Luke Humphries admitted he was forced to adapt his playing style during Thursday night’s Premier League epic against rival Luke Littler. Cool Hand edged an 11-leg thriller during the Night 14 final in Leeds, but revealed after the win he had to battle the conditions inside the First Direct Arena.
The two highest-ranked players in the world unsurprisingly served up a classic in the Night 14 final, with the lead changing hands throughout. It looked as if Humphries had opened up a gap when he went 5-3 ahead, only for the world champion to come roaring back and level things at 5-5.
But, in keeping with his nickname, Humphries kept his cool to win the last-leg shoot-out to end his wait for a nightly win.
Night 14 had got off to a feisty start when Littler performed several gestures towards the partisan Leeds crowd, who were keen to let the Manchester United fanatic know they weren’t on his side. Littler mimicked a yawn while getting booed during his walk-on for his opening game against Nathan Aspinall before being caught by the cameras singing along to an anti-Leeds United song while waiting to visit the board. Later in the Aspinall match, Littler pretended to cry after he was once again booed after winning a leg with a nervy double 10 finish.
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