Luke Woodhouse made a spectacular start to the 2026 European Darts Championship, defeating Dirk van Duijvenbode 6-3 in the opening round and stealing the show in Dortmund with a brilliant nine-darter. Yet it was not the perfect leg that gave the Englishman the greatest satisfaction. Woodhouse was particularly pleased with the way he controlled the match and kept his emotions in check after producing such a special moment.
Woodhouse delivered an impressive performance, with his composure and control standing out alongside his scoring. The nine-darter was undoubtedly the highlight, but rather than allowing the adrenaline to take over, he remained focused, kept Van Duijvenbode at arm's length and saw out a convincing victory. "I felt pretty good practising and stuff," Woodhouse told DartsNews.com afterwards. "Everyone, I think, wants to put a nine-darter on the main stage, but the main thing is, it's a bit cliché, but everyone wants to win." The Englishman also stressed the importance of making it through the opening round and into the longer matches. "You want to get into the meat of the tournament where it's first to ten. First to six is a little bit of a short race. I know we play it all the time, but it is a short race, so you want to get to that first-to-ten stage."
The nine-darter was a particularly special moment for Woodhouse, not least because it was his first on stage. His reaction, however, was considerably calmer than he had once imagined. "I always thought if I hit a nine-darter, I'd feel really massive adrenaline, but I just tried to keep myself nice and composed and move on, and I think it helped," he admitted. The Englishman felt increasingly comfortable as the match progressed, with the perfect leg coming almost naturally. "It felt really, really good. It felt nice and smooth and clean. Look, it's lovely to do on TV, but like I said, it's boring, but the win was more important for me."
Maintaining that composure became particularly important after his nine-darter. Woodhouse recognised that Van Duijvenbode was struggling but knew how dangerous the Dutchman could become if given an opportunity to recover. "After the treble 19, I thought I was going to hit the double 12," Woodhouse explained. "My thing, like I said before, was not allowing Dirk to get back into the game. So I did not want to give him an inkling of hope that my adrenaline was going to peak up or whatever." He was determined to maintain his advantage in the following leg, even momentarily losing track of whose throw it was. "I didn't know whose throw it was on the next leg, to be honest. So when it was my throw and I went off two treble 20s again, I thought, 'You've got this, so do not let him get back in.'"
Woodhouse's impressive display reflects the considerable progress he has made in recent seasons. Two years ago, he was still outside the world's top 32, but he is now pushing towards the top 16. Having reached the European Championship semi-finals previously, he also arrived in Dortmund with £40,000 in ranking prize money to defend. That added pressure is something he is determined not to allow to affect his performances. "I think you can speak to anyone that knows me and has been around me a long time. I'm pretty laid-back," he explained. "I really enjoy playing. I really enjoy competing. I really enjoy playing darts. So I hope I don't get to a point where I worry about what I'm defending and stuff like that. And I just keep playing."
But Woodhouse has not always found it so easy to remain relaxed at the oche. Earlier in his career, he struggled to control his frustrations, often allowing setbacks to affect the rest of his performance. "Years and years ago, I used to struggle with my emotions quite a lot. I'd beat myself up or I'd get a bit irate and stuff," he recalled. Changing that mindset became a priority, although Woodhouse chose to work through the problem himself rather than seeking specialist assistance. "I had to. I haven't gone to any sort of professionals or anybody else really. I just speak to my wife, speak to my management. And yeah, to improve, I've had to adapt and overcome those sort of things." His opponents had also begun to recognise the signs when his concentration was slipping. "I've had a lot of professionals speak to me going, they used to know when they were on top of me or when they could beat me if I lost my head too early. So me going, 'Well, I don't want to give them anything. So let's work on this.'"
Woodhouse believes those changes have been fundamental to his rise through the rankings, particularly given the depth of competition on the PDC circuit. "Of course, winning games, confidence, all that, it helps you then to become a better player and to feel like you're in control a lot more," he explained. "I think the mental side of darts is probably at least 80, 85% of the game. There's so many good players about. So I think, for me, it was so important."
Another aspect of Woodhouse's game that has occasionally attracted attention is the speed at which he throws his darts. At times, he follows a successful dart almost immediately with another, creating the impression that he is rushing or not giving his throws sufficient consideration. "I'll be honest with you. I didn't even really know I was doing it too much. It's just something I've always done," Woodhouse admitted. "It's not like I ever used to do it and think, 'Oh, I don't care.' It was just always sometimes if I'm in a rhythm and I felt really good, or a dart was going to land well, I'll just follow it and try and follow it quick." He understands why that approach might appear careless to someone watching from the outside, but insists that his commitment has never been in question. "I can understand where people will look at it as 'I don't care', but I do care when I'm throwing. There are also certain legs and certain times you can, if you switch off, if they're 300 points in front of you, you just switch off a little bit." For Woodhouse, his unusual throwing rhythm has never been a major concern. "That wasn't really a side of the game I thought I had to work on too much. I get it from an outside looking in, but that's never bothered me."
