AMAZING ASPINALL SECURES SECOND EURO TOUR CROWN
01/06/2025 By Aaron Nijjar
NATHAN ASPINALL won the European Darts Open after beating Damon Heta 8-6 in the final at Leverkusen.
‘The Asp’ is the first player to claim two Euro Tour titles this year.
Two-time major champion Aspinall pinged in a 13-darter to break the Heta throw in the opening leg of the match.
Former world cup winner Heta chucked in a stellar 130 checkout to break back and level the bout at 2-2 in Leverkusen.
Australian thrower Heta followed this up with a brilliant 140 finish to gain a 3-2 lead.
But Aspinall’s scoring prowess proved too much for the Aussie thrower as he averaged 100.43 and fired in seven 180s to claim victory.
World No. 6 Aspinall averaged a super 103 and thumped in two ton plus checkouts to edge Wessel Nijman 6-5 in the semi-finals.
The 33-year-old defeated Chris Dobey 6-5 in a thrilling quarter-final clash.
Stockport ace Aspinall praised Heta and thanked the crowd in the Ostermann-Arena.
He said: “The support I have had from all of you this week has been absolutely phenomenal.
“I appreciate every single one of you. Thank you so much.
“Credit to Damon Heta. I thought that final was absolutely fantastic.
“Heta beat me at Rosmalen in a ProTour final so we’re 1-1 in finals.
“It was a great game of darts it was nip and tuck. The scoring again was phenomenal.”
Aspinall was delighted to bounce back from his semi-final exit at the Premier League.
He added: “To bounce back after the defeat on Thursday night to come back and win this tournament I think that shows you where my game is at right now.
“I’ve had a rubbish time of it for the past 12-18 months. But the Asp is not far from being back.”
Aspinall believes his resilience and fighting spirit have willed him on to have a stellar 2025 campaign.
He revealed: “I try and help the younger generation as well as the lower ranked players.
“I’ve been through rubbish but I’m getting back there.
“If you want something you have to fight and believe you can do it.
“I’ve got a fantastic family, support, sponsors and management.
“We believe that we can win everything. But you have to do it.
“And when things are not going your way you have to keep fighting and digging to believe you can get back to your best.
“That’s what I do week in and week out.”
Image by Taylor Lanning.
