Nathan Aspinall won his second European Tour title of 2025 in dramatic fashion on Sunday night, defeating Damon Heta 8-6 in the European Darts Open final in Leverkusen.
Aspinall became the first double winner of 2025 to scoop the £30,000 top prize, the Stockport ace bouncing back from the disappointment of falling short at the semi-final stage of Premier League Darts finals on Thursday.
“To bounce back after the defeat on Thursday night, to come here and win this tournament, shows where my game’s at at the moment,” said Aspinall.
“I don’t make games easy but in the semi-final and final I played fantastic.
“Credit to Damon – I thought that final was absolutely fantastic, it was a great game of darts, nip and tuck.”
Aspinall added: “I’ve been through rubbish but I’m getting back there. If you want something you have to fight, to believe you can do it. When things are not going your way, you have to keep fighting, believing that you can get back to your best.
“That’s what I do, week-in and week-out, and the last few weeks have been pretty good.”
Aspinall edged out Chris Dobey 6-5 in a tight quarter-final and averaged 103 in a gutsy semi-final win over Wessel Nijman which also went to a deciding leg.
Against Heta in the final, legs of 13 and 11 darts gave Aspinall the early edge, before the Australian checked out 84, 130 and 140 – the latter finishes both completing 12-darters – as he edged ahead.
Damon Heta started strong in the final before being edged out by Nathan Aspinall
Having hit his first five attempts at doubles, Heta crucially missed two darts to take the tie into a deciding 15th leg before Aspinall pounced for glory.
Heta, who booked his spot in the final with a 7-3 semi-final win over Dutch Darts Championship winner Jonny Clayton, said he was “absolutely gutted” after his defeat to Aspinal in the final:
“Fair play to Nathan, he’s done really well this year,” he added. “This just makes me hungry for the next one.”
