Sport Darts World Championship
Humphries turns the World Cup final and is crowned world champion for the first time
Status: 03.01.2024 | Reading time: 4 minutes
New number one and now also world champion: Luke Humphries beat Luke Littler in the final
Quelle: AP/Kin Cheung
Luke Humphries is the new darts world champion: one day after he took the lead in the world rankings, the Englishman was crowned champion against the 16-year-old Luke Littler. A mistake by the prodigy on double 2 brought about a turnaround.
The darts world has a new champion. Luke Humphries secured the title of world champion for the first time after 16 exciting match days at Alexandra Palace in London. The 28-year-old defeated namesake Luke Littler 7:4 (3:1; 2:3; 3:2; 1:3; 1:3; 0:3; 3:2; 3:) in the first all-English final since 2018. 1; 3:2; 3:1; 3:2). Littler remains the “Prince of the palace”, but Humphries was crowned king after 103 minutes.
In the moment of happiness, “Cool Hand Luke” sank to the ground, fell to his knees and cried tears of relief and joy: “I can’t describe how great this feels,” says the new world champion before he takes part Opponent dedicated: “I had in the back of my mind that I had better get it today because he will soon dominate the darts world.”
On his knees: Luke Humphries won five sets in a row in the final
Source: dpa/Kin Cheung
A day earlier, Humphries had already climbed to the top of the world rankings with his victory in the semifinals over Scott Williams. Littler, whose fairytale only ended in the final, will still be remembered as the great story of this 31st Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) World Championship. The 16-year-old debutant had set numerous records on the way to the final and was the youngest player in history to storm to the final.
The tournament has already turned his life upside down before he plays his first season on the professional tour from February. Before his World Cup opener on the evening of December 20th, his Instagram account had a little less than 4,000 followers. Today there are more than half a million who follow the new “Prince of the Palace”. He was number 164 in the world, now he is number 31. Similar rates of increase as in prize money. There was a prize of 7,500 pounds for taking part in the first round; the world championship title is worth 500,000 pounds.
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It wasn’t foreseeable for a long time that he would ultimately have to settle for £200,000. Humphries had led 1-0 and 2-1 in sets before Littler secured three games in a row. The favorite, who had won three of the last four major tournaments with the World Grand Prix, the Grand Slam of Darts and the Players Championship Finals, was alarmed and began set seven with the greatest possible finish: for the seventh time in total at this World Cup 170 points checked, the new number one was the only player to achieve the feat twice.
Russ Bray in der Hall of Fame
But the mistakes on the doubles continued throughout his game. At 35 percent, he was six percent below his tournament average. It went into the decider, in which both had an opportunity to win the set. Littler missed double 2, Humphries hit double 14. 3:4 instead of 2:5 – a big point that should mean a turnaround.
What if he had hit double 2? Luke Littler played his first World Cup. Many more will follow
Source: dpa/Zac Goodwin
When Humphries checked 121 points one round later to make it 3-1, the two-set deficit was completely repaired: 4-4. His fifth high finish then laid the foundation for winning the third set in a row. Humphries seemed extremely focused.
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Now the alarm bells had gone off for Littler. And like his opponent three sets earlier, the teenager returned to the match with a 170 finish. He then narrowly missed a 124 to get the break he needed, so Humphries got away again and finished his throw-off set 3-1. Four rounds won in a row marked a clear trend, which Humphries confirmed shortly afterwards.
Littler had missed three attempts on double 14 and double 7 in the decider of the eleventh set before the number one hit his second match dart on double 8 to make it 7:4. “I gave up too many of my throw-off legs,” said Littler: “but to be a finalist at my first World Cup is crazy.”
The decision also meant a painful farewell for many fans and players. Russ Bray is leaving the big darts stages; his 28th World Championship will be his last major tournament. Before the final, he was named a member of the Hall of Fame.
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At the end, the 66-year-old with the distinctive grating voice was allowed to call “Onehundredandeighty” 36 times. This also means that the record of 901 180s from the previous year fell. There were 914 in the end thanks to Humphries and Littler.
