European Darts Championship
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The European Championship is a PDC
darts Darts or dart-throwing is a competitive sport in which two or more players bare-handedly throw small projectile point, sharp-pointed projectile, missiles known as dart (missile), darts at a round shooting target, target known as a #Dartboard, dar ...
tournament which was created to allow the top European players to compete with the highest ranked players from the
PDC Order of Merit The PDC Order of Merit is a world ranking system used by one of the darts organisations, the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC). Following the 2007 PDC World Darts Championship it superseded a world ranking system based on points being awarded fo ...
. Since
2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses during the 2016 Nagorno-Karabakh ...
, the tournament has taken place at the end of October, and features the top 32 players on the
PDC European Tour The PDC European Tour is a series of darts tournaments held across Europe organized by the Professional Darts Corporation. Starting in 2012 with five events, the number of events has steadily risen with eight held in 2013 and 2014, nine in 2015, ten ...
Order of Merit.


History

The inaugural tournament – the 2008 European Championship – was held at the Südbahnhof in
Frankfurt Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , "Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on its na ...
,
Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
and featured a prize fund of £200,000.PDC website report – European Championship Details Confirmed
from the
Professional Darts Corporation The Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) is a professional darts organisation in the United Kingdom, established in 1992 when a group of leading players split from the British Darts Organisation (BDO) to form what was initially called the World ...
, retrieved 12-08-2008
The tournament moved to the Claus Hotel & Event Center in
Hoofddorp Hoofddorp (; ) is the main town of the Haarlemmermeer municipality in the province of North Holland in the Netherlands. In 2021, the population was 77,885. The town was founded in 1853, immediately after the Haarlemmermeer had been drained. Hist ...
,
Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...
for 2009 featuring a similar prize fund. The tournament returned to
Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
in 2010, where it was held at
Dinslaken Dinslaken is a town in the district of Wesel, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is known for its harness racing track, its now closed coal mine in Lohberg and its wealthy neighborhoods ''Hiesfeld'' and ''Eppinghoven''. Geography Dinslaken ...
. The 2011 tournament remained in Germany, only this time, it took place in
Düsseldorf Düsseldorf ( , , ; often in English sources; Low Franconian and Ripuarian: ''Düsseldörp'' ; archaic nl, Dusseldorp ) is the capital city of North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous state of Germany. It is the second-largest city in th ...
– the capital of
North Rhine-Westphalia North Rhine-Westphalia (german: Nordrhein-Westfalen, ; li, Noordrien-Wesfale ; nds, Noordrhien-Westfalen; ksh, Noodrhing-Wäßßfaale), commonly shortened to NRW (), is a States of Germany, state (''Land'') in Western Germany. With more tha ...
. From 2012 to 2014, the tournament took place in
Mülheim Mülheim, officially Mülheim an der Ruhr () and also described as ''"City on the River"'', is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia in Germany. It is located in the Ruhr Area between Duisburg, Essen, Oberhausen and Ratingen. It is home to many compan ...
, Germany, then between 2015 and 2017, the tournament took place in
Hasselt Hasselt (, , ; la, Hasseletum, Hasselatum) is a Belgian city and municipality, and capital and largest city of the province of Limburg in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is known for its former branding as "the city of taste", as well as its ...
,
Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...
, but in 2018, the tournament will return to Germany, moving to the
Westfalenhallen Westfalenhallen (English: Halls of Westphalia) is a commercial complex composed of conference (Kongresszentrum Dortmund) and exhibition centers (Messe Dortmund) with an indoor arena (Westfalenhalle), located in Dortmund, Germany. It is surroun ...
in
Dortmund Dortmund (; Westphalian nds, Düörpm ; la, Tremonia) is the third-largest city in North Rhine-Westphalia after Cologne and Düsseldorf, and the eighth-largest city of Germany, with a population of 588,250 inhabitants as of 2021. It is the la ...
. It moved to
Göttingen Göttingen (, , ; nds, Chöttingen) is a college town, university city in Lower Saxony, central Germany, the Capital (political), capital of Göttingen (district), the eponymous district. The River Leine runs through it. At the end of 2019, t ...
in 2019, before moving to the
König Pilsener Arena The Rudolf Weber-Arena (originally the Arena Oberhausen) is a multi-purpose arena, located in Oberhausen, Germany. Opening in 1996, the arena is a part of leisure and shopping center, CentrO. The venue was built in Neue Mitte Oberhausen, a form ...
in
Oberhausen Oberhausen (, ) is a city on the river Emscher in the Ruhr Area, Germany, located between Duisburg and Essen ( ). The city hosts the International Short Film Festival Oberhausen and its Gasometer Oberhausen is an anchor point of the European Rout ...
in 2020, and then the
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in
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,
Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...
in 2021, before returning to Dortmund again in 2022. Phil Taylor won the tournament on each of the first four stagings of the event, before
Simon Whitlock Simon Whitlock (born 3 March 1969) is an Australian professional darts player who plays in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) tournaments, having also played in the British Darts Organisation (BDO) between 2004 and 2009. He uses the nickname T ...
took the title in 2012. Adrian Lewis gained his third major win after beating Whitlock in the 2013 edition of the tournament.
Michael van Gerwen Michael van Gerwen (; born 25 April 1989) is a Dutch professional darts player. He is currently ranked number 3 in the world, having been number 1 from 2014 to 2021. He is also a three-time PDC World Champion, having won the title in 2014, 2 ...
won the tournament for the first time in 2014 beating
Terry Jenkins Terry Jenkins (born 26 September 1963) is an English former professional darts player who was nicknamed The Bull, having previously used the name "Tucker" for his matches. He reached number three in the world rankings and was a runner-up in nin ...
in the final. In 2015, van Gerwen came back from 7–10 behind to defeat Gary Anderson 11–10 in the final, then he beat
Mensur Suljović Mensur Suljović (Serbian Cyrillic: Менсур Суљовић; born 5 March 1972) is an Austrian professional darts player. He plays in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events, having previously played in the British Darts Organisation (BD ...
11–1 in the 2016 final, and he won it for a fourth year in a row in 2017, when he defeated Rob Cross 11–7 in the 2017 final. In 2018,
James Wade James Martin Wade (born 6 April 1983) is an English professional darts player, currently playing in the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC). He became the youngest player to win a major PDC title, when he won the 2007 World Matchplay at the ...
won the title, and in 2019 Rob Cross became European champion, then Peter Wright won in 2020, before Cross regained the title in 2021.


