Luke Humphries forced to withdraw from tournament as statement released

Luke Humphries has pulled out of the European Championship through the illness. The 2024 world champion had been due to compete at this week’s event in Dortmund, Germany , where he finished as runner-up to Gian van Veen last year. Why Humphries will miss the European Championship A statement from the PDC read: “ Luke Humphries has withdrawn from the 2026 Machineseeker European Championship through illness. “Humphries has been forced to withdraw after being diagnosed with gastroenteritis. “The world number two was set to make his sixth appearance in Dortmund, having finished as runner-up last year. “Under PDC rules, Humphries will be directly replaced in the field by Kim Huybrechts, the highest-ranked non-qualified player in the 2026 European Tour rankings. “Belgium’s Huybrechts will now take on Ryan Searle on Thursday evening, with the winner set to face Danny Noppert or Stephen Bunting on Saturday.” Humphries is currently ranked second in the world behind reigning world champion Luke Littler . The 31-year-old, who uses the nickname ‘Cool Hand’, won his only major title of 2026 so far at the recent World Grand Prix. Humphries defeated fellow former world champion Gerwyn Price in the final. That came after Littler had suffered a shock first-round exit at the hands of another Luke, Woodhouse . The history of the European Championship First staged in 2008, darts’ European Championship has taken place in Dortmund in each of the last four years and five times overall. The tournament has also been held in various other German cities, as well as in the Netherlands, Belgium and Austria. Michael van Gerwen and Phil Taylor are tied for the most titles with four. Indeed, the legendary Taylor, who is poised to come out of retirement aged 66 , won each of the first four editions of the tournament. There are two majors remaining on the PDC calendar before the biggest-ever World Championship gets underway at London’s Alexandra Palace in December. After the European Championship, the tour heads to the newly expanded Grand Slam of Darts in Wolverhampton. That’s followed by the Players Championship finals in Minehead.