European Championship Darts Report

Michael van Gerwen makes it two major television tournaments on the bounce as he wins the European Championship in Mulheim Germany to follow up his World Grand Prix win earlier this month.

Van Gerwen swept Justin Pipe and Brendan Dolan aside in the early rounds, while the on form Gary Anderson couldn't make it past the first round as he came out second best in a deciding leg and lost 6-5 to Terry Jenkins. The Scotsman wasn't the only big name to crash out in the opening round, James Wade, Simon Whitlock and last years winner Adrian Lewis failed to get over the first hurdle.
The quarter finals awaited with some terrific contests, the highlight being Peter Wright vs Van Barneveld. The German crowd were behind Wright all weekend and chanted his name everytime he stepped onto the stage, but this didn't stop a new look Barney (sporting glasses for the first time in this tournament) from getting the better of 'Snakebite' winning 10-7. 


Terry Jenkins played the game of his life when he eliminated Stephen Bunting 10-7, 'The Bullet' played respectably but Jenkins brought his A game and proved too much for his opponent meanwhile, bookmakers favourite MVG made light work of Dave Chisnall with an 111 average in a 10-5 win, he was looking mighty impressive at this point.

The second round produced undoubtedly the best match of the weekend. Four time winner Phil Taylor took on the PDC new boy Stephen Bunting. Both men played world class darts averaging over 100 and they took the match to a deciding leg, Bunting threw first and it proved to be the deciding factor as he took the match 10-9. 16 time World Champion Taylor said  "Stephen was brilliant there and he didn't miss anything. I can't fault him and I hold my hands up, he was the best player on the night, he played superbly and I've got no complaints."

Bunting hit 10 180s and missed double 12 for a nine-dart finish in the epic encounter, the current BDO World Champion said "It would have been lovely to hit the nine-darter and the double 12 wasn't a million miles away, but I had to shut it out afterwards because Phil could have walked all over me."

Jenkins set up a clash with Mervin King in the semi finals and MVG would meet fellow Dutchman Van Barneveld. This was the second time in one day that these players would compete and it took its toll on King, he looked very warm and was sweating heavily, his arm started dropping and he was throwing sloppy, low darts, I think this cost him the match as an average Terry Jenkins took the match 11-8.

'Mighty Mike' took on 'Barney' in the penultimate game of the tournament. Van Gerwen showed his class throughout, he hit the fourth televised 9-dart finish of his career as he came from 2-0 down to win the match 10-6

We had our finalists. World Number 1 Michael van Gerwen and now 9-time Major Television Finalist Terry Jenkins. Could 'The Bull' Jenkins break his final curse?
The answer was no. Van Gerwen stormed into an early 5-0 lead that left Jenkins with a mountain to climb. There was a mini-revival from 'The bull' but it wasn't enough. Van Gerwen won 11-4 with a 102 average and checked out 167 along the way.

The winner said "I've never won this tournament before, so it means a lot to me. A couple of years ago I could only have dreamed about this, but now it's a reality and a lot of it has to do with confidence and I know I can do a lot of good things at the moment."

European Championship Darts Preview

Another huge darts tournament is on the horizon, this time it is the European Championship.. It has been unsurprisingly dominated by Phil Taylor, winning in 2008, 2009, 2010 and 2011 and only two other players have lifted the trophy in its 7 year history, Simon Whitlock in 2012 and Adrian Lewis in 2013. This year there is a possibility of a 4th name being added to the list with a number of players having an impressive 2014 campaign and other big names having a dip in form. 'The Power' Taylor has been out of sorts lately having not got past the quarter final stage in his last two tournaments. Adrian Lewis has also had a quiet year having not won a competition since March.

The draw has been announced and it has thrown up some eye-catching matches. Justin Pipe has not had the luck of the draw as he is up against World Number 1 Michael Van Gerwen. MVG is fresh off the back of winning the World Grand Prix and will surely be wanting to win this for the first time and add it to his ever growing trophy room. The pair have met twice this year winning one apiece, it promises to be an exciting encounter where bookmakers will have The Dutchman as big favourite but Pipe is more than capable of causing an upset when on his game.

The current BDO World Champion Stephen Bunting has also been drawn a tough opponent in Andy Hamilton. This will be the first ever meeting between the pair and will be one of the highlights of the first round. 'The Hammer' Hamilton is known for his 'Never say die' attitude and his knack for grinding out results when he looks down and out, however Bunting is throwing some mesmorising darts and the man from St Helens will feel he can progress into the last 16 where he will by no means have an easy match.

'The Bullet' will face the winner of the 2009 final rematch between Phil Taylor and Steve Beaton. This pair also met last month in the Grand Prix, ''The Power' made it look easy that day winning 2-0 and a repeat performance could set up a mouth watering clash in the last 16.

The performer of the year in many fans eyes, Gary Anderson, faces a respected opponent in Terry Jenkins. In the last 7 bouts between the pair Anderson has failed to be victorious on every occassion and this could be in the back of The Scotsmans head making it an edgy affair,

The final fixture in the fixture list is 2012 winner Simon Whitlock up against the current Premier League Champion Raymond Van Barneveld, two players are used to the feeling of winning major honours. There will be 100+ checkouts and 180s galore in a match up that has seen Whitlock coming out on top on the last 3 encounters, he loves it here in Muelheim Germany and always seems to bring his A-game to this competition.

The European Championship will gives darts fans an idea of what players have to offer in The World Championship in December although the short format could prove problematic to some players as they will have to come out of the gates fast to avoid defeat. The usual faces will be there in the later stages but up-and-coming stars such as Bunting may cause a few upsets, the World Number 31 has flown up then rankings since joining the PDC in February and has the potential to win a major tournament sooner rather than later, but can anyone stop the 'Mighty' Michael Van Gerwen?