Finals


Records and statistics


Total finalist appearances


Champions by country


Nine-dart finishes

Four nine-darters have been thrown at the European Championship. The first one was in 2011.


High averages


Television coverage

The PDC announced on August 12, 2008 that
ITV4 ITV4 is a Television in the United Kingdom, British free-to-air television channel which was launched on 1 November 2005. It is owned by ITV Digital Channels, a division of ITV plc, and is part of the ITV (TV network), ITV network. The channel h ...
would broadcast the entire event. This was the second PDC darts tournament that ITV4 have broadcast, after the inaugural
Grand Slam of Darts The Grand Slam of Darts is a darts tournament organised by the Professional Darts Corporation and is known as the Cazoo Grand Slam of Darts for sponsorship purposes. The PDC also invited the best performing players from its rival, the British Dar ...
– after its rating success ITV had chosen to broadcast this event as well as the
2008 Grand Slam of Darts The 2008 PartyPoker.com Grand Slam of Darts was the second staging of the darts tournament, the Grand Slam of Darts organised by the Professional Darts Corporation. The event took place from 15 to 23 November 2008 at the Wolverhampton Civic Hall, ...
. The 2009 event was not televised in the UK, but the 2010 event was broadcast on
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, which screened live darts for the first time in its history. However, Bravo ceased broadcasting at the start of 2011. On June 26, 2011, it was announced that ITV4 would broadcast the 2011 event. In the Netherlands it is broadcast on RTL7 and in Germany it is broadcast on
Sport1 Sport1 may refer to the following TV channels: * Sport1 (Eastern Europe) * Sport1 (Germany) * Sport1 (Lithuania) * Sport1 (Netherlands) Sport1 may refer to the following TV channels: * Sport1 (Eastern Europe) * Sport1 (Germany) * Sport1 (Lithuani ...
. On August 8, 2012 it was announced that
ESPN ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...
would televise the event, becoming the first broadcaster to show both BDO and PDC dart tournaments. From 2013, the tournament returned to ITV4 as part of a deal between ITV and the PDC to show 4 tournaments from the PDC calendar.


List of United Kingdom broadcasters

* 2008; 2011; 2013–present:
ITV4 ITV4 is a Television in the United Kingdom, British free-to-air television channel which was launched on 1 November 2005. It is owned by ITV Digital Channels, a division of ITV plc, and is part of the ITV (TV network), ITV network. The channel h ...
* 2010:
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* 2012:
ESPN ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...
* 2009: not televised in the UK


Sponsorship

PartyPoker.net sponsored first six editions of the tournament – they also sponsored the US Open and the
Las Vegas Desert Classic The Las Vegas Desert Classic was a darts tournament, organized by the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) and was held each year in July from 2002 until 2009. Its original venue was the MGM Grand Casino and Hotel, Las Vegas, Nevada from 2002 to ...
, two other non-defunct televised PDC events. In 2014,
888.com 888 Holdings PLC, () known commonly as 888, is a public company which owns several popular gambling brands and websites, including 888sport, 888casino and 888poker. 888 is based in Gibraltar. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a con ...
took over sponsoring of the tournament for one edition, with the tournament being sponsored by
Unibet Unibet provides a platform for sports betting, online casino, bingo and online poker to over 11 million customers in over 100 countries. Unibet is a part of Kindred Group–an online gambling operator which consists of 11 brands along with Maria Ca ...
since 2015. In 2021, the tournament will be sponsored by
Cazoo Cazoo is a British online car retailer based in London, England which was founded in 2018 by Alex Chesterman. History Cazoo was founded in 2018 by British internet entrepreneur Alex Chesterman. It launched an online marketplace for used cars in ...
, who will also sponsor the
PDC World Cup of Darts The PDC World Cup of Darts is a team darts tournament organised by the Professional Darts Corporation, and was one of the three new tournaments introduced into the PDC calendar in 2010. It is broadcast live by Sky Sports.Grand Slam of Darts The Grand Slam of Darts is a darts tournament organised by the Professional Darts Corporation and is known as the Cazoo Grand Slam of Darts for sponsorship purposes. The PDC also invited the best performing players from its rival, the British Dar ...
.


References


External links


European Championship page on the PDC websiteEuropean Championship on Darts Database
{{DEFAULTSORT:European Championship (Darts) Professional Darts Corporation tournaments European championships Recurring sporting events established in 2008 2008 establishments in Europe Annual sporting events