Woodhouse beats Joyce to capture maiden European Tour title in Kiel

[p]The triumph arrived less than a fortnight after [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/woodhouse-luke/QyQzAjPh/"]Woodhouse[/a] secured his first senior PDC ranking title, continuing a remarkable run of form that has transformed his season.[/p][p]Woodhouse was in control for much of the final, racing into a 3-0 lead before [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/joyce-ryan/tYs5VMm6/"]Joyce[/a] reduced the deficit. The pair traded legs as the match settled, but 'Woody' pulled away in the closing stages, sealing victory with a 160 checkout.[/p][embed guid="440feddb-0de3-43b3-9647-96ae0a8f7769" url="https://x.com/OfficialPDC/status/2061176275784413470?s=20" social-type="twitter" /][p][b]“It’s like buses. You wait for one for ages, then two come along at once,” [/b]Woodhouse said after collecting the trophy.[/p][p][b]“That was such a tough game. I don’t think me and Ryan played our best darts, but I will take it 100 per cent.[/b][/p][p][b]“I felt like this was a good chance for both of us and I didn’t want to let it pass me by, so I tried to be ultra-focused and luckily today I came out on top.”[/b][/p][p]The 37-year-old had enjoyed an impressive run through the field, beating an improved [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/menzies-cameron/2NUpDqVt/"]Cameron Menzies[/a] in the last 16 before seeing off [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/van-schie-jimmy/bVfvhls2/"]Jimmy van Schie[/a] and [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/evans-ricky/GA3fKcWh/"]Ricky Evans[/a] to reach the final.[/p][image alt="Woodhouse celebrates" id="660810bb-9ec4-4807-9830-afad3784dc14" credit-line="Paul Targyik / PDC Europe" guid="15131192-c66b-45a6-9253-d74173752957" original-width="6000" original-height="4000" /][p][b]“I’m really enjoying my darts at the moment, and to win this is unbelievable. It's absolutely massive,” [/b]he said.[/p][p][b]“I’m hoping I can kick on now. The World Matchplay is just around the corner, so hopefully my confidence can carry into that.”[/b][/p][p]Joyce was appearing in his first European Tour final since March 2025. The Englishman defeated [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/schindler-martin/pWemrnqQ/"]Martin Schindler[/a] and [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/springer-niko/t6zcTJUa/"]Niko Springer[/a] before thrashing [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/chisnall-dave/vRDFv29c/"]Dave Chisnall[/a] in the quarter-finals and edging past [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/heta-damon/GYfQQCI6/"]Damon Heta[/a] in a deciding-leg semi.[/p][p]However, he was unable to recover after Woodhouse's fast start in Kiel's finale. [b]“I tried my best, but it just didn’t happen today,”[/b] Joyce said.[/p][p][b]“I knew it was going to be a tough final, and Luke was good early on. [/b][b]He’s a very solid player, very dependable, and it’s hard to play against him.”[/b][/p][p]Woodhouse's victory makes him the eighth different winner on this season's European Tour, which resumes in Bratislava from 19 to 21 June. [/p][h2]Results[/h2][p][b]Round three[/b][/p][p]Jimmy van Schie 6-4 Sebastian Bialecki [/p][p]Luke Woodhouse 6-1 Cameron Menzies[/p][p]Kevin Doets 6-3 Justin Hood[/p][p]Ricky Evans 6-4 James Wade[/p][p]Wessel Nijman 6-3 Ryan Searle[/p][p]Damon Heta 6-5 William O'Connor[/p][p]Ryan Joyce 6-4 Niko Springer[/p][p]Dave Chisnall 6-5 Gian van Veen[/p][p][b]Quarter-finals[/b][/p][p]Luke Woodhouse 6-3 Jimmy van Schie[/p][p]Ricky Evans 6-3 Kevin Doets[/p][p]Damon Heta 6-2 Wessel Nijman[/p][p]Ryan Joyce 6-1 Dave Chisnall[/p][p][b]Semi-finals[/b][/p][p]Luke Woodhouse 7-2 Ricky Evans[/p][p]Ryan Joyce 7-6 Damon Heta[/p][p][b]Final[/b][/p][p]Luke Woodhouse 8-4 Ryan Joyce[/p][h2][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/darts/europe/european-tour-8/"]Catch up on ET8 here with Flashscore[/a][/h2]