ASPINALL WINS FIRST EUROPEAN TOUR TITLE
23/03/2025 By Aaron Nijjar
By Aaron Nijjar
NATHAN ASPINALL has won his first ever European Tour title at Göttingen after beating Ryan Joyce 8-4 in the final.
Former World Matchplay champion Aspinall never trailed after breaking Joyce’s throw to win the first leg of the best-of-eight showpiece, moving into a 4-1 lead.
‘Relentless’ hit back to cut the deficit to 4-3 and 5-4.
But Aspinall, 33, held his nerve to reel off three legs in a row and claim victory and the £30,000 prize money.
Aspinall was appearing in only his second European Tour final after being beaten by Michael Smith in the 2023 German Darts Grand Prix.
The Stockport thrower revealed winning the European Darts Trophy was the proudest moment of his career.
He said: “It’s only took ten years. I had some unbelievable games, that 170 against Gary was something else.
“Thank you so much to everyone [to the fans]. When I went off after beating Gary my hands were shaking, I only had fifteen minutes to prepare.
“It’s been a s*** few years for me, this means a lot to me. I can’t wait to come back next year and defend it. For me personally, this is my proudest moment.”
‘The Asp’ averaged a remarkable 106 in a 6-1 win against World No.1 Luke Humphries in the quarter-final.
Two-time major winner Aspinall beat former World champion Gary Anderson 7-6 in the semi-final.
World No. 12 Aspinall was 6-5 down in the match and hit an incredible 170 finish to level the match with Anderson on 40.
Aspinall defied a 103 average from ‘The Flying Scotsman’ in a high-class affair.
Joyce triumphed 7-5 over a lacklustre Michael van Gerwen in the other semi-final.
‘Relentless’ hit a sublime 110 checkout to go 6-4 up in the match and averaged over 95 against the Dutchman to reach his first European Tour final.
Seven-time Premier League champion Van Gerwen knocked out Gerwyn Price in the quarter-final despite ‘The Iceman’ averaging over 107.
Image by Taylor Lanning.
