Luke ‘The Nuke’ Littler stormed to victory in his latest televised PDC title, thrashing rival Luke Humphries 6-1 in the World Grand Prix Darts final. The darts prodigy added another trophy to his cabinet, with an average score of 92.35.
This marked a second consecutive Grand Prix final defeat for Humphries, following a 6-4 loss to Mike De Decker, making it another deeply disappointing night for the 30-year-old. The staunch Leeds United supporter trudged off the stage during each break, looking downcast as the world number one’s contender moved closer to his title.
In securing the clean sweep, Littler pocketed £120,000 towards his seasonal winnings, with Humphries’ top spot looming ever closer ahead of him. Entering the competition, the Warrington-born superstar was just £139,250 behind the leader in the ranking, with Sunday night’s triumph significantly reducing that gap, while Humphries took home £60,000 for reaching the final.
The showdown between the two Lukes was expected to be another classic, given their dominance in the tournaments so far this year. Humphries broke the throw in the first set, but Littler immediately retaliated and clinched the set with double five, despite missing a dart at his preferred double 10. Early in the second set, Humphries was visibly annoyed by a whistle during his throw as he missed three darts at a double.
Despite appearing in control to strike back, Littler surged ahead to secure a two-set lead. In the opening leg of the third set, Littler narrowly missed a nine-dart finish. Humphries failed to capitalise on this, missing double 20 and allowing Littler to take the lead after he successfully hit double five with his final dart.
Despite this setback, Littler managed to secure a three-set lead with an impressive 104 finish. Humphries had previously overcome Nathan Aspinall, Krzysztof Ratajski, Cameron Menzies and Danny Noppert to reach the final, but was met with a formidable performance from Littler.
Down 0-2 in the third set, Humphries began to fight back, taking a crucial leg before levelling the score at 2-2 with a 110 checkout. However, his comeback was short-lived as Littler regained control, winning the set-decider and moving within two sets of a clean sweep.
In the fifth set, Humphries broke Littler’s throw and held his nerve to reduce the deficit. But Littler was determined not to let his opponent back into the game. Despite needing 170 to win, he couldn’t finish it off.
Humphries attempted a spectacular finish with two double 18’s but missed his second dart. The 18-year-old also failed to complete his 105 finish, allowing Humphries to extend the match with a double nine. However, Littler kept his cool to deliver a memorable performance on the oche.
“Very happy to tick it off. it’s not the easiest tournament to win,” he said. “This week has been so tough. Now I’ve picked the trophy up it’s one I can tick off and there’s not many left. I’ve got to perform the big out-shots, the big scores when Luke does put me under pressure.
“I think I played very well tonight. Luke was always behind me, I couldn’t step off the gas. I’m very happy to win.”