The 53-year-old Scot defeated England's James Wade 11-6 in the final at the Westfalenhalle to win the tournament for the second time after his victory in 2020.

Wright had not tasted success in a big ranking final since he won his second world title in January 2022 but he has now won eight majors in all.

He averaged 97 in his victory over 11-time major winner Wade, firing in four 180s and enjoying a 46 per cent success rate on the doubles.

Winning the tournament looked a long way off for Wright when he fell 4-1 behind to Germany's Gabriel Clemens in the first round, but he battled back to sneak through 6-5.

The man nicknamed "Snakebite" knocked out reigning world champion Michael Smith of England 10-4 in round two, before a 10-8 victory over another Englishman in Chris Dobey in the quarter-finals.

Dobey had battled back from 7-2 down to lead but Wright produced huge checkouts of 161 and 164 as he recovered to go through.

In the semi-finals, Wright reeled off six legs in a row and averaged more than 100 as he defeated Dutch player Danny Noppert 11-8.

Wade, winner of the European Championship in 2018, needed to battle back from 5-1 down to beat Dutch youngster Gian van Veen 11-9 in the semi-finals.

Van Veen had dumped out compatriot and four-time world champion Michael van Gerwen 10-6 in the quarter-finals but found Wade a step too far.

Only Van Gerwen and English pair Phil Taylor and Rob Cross had won the European Championship more than once before Wright's win.

"The old guy can still do it," said Wright.

"I was fortunate in my first game against Gabriel Clemens. 

"I pulled out two 180s to get back in the match, but it was just brilliant to play in front of this amazing crowd this weekend.

“My throwing action went totally out the window in the last two matches. 

"I didn't know what I was doing, but luckily enough I got over the line."