Luke Humphries finally cracked the BetMGM Premier League nightly puzzle in Birmingham, beating Gerwyn Price in the Night 15 final to lock in his playoff spot at the O2 and call the victory the proudest moment of his career.
The defending champion arrived at the Utilita Arena facing the possibility of becoming the first reigning Premier League winner to miss the playoffs in years, but a brutal 6-0 quarter-final demolition of Stephen Bunting kickstarted a perfect night. Humphries followed it with a 6-3 win over Luke Littler in the semi, averaging 110 across the contest and ending the world number one's four-match winning streak between the two.
The night belonged to Humphries from the moment Bunting's last realistic Premier League dream was extinguished. "That is a six-zip win for Luke Humphries over Stephen Bunting," the Sky commentator summarised. "60% on his doubles, 107 average, back-to-back 11s in it. Started well, finished well, played well. Two valuable points, massive points."
Facing Littler in the semi-final, Humphries had to summon a comeback for the ages after the teenager raced away in the early legs. "What a comeback this is. What a comeback from Luke Humphries. He's had his luck. Keep your opponent quiet. He's missed 10 darts at a double. Luke Humphries averaging 110," the commentary captured. "This is to wrap it up. He's left 170, but the odds are that he doesn't get a poke. This has been spectacular. He finishes it with a simple 60 finish. That is a 6-3 win for Luke Humphries, and it stops the rot against Luke Littler as well. He had lost the last four, but not tonight."
The final against Price was sealed when the Iceman missed a 170 attempt that would have flipped the closing legs. Humphries described the relief afterwards as more than a points haul. "It's obvious it's relief," he told Sky Sports. "You see from the way that I sort of felt at the end there, it's been a struggle this year. It's no lie, it's been hard work. I'm not going to batter over. It's just not been best for me this year. I worked incredibly hard over the last three weeks. I changed back to my old points, old flights, and it just worked for me. I played the way I've been playing, so just proud of myself for battling through."
Humphries was unusually candid about the lonely stretch of his title defence. "We've all been through them stages where it's easy and you're just winning and everything's easy, but it shows true grit when you can come from that position that I was in, sixth," he said. "I'm looking at the table now, and I was five points behind. To go and beat for myself to go and win it on this night or to get through, that takes some determination. I'm really proud of that."
The defending champion explained the equipment switch that may have unlocked the run. "Sometimes you just have to try something new," Humphries said. "If it works, it works. I did it in the Grand Slam, the Grand Prix, and it worked for me, but then I did it in the Worlds, it didn't work for me. So sometimes you just have to adapt. It's working one minute, it's not the next. Last week, there's a bit of a breeze outside so I had to throw a bit harder, a bit quicker. Then I thought I'd play well, so I thought I'd keep with that tonight. Maybe next week, I'll go slow again, I don't know."
Humphries acknowledged the doubters who had written him off. "I get written off a lot as a player. There was a point where we were looking at five points from the top four, you kind of think, wow, you need a miracle here. But deep down, my girlfriend Kayleigh, she's like, you got it in you, you know you can do it. Sometimes I just need that little bit of someone to tell me I can do it. I believe in myself the last three weeks, and that's what matters."
Humphries will defend his title at the O2 in just over a fortnight against Luke Littler, Jonny Clayton and Gerwyn Price.
