating Wattimena 11-3.

All matches will be played in a legs format. In the first round, it is 6 legs won. In the second round and quarterfinals, it is to be played for 10 legs won, and then players in the semifinals and finals must win 11 legs.

The 18-year-old is stringing together one title after another this year and currently seems unstoppable. In addition, the European Darts Championship is one of the few major titles Littler does not yet have in his trophy cabinet, which no doubt gives him extra motivation to flame this tournament. However, 'The Nuke' does find himself in a very tough quarter of the draw. If he manages to beat Raymond van Barneveld in the first round, he will meet the winner of the match between James Wade and Mike De Decker in the second round. After that, however, he will most likely face his namesake Luke Humphries in the quarterfinals. Should it come to that, and he manages to win that game from Humphries, there is a pretty good chance that he will also be standing with the cup in his hands on Sunday night.

As mentioned above, Luke Humphries is most likely the biggest competitor for Luke Littler. 'Cool Hand Luke' is slowly starting to return to better form in recent weeks, but is still willing to let up in the earlier rounds. However, if he survives his first match, in a short format, against Krzysztof Ratajski, there is a good chance he will face Littler in the quarterfinals. So that match will likely be decisive for who will reach the finals of the two Luke's. Littler seems slightly the favorite, but Humphries is certainly capable of beating the 18-year-old and winning the European Championship title for the first time in his career.

At the other end of the schedule is Welshman Gerwyn Price. 'The Iceman' may be the man in form after Littler in recent weeks, and he is yearning for another major TV title. Price hasn't managed to win a major tournament since the World Series of Darts Finals in 2022, but that could possibly change this weekend. Price has been pitching ironclad lately and is sure to avoid both Luke's until as late as the final. Should he reach the quarterfinals, a duel with Stephen Bunting or perhaps Michael van Gerwen may await him. On paper, Price is the favorite in this part of the draw, and he is certainly capable of dealing with Littler or Humphries in the final next as well, provided either manages to reach the final.

Gian van Veen could just become the biggest surprise this tournament. The Dutchman has been playing extremely well for months and he is waiting for the moment to win his first major title at the PDC. And maybe he can already realize that this European Championship. Van Veen is in a fairly favorable quarter of the draw. In the first round he will meet Damon Heta, who is known to not always perform on TV tournaments. After that a possible duel with the winner of the match between Jonny Clayton and Ryan Searle awaits, which on paper is also doable. Should he reach the quarterfinals he can expect to face Martin Schindler, Dave Chisnall, Ryan Joyce or Luke Woodhouse, all 4 names he should be able to beat.

In the semifinals, he could then face names like Stephen Bunting, Michael van Gerwen or Gerwyn Price. But in the form the Dutchman is currently in, he can win against anyone. At the last World Grand Prix, he averaged over 106 in the first round against Luke Littler. He lost the match in the end, but it shows that he is capable of making things difficult for anyone in a good way. If he can bring his level of the past tournaments to Dortmund, it would not surprise us if Van Veen might win his first major PDC title at the European Darts Championship.

Another name hovering against his first major title is Josh Rock. Although he recently won the World Cup of Darts along with Daryl Gurney, the Northern Irishman is still waiting for his personal first major title. However, 'Rocky' is in a tricky part of the draw, where he may face Nathan Aspinall or Dirk van Duijvenbode in the quarterfinals, both players who reached the final on the Euro Tour last weekend and are in good shape.

In addition, there is a very good chance that he will then face one of Luke's in the semifinals, after which there is very likely to be a tough opponent in the final as well. So it will all have to fall into place for Rock this weekend if he wants to take home the cup, but if he can find his best level of recent times the Northern Irishman can certainly cause a surprise.

Nathan Aspinall comes to Dortmund as No. 1 on the ranking list, indicating that he has performed best on the European Tour this year. In addition, he managed to win the last Euro Tour tournament in Hildesheim last weekend, making him travel to Dortmund with a good feeling. For 'The Asp', however, the same applies as for Rock, he is in a difficult part of the draw. If he manages to deal with Rob Cross in his first match, which will already be a tough task, Dirk van Duijvenbode or Danny Noppert awaits in the round after that. Van Duijvenbode also reached the final on Sunday and played very well last weekend. Then Aspinall was too strong for the Dutchman, but should they meet again in the second round, 'Aubergenius' will be out for revenge.

Finally, Stephen Bunting is also definitely among the contenders for the title. The Bullet won two tournaments on the European Tour this year and comes to Dortmund as number 3 on the ranking list. In addition to his Euro Tour titles, the Englishman has also won two Players Championships and two World Series tournaments this year, which currently puts him in fourth place in the world rankings. Should he win the tournament, he would even move up to No. 3, where Michael van Gerwen is currently ranked. The Bullet could possibly meet the latter in the second round, after which Price is the most obvious opponent in the quarterfinals. So it will be a difficult task for Bunting, but it is certainly not impossible.