Luke Woodhouse threw a nine-dart finish as he kicked off the European Championship in style.

Woodhouse threw perfectly in the fourth leg of his first-round clash with Dirk van Duijvenbode in Dortmund.

He pinned successive 180s and then took 141 to claim a maiden nine-darter on television.

It helped him to a 6-3 victory in Germany and a second-round clash against either Gian van Veen or Andrew Gilding, who play later on Thursday.

“It’s my first one on a big stage,” he said. “It felt really comfortable doing it, and after the treble 19 I felt like it was going to be the double 12.

“I tried to keep myself nice and calm. It was more about not letting him back into the game.”

Stephen Bunting also produced a moment of magic to claim victory in a final-leg decider against Danny Noppert.

Bunting was heading for an early departure, but he came up with a clutch 160 checkout to sneak a 6-5 success.

The early entertainment came as number two Luke Humphries earlier withdrew due to illness.

Humphries was due to begin his campaign against Ryan Searle on Thursday night, but has been diagnosed with gastroenteritis and pulled out of the tournament.

He is replaced in the field by Belgian Kim Huybrechts.

A PDC statement read: “Under PDC rules, Humphries will be directly replaced in the field by Kim Huybrechts, the highest-ranked non-qualified player in the 2026 European Tour rankings.

“Belgium’s Huybrechts will now take on Ryan Searle on Thursday evening, with the winner set to face Danny Noppert or Stephen Bunting on Saturday.”

Humphries’ withdrawal could boost Luke Littler’s attempt to complete the set of major tournament wins.

The teenager is only missing the European Championship crown after a prolific two years on tour.

Littler will face a hostile German crowd when he opens against William O’Connor on Friday night.