Aspinall’s Leverkusen Lift-Off: ‘The Asp’ Defeats Heta to Win European Darts Open
- Darts Central
- Jun 2
- 8 min read
Nathan Aspinall secured his second European Tour title of the 2025 season in style on Sunday night, edging out Damon Heta 8-6 in the final of the European Darts Open in Leverkusen.
The world number six delivered a series of composed and clinical performances throughout the weekend to scoop the £30,000 top prize at the Ostermann-Arena, becoming the first and so far only two-time winner on the European Tour this year.
Across three days of action, a packed German crowd was treated to drama, big finishes, and several surprise results. With headline names like Luke Littler, Michael van Gerwen, Gerwyn Price, and Luke Humphries opting not to compete, it was Aspinall who rose above the chaos, producing consistency and rock-solid mentality when it mattered most on the final day.
Here’s how the action unfolded in Leverkusen.
Day 1 – Springer Smashes Dirk as Host Nation Struggles Continue
The opening day in Leverkusen saw 32 qualifiers from various routes battle for a place in Saturday’s second round, where the 16 seeded players awaited. Across two sessions, several standout performances caught the eye.
Bradley Brooks pulled off an early upset by edging out World No.24 Joe Cullen 6–5, punishing multiple missed match darts from the Yorkshireman. Mickey Mansell also came through a tight contest, beating his travelling companion and good friend William O’Connor in a last-leg decider.
In just his fourth European Tour appearance, Nordic & Baltic qualifier Andreas Harrysson stunned the crowd with a sensational 170 checkout to knock out five-time World Champion Raymond van Barneveld.
Elsewhere, last-event finalist Niko Springer cruised past Dirk van Duijvenbode with a dominant 6–1 win. Van Duijvenbode was well below his best, averaging just 80.58 and hitting just 1/10 on the doubles in a flat display.
Once again, the Host Nation Qualifiers found it tough going. Dragutin Horvat, Kevin Knopf, Moritz Bohrmann, and Joshua Hermann all suffered one-sided defeats, with the latter three averaging below 80 and the quartet managing just five legs between them.
So far this season, only three players, Mensur Suljovic, Ricardo Klose, and Jeffrey Sparidaans, all former tour card holders, have advanced past round one via the Host Nation route. The new format, which pits HNQs against experienced professionals straight away, continues to make progress difficult unless they raise their game significantly.
Day 2 – Gurney Shines as Eight Seeds Dumped Out in Leverkusen
Saturday’s action in Leverkusen brought drama, upsets, and some top-class performances, as eight seeded players were sent packing at the European Darts Open.
Stephen Bunting (100.88), Mike De Decker (101.39), and Ritchie Edhouse (102.82) all produced ton-plus averages in comfortable wins over Luke Woodhouse, Ryan Joyce, and Danny Noppert, respectively.
Matt Campbell delivered one of the day’s biggest shocks, brushing aside the in-form Ross Smith 6-2, while Damon Heta won by the same scoreline against Mickey Mansell. James Wade cruised to a 6-0 whitewash of Lukas Wenig, and Andreas Harrysson piled more pressure on Michael Smith’s Matchplay hopes with a 106 average in a ruthless 6-1 win.
Chris Dobey and Peter Wright both survived match darts to edge out Niko Springer and Darryl Pilgrim in nervy last-leg deciders. Nathan Aspinall came through a scrappy 6-4 battle with Bradley Brooks, while German No.2 Ricardo Pietreczko got the better of his World Cup teammate Martin Schindler by the same scoreline.
Elsewhere, European Tour 7 winner Jonny Clayton and Cameron Menzies both came through tough tests against Jermaine Wattimena and Dave Chisnall. Andrew Gilding capitalised on a below-par display from Ryan Searle to squeeze through 6-5, while Wessel Nijman punished a poor doubling performance from Gary Anderson to progress 6-4 despite averaging just 89.07.
But the performance of the round belonged to Daryl Gurney. The Northern Irishman produced a blistering display, averaging 107.20, his highest ever on the European Tour and hitting a perfect 6/6 on doubles to sweep aside Gian van Veen 6-2. Despite his strong form, Van Veen ran into another inspired opponent on the Euro Tour stage.
Day 3 – Finals Day in Rosmalen
Last 16 – ‘Hollywood’ Shines as Clayton Hands Out Whitewash
Nathan Aspinall, Cameron Menzies, and Matt Campbell all recorded solid 6-3 victories to progress to the quarter-finals, seeing off Ricardo Pietreczko, Ritchie Edhouse and James Wade, respectively.
Damon Heta battled past Andreas Harrysson 6-4, while Wessel Nijman showed grit to edge out Peter Wright by the same scoreline.
Stephen Bunting was pushed all the way by Daryl Gurney, Day 2’s standout performer, but held his nerve in the decider to book a quarter-final spot. Jonny Clayton impressed with a 98.02 average in a dominant 6-0 whitewash of Mike De Decker.
But the performance of the round came from Chris Dobey. ‘Hollywood’ averaged a blistering 110.84 to defeat Andrew Gilding 6-3, with Gilding putting up strong resistance himself with a 100.27 average.
Quarter-Finals – Three Last-Leg Deciders as Clayton Marches On
Damon Heta 6-5 Matt Campbell – Both players had chances to win, but Heta held his nerve in a solid, evenly matched contest to edge through in a decider.
Jonny Clayton 6-3 Cameron Menzies – In a scrappy affair, Clayton (88.41) proved more clinical on the outer ring than Menzies (84.89) to continue his run.
Nathan Aspinall 6-5 Chris Dobey – A tight encounter saw both players average in the mid-90s, but Aspinall delivered a superb deciding leg to book his semi-final place.
