Humphries beats Littler to win Exeter final

Luke Humphries, the reigning world number one, defeated Luke Littler, who had lost to Luke Littler, 6-4, in Exeter’s final match of the Premier League.

Humphries, 30, came from 3-1 down to beat the 18-year-old, who had been in outstanding form in his earlier two matches despite suffering from a cold.

League leader Humphries won the opener in Belfast before falling to the teenager in the Glasgow final, which was a second-guess victory.

Littler was runner-up to Humphries in the 2024 world final but beat him to win last year’s Premier League.

And this was Humphries’ first victory over an Englishman in seven Premier League games.

“Luke played fantastic tonight, he didn’t play as great in the final but I managed to step on the gas, like I did in the other two games, right at the end of the game”, said Humphries.

Being given 15 points after four weeks is a dream start for me, and I hope to keep pushing and reeling in the points to maintain that position for the time being in the top four.

Humphries hit two stunning checkouts – a 167 followed by a 116 – to snatch a 6-5 victory against Rob Cross in the semi-finals.

Littler saw off Nathan Aspinall 6-2 with a 109 average, having topped 112 in his opening defeat of Stephen Bunting.

Little averaged 112.34 and was 67% on his doubles in a convincing win over Bunting.

Bunting suffered a fourth straight defeat, but his 104.89 average was far worse than he had been.

After blowing four match darts in a grueling 10th leg where the Welshman missed six shots at the double, Gerwyn Price, who had won last week, lost to Humphries, who eventually won.

Michael van Gerwen, the seven-time Premier League champion, wasted three match darts in a 6-5 defeat at Cross, which means he lost his opener for the first time this year.

Final

Luke Humphries 6-4 Luke Littler

Semi-finals

Rob Cross 5-6 Luke Humphries

Nathan Aspinall 2-6 Luke Littler

Quarter-finals

Michael van Gerwen 5-6 Rob Cross

Gerwyn Price 4-6 Luke Humphries

Chris Dobey 5-6 Nathan Aspinall

Premier League Darts is played across 16 initial weeks in the league stage with quarter-finals, semi-finals and a final each night.

In the quarter-finals in weeks 1-7 and 9-15, with fixtures for weeks 8 and 16 off the table, each of the eight players is guaranteed to face the other seven. On the final league-stage night, Sheffield will play host to fourth-and-fifth place teams, with potential playoff spots also in the cards.

Players are awarded two points for each quarter-final victory, five for each semi-final victory, and five for each night’s victory.

The top four players after the group stage progress to the play-off night at London’s O2 Arena on 23 May, with first facing fourth and second against third in a best-of-19-leg match. The final, which is the best of 21 legs, follows.

Brighton, 6 March, 19: 00 GMT

Gerwyn Price v Michael van Gerwen

Luke Littler v Chris Dobey

Rob Cross v Luke Humphries