Charlie Wood
Luke Humphries beat World Champion Luke Littler for the first time in the Premier League to emerge as Night Four victor at the Westpoint Arena in Exeter.
In their second nightly final meeting of the season, ‘Cool Hand’ edged past the star man of the night in a tight affair, clinching the match on D12 to beat his familiar foe.
The final began at a blistering pace with ‘The Nuke’ setting an early tone by neatly checking out 144.
Littler continued to apply the pressure and found himself 3-1 up against the league leader before four legs on the bounce catapulted Humphries to his second triumph of the campaign.
A crucial break in the ninth leg, after Littler missed two doubles, proved decisive, with an easy hold in the final leg to claim victory.
Humphries now moves seven points clear at the top of the standings, placing himself in a great position to qualify for Finals Night in May.
After the match, he said: “It’s a dream start for me, so hopefully I can keep pushing and picking up the points.”
In reference to his first win over Littler in the Premier League, Humphries said: “It’s an omen off your back a little bit … if you’re constantly losing to someone, it doesn’t matter who it is, it can play with your confidence.”
“But tonight, I relaxed a bit and thought you can win this game, you’ve been in a few finals now against him and you’ve lost, (but) tonight, obviously I’ve changed that attitude and managed to scrape through in the end.”
HUMPHRIES’ ROAD TO VICTORY
On his journey to the final, Humphries steered past last week’s winner Gerwyn Price, and a resurgent Rob Cross.
In his quarter-final with Price, Humphries completed a splendid 156 checkout with his opponent left poised on 48 to break throw, levelling the game at 2-2.
Much like in the final, the ninth leg proved decisive, with Humphries comfortably finishing 64 to go within one of the contest.
Five missed match darts didn’t deter Humphries from victory, capitalising on Price’s inefficiency on his usually favoured D20.
The semi-final with Cross went the distance, in a match that Humphries crept into a triple-digit average.
Humphries started strong, then found another gear late on to secure his third final appearance of the season.
Cross’ ten-darter in the third leg was later met with Humphries dispatching 301 in six darts to balance the game at 4-4.
No ‘Big Fish’ this week for the first time this year, but Humphries went one shy and expertly handled 167 to set up a deciding leg.
Humphries completed the comeback by breaking the Cross throw and winning the match with his third ton-plus checkout of the tie.
In the other semi-final Littler displayed astonishing darts to breeze past Nathan Aspinall 6-2.
‘The Asp’ never looked likely of making the final as Littler raced to an early 3-0 lead.
A flash 105 finish, utilising D20 twice thrust Littler one away from the final, before a neat 81 on the bullseye ensured a rematch of the Week Two final.
The World Champion carried his electric quarter-final form into the semis, averaging just short of 110 in a dominant demonstration and a strong bounce back from last week’s early exit.
LITTLER SHINES IN TENSE QUARTER-FINALS
Michael Van Gerwen succumbed to Cross 6-5 in a nail-biting quarter-final.
Cross scored well to apply pressure on the throw of the Dutchman but was often punished for not completing the job at the back end of legs.
The break ultimately came in the deciding leg with ‘Voltage’ finally utilising his opportunities to hit D4, only following three missed match darts from Van Gerwen.
Elsewhere, Aspinall battled past Chris Dobey 6-5.
In a match where holds of throw were scarce, the man from Stockport inched past his Newcastle counterpart in the critical leg.
The low-quality affair was met with an increasingly common Aspinall celebration that showcased pure emotions, an expected reaction following Aspinall’s outspoken battle with dartitis.
The final quarter-final of the night, saw Luke ‘The Nuke’ Littler explode.
The teenager averaged in excess of 112 in victory over winless Stephen Bunting, with a record-breaking ten maximums in the process.
Despite ‘The Bullet’ replicating the World Champion’s effort of going six darts into the perfect leg, Littler marched on to the semi-final with Aspinall.
Previous weekly reports have been critical of Bunting; however, no such analyses can be thrown this week.
He averaged just shy of 105 and showed why he is in the Premier League – he will hope to build upon this when he faces Aspinall next week in Brighton.
Charlie Wood
Featured image courtesy of @silvanarnet via Unsplash. Image use license found here (Unsplash). No changes were made to this image.
In article image 1 courtesy of @officialpdc via Instagram. No changes were made to this image.
In article image 2 courtesy of @officialpdc via Instagram. No changes were made to this image.
In article image 3 courtesy of @officialpdc via Instagram. No changes were made to this image.
For more content including uni news, reviews, entertainment, lifestyle, features and so much more, follow us on Twitter and Instagram, and like our Facebook page for more articles and information on how to get involved.
For further sports content and ways to get involved, follow @ImpactSport on Twitter and Instagram, and like the Impact Sport Facebook page!
