Nathan Aspinall produced another hard-fought performance as he won four legs in a row to dispose of Cristo Reyes 6-3 at the European Championship.

Missed doubles were common in the opening stages, with four breaks in the opening six legs. The pendulum really turned in favour of Aspinall with a stunning 134 finish on double 16 restoring parity at 3-3. This was backed with checkouts of 112 and 90, and ‘The Asp’ was able to get the job done to set up a highly anticipated tie against the world number one, Luke Littler.

He was jubilant when talking to the media afterwards, including DartsNews, as he explained how he found out about the tough draw that was 'The Spartan'. "I was in bed asleep when the draw was happening on Sunday night. Apparently, at one point I was playing Bunting. Bunting told me when I flew home with him, but I had no idea until I woke up the next day and saw the draw.

"I thought, 'Cristo Reyes!' You know, he's been playing so well this year. It was a tough draw, but I think the experience and my ability to handle the pressure shone through tonight."

He admitted that the Spaniard got out of the blocks quicker, but the crucial turning point came in the sixth leg. "I think he was the better player in the early stages, but he gave me opportunities, and I took them. That 181 and the 134 — wow! And the 90 as well. I think that shows the bottle I've got to handle tough situations because I wasn't playing well. A 92 or 93 average isn't where my game's been at over the last three or four months.

"But listen, it's a win. I want to see an interview with Gary that you did about people dwelling too much on averages. I want people not to really care about that. I've won, I'm into the second round, I can go and have a nice meal tonight with Kirsty and look forward to tomorrow."

Not giving up

Aspinall was in a bleak position at one point. 3-2 down while also trailing by a break, he kept his focus and produced six perfect darts to swing the momentum his way. He raved about how important that 134 finish was.

"They're massive. I've always said it: I'm not the best player in the world. I'm not in that top four or top six of star players, but what I've got is minerals. When I need to do something, I find a way to do it," he commented.

"It doesn't always come off, but I think if you ask any player who's the best under pressure, I'm up there, right up there. I knew that was important. I think if I go 4–2 down, it's probably game over. The crowd go a bit flat because they want me to win, and you go a bit flat as well. There's only one result there. But if you take a shot out like that, the crowd are cheering you on, and you get the momentum.

"I concentrate and focus so much when I'm on 314. I'm really, really focused. This is what I always say to so many players: he's on a finish and I'm on 314, but don't ever give up. That shot, those six darts, won me that match. So, any amateur player watching this interview, don't ever give up. Look at that, because moments like that happen. I'm very proud of how I took it out and how I handled the situation. It was a great win."

He then turned the answer into a key piece of advice for the younger generation of darters. "So, any amateur player watching this interview, don't ever give up. Look at that, because moments like that happen. I'm very proud of how I took it out and how I handled the situation. It was a great win."

Return to the top 10 an ultimate aim

Aspinall tumbled outside the top 10 at last year's World Matchplay after failing to defend his title. He would languish around the 20th mark for a while, but is slowly creeping back up with some very commendable performances. Currently up to eighth in the live rankings following the victory, a deep run will confirm his name among the best ten players once more.

He was happy to be in this fortunate position once more. "Amazing. Someone told me about the live rankings. You know what? People were worrying about it more than me. I knew what I was defending this year and what I wasn't defending."

His grandad, one of his biggest fans, knew the significant reasons behind the ranking climb. "To be fair, my grandad was the worst. We went round yesterday, and he was like, "Nathan, you've got to get out of 16th if you're playing Luke again.' So I came round and said, 'Grandad, I'm 11th. It's a different ranking system. Chill out.

"But I knew I'd be back in the top 10. OK, it's easy to say that because I knew how good I am and what I can do on that stage. I believe in myself so much. A lot of people don't believe in me. A lot of pundits and people out there don't always write me off, if you know what I mean. I know how good I am when I'm on it, but I'm not always on it. Sometimes I can be really, really inconsistent."

Already a huge rise in 2026, but there is still more ground to be made up. "But I've proved it to myself this year, and I've had a very, very good year. I've only won one European Tour title, but I've proved it to myself. I've gone from 18th at the start of the year, and I'm now back in the top eight. The sky's the limit, as I say. Let's see how far we can go this year."

Nathan Aspinall is returning to his best form

"My mindset is darts" - Major title in sight

A huge catalyst to this rise would be a third major title. Aspinall is confident that it could occur soon. "I feel I've thrown two European Tour titles away this year, and I feel the World Grand Prix was mine. I shouldn't have played so well on Friday because I walked in on Saturday and said to Dean, the guy in the back room, 'I'm not going to be able to start tonight because I've started so well.'

"Already, I was being negative in my head. It's all about positivity. But, no, I said to Sean, my sports psychologist, this afternoon, 'Something big is around the corner.' I don't want it to be this one; I want it to be the biggest one in the world, if you know what I mean. But hopefully it's one of the next four or five. I'm going to win something big soon."

The PDC World Darts Championship is the biggest of them all, and the ultimate aim for the Englishman with him fully focused on the sport. "My mindset is darts. The fact that I'm going to Den Bosch again next week, back-to-back, proves where my head's at. It's not because my manager is an absolute turnip and is winding me up to go," he stated.

"Honestly, my head is all about darts. I've had some rough periods over the last 12 months, as every player has, but now I'm focused on darts. I'm going to qualify for Minehead, which probably looked very, very unlikely about three months ago. I'm going to qualify, I'm going to do well this weekend, and everything is focused on darts. Then, as soon as the World Championship is done and I've got that trophy, I'm having a month off."

Advising the next generation amid dartitis troubles

Aspinall's rise to the top of the sport was not easy, but staying there has also had its challenges. Dartitis resulted in a tumultuous period on the oche, but the fact that he has come back from it and challenging for the major accolades is very telling.

He detailed the work put into it. "I've got a sports psychologist, I've got a hypnotherapist, and I'm working very hard away from the oche to sort the darts out. But it's been going on for four years now. I don't care about it anymore. I'm embracing it. If I've got to stop, I've got to stop. To be fair, when I stop, I don't miss, as all the commentators keep saying."

He has also been very vocal with young players who are going through similar issues, going out of his own way to help out. "But, going back to your original question about the youth, there are a lot of kids, and I'm helping so many of them out. The amount of messages I get is incredible," he said.

"People ask me to send them a shirt or whatever, and I'm not going to respond to that. But if someone's struggling with darts, I respond to every single message. It's sad and horrible because they want to be a darts player. In a weird kind of way, though, it's good for darts. There are so many kids who want to be not just Luke Littler, but Michael van Gerwen, Luke Humphries or even me, for some reason. They want to be a top darts player, and that's amazing for the game. It's only going to help the game grow.

"But there are a lot of people who want too much too quickly. I try to help as many kids as I can because it's sad to see. I know what I go through as a grown man, so imagine being a kid dealing with it. There's a lot of it in the game, but hopefully they'll get through it."

The problem with dartitis is that there is no cure for the issue everyone can fall back on. Aspinall knows that, and knows that his only way of helping was advice from his experiences.

"I can give them advice. I've been there, been through it, overcome it, had it come back, overcome it again, and now I've got it back at the moment. I'll just try to give advice. I can't cure dartitis. If I ever could, I'd probably be an actual multi-millionaire and wouldn't have to play darts on a Friday night in Dortmund. I'll just try to give as much advice as I can to anyone who needs it, and hopefully they overcome it."