Young Dutchman Gian van Veen wins the Machineseeker European Championship in Dortmund.
The top 32 players on the 2025 European Tour rankings competed for the coveted title at Dortmund's Westfalenhalle.
Littler knew victory at the European Championship would guarantee him world No 1 spot for the first time but the teenager was upset by James Wade.
Humphries - the fifth seed in Dortmund - demolished Poland's Krzysztof Ratajski before overcoming Cameron Menzies in a last-leg decider. He defeated Wade to reach the final, but was stunned by Dutchman Van Veen in a thriller.
Sunday October 26
Evening Session
Final
Semi-Finals
Afternoon Session
Quarter finals x 4
Saturday October 25
Evening Session
Second round x 4
Afternoon Session
Second round x 4
Thursday October 23
First round
Friday October 24
First round
A total prize purse of £600,000 is up for grabs, with £120,000 going to the winner and £60,000 to the runner-up.
Losing semi-finalists receive £40,000 and quarter-finalists get £25,000, while players exiting at the second round or first round will earn £15,000 or £7,500 respectively.
Luke Humphries starts the week with a £52,500 advantage over Luke Littler in the PDC World Rankings but could lose world No 1 spot for the first time since January 2024, depending on results.
The top 32 players from the European Tour Rankings qualify for the European Championship.
The European Tour Rankings are based on prize money won in European Tour events, with 14 held across continental Europe over the season.
The qualification campaign ended after the German Darts Championship on October 19, where Nathan Aspinall celebrated his third European Tour title of the season and secured top spot in the standings.
Chris Dobey, Dave Chisnall and Cross all earned their spots after last week's final qualifying event in Germany, with Andrew Gilding, Joe Cullen and former world champion Michael Smith among those to miss out.
Ritchie Edhouse has also failed to qualify for this year's contest, 12 months from sensationally thrashing Jermaine Wattimena in the final to claim a maiden TV title as a 250/1 outsider.
Michael van Gerwen is a four-time champion but last lifted the trophy in 2017, his fourth consecutive victory at the event, while former world champion Rob Cross and Peter Wright are both two-time winners.
The European Championship is played over legs rather than sets, with the number required to win increasing as the rounds go on.
The first round is held across two sessions on Thursday and Friday evening, with all matches played over the best of 11 legs, before the second round takes place on Saturday and sees matches increased to best of 19 legs.
The quarter-finals take place on Sunday afternoon and is also a race to 10 legs, before the semi-finals and final on Sunday evening are played over a best of 21.
The next TV major live on SportNews is the Grand Slam of Darts in Wolverhampton from November 8-16, before the World Darts Championship runs from December 11-January 3 at the Alexandra Palace.
