Humphries edges past Littler for ‘extra-special’ Leeds win

Luke Humphries ended his 10-week wait for a Premier League nightly victory with a tense 6-5 win over Luke Littler in Leeds.

The 30-year-old, who had not won a final since beating Littler on night four in Exeter, came from 2-0 down to beat ‘The Nuke’ in a thriller.

World number one Humphries averaged 100.96, with 18-year-old Littler at 99.89.

Wearing a Leeds United-inspired yellow and blue shirt at the First Direct Arena – days after his footballing heroes won the Championship title to mark their Premier League return in style – ‘Cool Hand Luke’ made a sluggish start as Littler took charge.

But Humphries, who was defending his Leeds crown from 12 months ago, then won three straight legs and edged 5-3 ahead.

As both mixed errors with brilliance in their performances, Littler hit back to take the match to a final-leg decider.

Both men missed bull finishes for 100-plus checkouts, but Humphries kept calm to hit double 10 and seal the success.

“When you know you’re playing against Luke Littler you know you’re not going to get away with mid-game performances, you need to be at your best to beat him,” he told Sky Sports.

“We weren’t at our best but it was a decent final and I do seem to raise my performance against him.

“It is extra special to win in Leeds, I feel at home here. I know it isn’t my hometown but it does feel extra special. I won here last year and it gave me extra confidence for the finals night and hopefully it does again – and I can get that elusive Premier League crown that I’ve always dreamed of.”

Humphries had earlier overcome bottom-of-the-table Stephen Bunting 6-4 in the semi-finals to set up a fourth Premier League final of the season against Littler.

A 6-4 win in the last eight over Michael van Gerwen also confirmed his place at finals night on 29 May at the O2 Arena, while Bunting’s defeat ruled him out of the finals reckoning.

Littler showed his quality in a convincing 6-3 semi-final victory over Gerwyn Price, where the defending Premier League champion came back from 2-0 down to dominate.

Littler’s night win in Birmingham last week booked his place for finals night, while quarter-final victories for both Humphries and Price sealed their spots in the O2 Arena showpiece.

Dutchman Van Gerwen and Nathan Aspinall both missed the chance to close the gap on Price in third place following 6-4 defeats to Humphries and Littler respectively. A quarter-final exit for Cross also diminished his hopes.

Van Gerwen and Aspinall will meet next week in Aberdeen and a run could go a long way to deciding their final position, but the pair could also face each other for fourth spot on night 16 in Sheffield when the fixtures are decided by league positions.

As it stands, the duo occupy positions four and five and only a point separates them. With two points up for grabs in that quarter-final and fourth and fifth facing each other, that match could prove to be a winner-takes-all affair.

Final

Luke Littler 5-6 Luke Humphries

Semi-finals

Gerwyn Price 3-6 Luke Littler

Luke Humphries 6-4 Stephen Bunting

Quarter-finals

Rob Cross 5-6 Gerwyn Price

Nathan Aspinall 4-6 Luke Littler

Michael van Gerwen 4-6 Luke Humphries

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

Each of the eight players is guaranteed to face the other seven in the quarter-finals in weeks one to seven and 9-15, with week eight and week 16 fixtures done off the table. It means we will get fourth v fifth in Sheffield on the final league-stage night, with the play-off spots potentially on the line.

Players earn two points per quarter-final win, an additional point if they win their semi-final and five for winning the night.

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.

Thursday, 15 May – Aberdeen