World champion Luke Humphries somewhat surprisingly won the World Cup dress rehearsal. The number one defeated the in-form Luke Littler in the final of the Players Championship Finals. There was a drama of tears in the Junior World Cup final.
A year ago, Luke Littler became junior world champion at Butlin’s Resort in Minehead. It would be his last victory before he competed at the adult World Championships a few weeks later. The rest of the story is known. In the past twelve months, the teenager has shaken up the darts world like no other before him.
Well, at his debut at the Players Championship Finals, he was not only qualified, he made it straight to the final and was also the favorite after three major titles in his first season and twelve wins in a row – even though the world champion was waiting in the final: Luke Humphries.
He had already defeated Littler in the 2024 World Cup final, and this time too Humphries had the upper hand. “Cool Hand Luke” won the dress rehearsal for the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) World Darts Championship starting on December 15th. He laid the foundation for his title defense right from the start when he took a 5-1 lead. Littler missed the start. “It was tough, I missed a few doubles. Luke capitalized on that and then it’s hard to catch up,” Littler said. However, the 17-year-old did a lot to close the gap.
He checked 105 via single bull, tops, tops to make it 2:5, then the maximum finish of 170 points to make it 3:6. The final was now the expected spectacle. And the teenager actually seemed to be able to turn the duel around. Two missed darts on tops to make it 7:3 by Humphries, punished Littler with the 4:6 and after the second break he also put in a 164 high finish to make it 5:6.
In the semifinals, the 17-year-old had four high finishes and an average of 104.38 against Ross Smith. In the quarterfinals against Mike De Decker, which he finished with a 124, there were three. You could watch his opponents over the weekend as they paid homage to the prodigy in amazement and respect. “The guy is sensational, right?” Smith was asked by a reporter before the semi-final. “That guy? He is a child. But he’s a sensation, yes,” replied the “Smudger.”
However, Littler also showed weaknesses against Smith, missing around eight match darts before reaching the final and giving up five legs in a row.
And he didn’t get any closer to Humphries than within a leg. A 136, his fourth high finish, to make it 7:8 once again caused excitement, but then Humphries crossed the finish line.
“I’m very proud of it. These big games – that’s what I live for and play darts for. Being a major champion is the stuff of my dreams. I travel the world for these moments. I’m really grateful,” said Humphries and then turned to his opponent: “It was another fantastic match with Luke. These high finishes were incredible. He is simply an exceptional talent, probably the best player in the world at the moment; definitely in terms of statistics. But I can beat him, just like he can beat me,” said Humphries, who had prevailed against Schindler conqueror Ryan Joyce and Hempel conqueror Dirk van Duijvenbode on the final day.
Schindler versus van den Bergh?
Due to van Duijvenbode’s elimination in the semi-finals, it was already clear before the final that Martin Schindler could face the Belgian Dimitri van den Bergh in a possible third-round duel at the World Cup. Gabriel Clemens would be ranked 27th in the world. After a successful start, they will probably meet number six seed Dave Chisnall (England).
The draw will take place on Monday at 5.30 p.m. (live on Sport1 and DAZN). Before that, the last four open starting places will be played in a qualifying tournament for all tour card holders who have not yet qualified. This means that the record number of participants of six Germans could grow even further.
The fact that three tickets are not available there as planned is due to Gian van Veen’s success. Last year the Dutchman had to admit defeat to Littler in the final of the Junior World Championships. Now he got the title in the same place in Minehead in a lucky way.
“Full respect to Jurjen,” said van Veen after the 6:5 in the final, looking at his opponent and with the trophy in his hands: “He would have deserved the win today. Jurjen van Velde had led 5-3 in the all-Dutch final and was the better player, but then failed because of his nerves. Five match darts landed far from the double fields. For the 21-year-old, in addition to the title and £10,000 in prize money, participation in the World Cup was also at stake. He failed because of the pressure.
When van Veen used his first match dart on double 16, his opponent sank to his knees, put his hands in front of his face and began to cry for several minutes. Even van Veen’s first words of comfort could not calm the talented Dutchman. Darts – a drama.
If Lutz Wöckener isn’t just anyone Sport in self-experimentation tried it out, he writes about darts and sports politics, but sometimes also something off-kilter like football.
Players Championship Finals, results
Round of 16
Daryl Gurney (NIR) – Connor Scutt (ENG) 3:10
Scott Williams (ENG) – Jeffrey de Graaf (SWE) 10:8
Mike De Decker (BEL) – Niels Zonneveld (NED) 10:4
Jermaine Wattimena (NED) – Dirk van Duijvenbode (NED) 5:10
Martin Schindler (D) – Ryan Joyce (ENG) 6:10
Luke Littler (ENG) – Danny Noppert (NED) 10:3
Andrew Gilding (ENG) – Ross Smith (ENG) 1:10
Luke Humphries (ENG) – Damon Heta (AUS) 10:6
Quarterfinals
Luke Littler (ENG) – Mike De Decker (BEL) 10:3
Scott Williams (ENG) – Ross Smith (ENG) 3:10
Connor Scutt (ENG) – Dirk van Duijvenbode (NED) 9:10
Luke Humphries (ENG) – Ryan Joyce (ENG) 10:5
Semifinals
Luke Littler (ENG) – Ross Smith (ENG) 11:9
Dirk van Duijvenbode (NED) – Luke Humphries (ENG) 8:11
Finale
Luke Littler (ENG) – Luke Humphries (ENG) 7:11