Wessel Nijman 6-5 Stephen Bunting – Bunting missed match darts before Nijman produced a sensational 109 checkout to snatch victory in a thrilling last-leg shootout.
Semi-Finals – Heta Thrashes Clayton as Aspinall Holds His Nerve
Damon Heta 7-3 Jonny Clayton
The early exchanges were evenly matched, with both players trading breaks to reach 2-2 after four legs.
But from there, The Heat ignited, reeling off four consecutive legs with a clinical display of combination finishing, taking out 56, 91, 98, and 101 to storm into a 6-2 lead. Clayton had just two darts at double during that run, both in leg six.
The Welshman pulled one leg back to make it 6-3, but the fightback stalled as he missed five darts to hold throw. Heta returned to pin 56 in three darts and wrapped up the win in style. Both players averaged over 102, but Heta’s 70% success rate on the outer ring proved decisive.
It marked Heta’s second European Tour final and his first since winning the 2022 Gibraltar Darts Trophy, nearly three years ago.
Nathan Aspinall 7-6 Wessel Nijman
This one was a tense, high-quality tussle throughout. The pair were locked at 2-2 after four legs with throw intact, and exchanged breaks over the next four to reach 4-4.
Aspinall then landed a brilliant 126 checkout to lead 5-4 and consistently applied pressure, but couldn't shake off a resilient Nijman. The Dutchman survived a match dart and forced a decider at 6-6.
In the final leg, both players left themselves on finishes after 12 darts, with Nijman on 53, Aspinall on 52. The world number six hit a single 20 and double 8, before needing to move across the oche to land a second dart at double 8 and seal a dramatic win, celebrating passionately as he booked his place in a third European Tour final of the season.
🏆 The Final – Aspinall vs. Heta
It was a fitting final between two of the weekend’s standout performers, as No.3 seed Damon Heta faced off against No.5 seed Nathan Aspinall. The match promised a clash of styles, pitting the consistent scoring power of Aspinall against the clinical finishing of Heta.
Pre-Final Tournament Stats
Finalist | Average | Checkout % | 180s | Ton+ Checkouts | Matches Played |
Aspinall | 95.20 | 32% | 17 | 3 | 4 |
Heta | 97.40 | 42% | 13 | 4 | 4 |
Match Recap
Aspinall made a fast start, racing into a 2-0 lead, but Heta hit back with clinical finishes of 84, 130, and 140 to win three on the spin and edge in front at 3-2.
Five straight holds followed in a high-quality affair, levelling the scores at 5-5. Aspinall then broke the pattern with a superb 13-darter to lead 6-5, but missed three darts to extend the lead in the following leg. Heta punished the misses with a 13-dart break of his own to square things up at 6-6.
The thirteenth leg proved scrappy, with both players spurning chances before Aspinall finally pinned double 5 with his last dart in hand for a 21-dart break and a 7-6 advantage.
He nearly wrapped things up in style with a 144 checkout but missed double 12, and after Heta narrowly missed two darts to break back, Aspinall returned to land double 6 and seal an 8-6 victory.
Final Match Stats:
Finalist | Average | 180s | Checkout % |
Aspinall | 100.43 | 7 | 30.77% (8/26) |
Heta | 97.17 | 2 | 50% (6/12) |
Closing Thoughts:
Nathan Aspinall was tested throughout the weekend but continually found the answers, producing his best darts in the semi-finals and final, and holding his nerve under pressure better than anyone else. This marked his third European Tour final of the season and a second title, making him the only two-time winner on the European Tour in 2025 so far.
It’s a remarkable story for the Stockport star, who had never lifted a European Tour title prior to this year and had only reached one final before 2025. Sunday’s triumph sees Aspinall climb to World No.6 and adds a 10th PDC title to his growing list of achievements.
For Damon Heta, this was another step forward in improving his European Tour résumé. Having claimed his first title back in Gibraltar in 2022, the Australian reached just his second final here in Leverkusen and will hope this strong showing acts as a springboard to further success on the Euro Tour stage.
The European Tour now pauses for five weeks before returning for ET9: the Baltic Sea Darts Open, which takes place from July 11th–13th at the Wunderino Arena in Kiel, Germany.
🎙️ Post-Final Reaction:
After clinching his second European Tour title of the season, Nathan Aspinall reflected to PDC.tv on how the win showed the progress he’s made after a difficult start to the week:
“To bounce back after the defeat on Thursday and come here to win this tournament shows where my game is right now.
I don’t make games easy, but I played fantastic in the semi-final and final.”
"That's what I do, week-in and week-out, and the last few weeks have been pretty good."
The World No.6 praised Damon Heta for a tough final and acknowledged the strong support from the crowd:
“Credit to Damon, that final was absolutely fantastic, a great game of darts, back and forth.
He beat me in Rosmalen in a ProTour final, so it’s one-one in finals now!
The support I’ve had this weekend has been phenomenal.”
Meanwhile, Damon Heta remained upbeat to PDC.tv despite falling short, focusing on the positives and what lies ahead:
“The final was a game of chances at times. Fair play to Nathan, he’s done really well this year.
This just makes me hungry for the next one.”
Heta also emphasised his determination to improve and build on this performance after a tough European Tour season:
“I’m going to keep doing what I’m doing and hope things turn around for me.
I can’t be too disheartened, I haven’t had a great Euro Tour season, so making the final is a positive.”
Upcoming Tournaments:
Nordic Darts Masters:
June 6th-June 7th at Forum Copenhagen (Live on ITV Sport)
World Cup of Darts:
June 12th-June 15th, at Eissporthalle, Frankfurt (Live on Sky Sports)
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