Aspinall wins first European Tour title

Nathan Aspinall won his first European Tour title by beating fellow Englishman Ryan Joyce 8-4 in the European Darts Trophy final in Germany.

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.

Joyce, playing his first European Tour final after beating Michael van Gerwen in the semis, 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.

He earlier hit a stunning 170 checkout in the semi-finals against Gary Anderson to force a deciding leg.

That followed a 6-1 thrashing of world number one Luke Humphries in the quarter-finals and a 6-5 win over Jermaine Wattimena in the third round on Sunday.

Joyce, 39, beat former world champion Rob Cross 6-4 in the third round before a 6-3 win over Scotland's Cameron Menzies.

He then stunned Van Gerwen 7-5 after the three-time world champion had beaten Gerwyn Price 6-4 in the quarter-finals, despite the Welshman averaging 107.4.

World champion Luke Littler did not enter the event in Gottingen.