Luke Humphries emerged victorious on the opening night of the BetMGM Premier League in Belfast, breezing to a 6-1 win against Chris Dobey in the final. World number one Humphries, fresh from his Winmau World Masters title win on Sunday, demonstrated a masterclass in finishing against Dobey, having previously defeated Nathan Aspinall and Michael van Gerwen at the SSE Arena.
Humphries quickly established a commanding 5-0 lead in a one-sided final. Although world number 11 Dobey managed a 126-finish in the sixth leg to avoid a complete shutout, the result was inevitable.
Luke Littler’s first match defending his Premier League title ended in an exciting 6-5 defeat to Van Gerwen, who managed to get some payback for his World Championship final loss to the teenager last month. Littler put on a dazzling performance, averaging 113.91 – a new record in Belfast and the second highest losing average in Premier League history – and executed a 161-checkout on the bull to even the score at 2-2.
However, an invigorated Van Gerwen, a seven-time Premier League champion, narrowly won the classic match, averaging 105.91, with both players landing six 180s. .
Van Gerwen couldn’t maintain his winning streak as he missed a match dart on the bull in his semi-final against Humphries, who landed 140 and 120 checkouts before keeping his cool in a deciding leg to scrape through 6-5. Dobey triumphed over world number four Rob Cross in the first semi-final, completing checkouts of 170 and 120 on his way to a 6-4 victory.
Humphries, who was defeated by Littler in the previous year’s Premier League final, kicked off his campaign with a 6-2 victory over Nathan Aspinall, the 2023 World Matchplay champion. Cross began with a 6-4 win against Stephen Bunting, a semi-finalist in the World Championship, while Dobey triumphed over world number nine Gerwyn Price with the same score in his quarter-final.
The Premier League will continue at the OVO Hydro in Glasgow for its second night next Thursday.
