Luke Humphries secured his second Premier League night victory of the season, and his first-ever against Luke Littler, in Exeter.
Despite a shaky start, with missed match darts against Gerwyn Price, and some unforced errors in his semi-final win over Rob Cross, Humphries triumphed over Littler in the final. Littler initially led 3-1, but Humphries rallied, leveling the score and then, despite Littler regaining the lead, winning the final three legs to clinch the victory.
“I said to him at the end there ‘I think this is the first time I’ve beaten you in the Premier League’,” Humphries revealed to Sky Sports. “It’s nice, something to get over him. You keep losing all the time and it gets harder and harder every time you lose. Obviously in Glasgow, I had that problem with my finger. But this time, there was less pressure, no excuses, nothing could stop me.”
This win extended Humphries’ lead at the top of the Premier League table, with 15 points, five ahead of Littler. “It’s a great start, 15 points after four nights… I would love to win the group, it’s a dream start,” Humphries said. “Hopefully I can keep pushing and reeling in the points and maybe even get by 13th or 14th week to get in the top four because that’s all that really matters.”
Looking ahead to the UK Open, Humphries expressed confidence. “It’s the UK Open this weekend, this [win vs Littler] is going to give me confidence. I know I haven’t been at my absolute best, but it will make sure when I go there tomorrow, I feel good and I’m going to feel confident. And that makes me a dangerous person. Obviously I did a lot of things that a world No.1 would do tonight, but I’ve got a great opportunity to go and win another major.”
The UK Open begins Friday afternoon, with the final scheduled for Sunday evening.
