Initiated by Denmark the Europe Cup Youth is first held in 1990. The first five editions are all hosted by Denmark, after that the host country changes. The Netherlands is, especially in the boy’s tournament dominant since the start of the event. The first ever edition is won by Peter van Tilborg and since that first championship a total of 7 Dutch boys took another 9 titles. Still it might be considered a small setback if you look at the names that made it through to the top senior level. Only Vincent van der Voort is a regular at the big senior tournaments. Stephen Bunting, Steve Douglas and Jonny Nijs have played at a major televised tournament, but so far haven’t made a real impact. The biggest expectations come with the 2006 champion, Michael van Gerwen, who has already won the Winmau World Masters in the men’s and it looks like he will have a great future in darts. In the girls event both Caroline Lee (ENG 1995-1997) and Ann-Louise Anderson (1990-1992) took the singles title home three times. Lee also took the pairs event in each of those years. Still you don’t hear a lot of the girls after they had to play in the ladies events. The champions that do catch your eye are undoubtedly Mieke de Boer and Anastasia Dobromyslova, as they did make a good transfer from the girls to the ladies. The 2005 and 2006 champions have made a name for themselves. Do watch Molema and Lewis in the future though!!
