Luke Humphries produced the performance of his career to claim BoyleSports World Grand Prix glory in Leicester on Sunday, overcoming Gerwyn Price 5-2 in a thrilling final.<\/p>\n
Former World Youth Champion Humphries, 28, claimed his first televised ranking title and \u00a3120,000 with the triumph, and also moves above Price to a career-high fourth on the PDC Order of Merit.<\/p>\n
Price had been bidding to win his second World Grand Prix title as he competed in a third final in four years – and made a brilliant start to win the first set without reply.<\/p>\n
Humphries, though, took nine of the next 11 legs in a three-set burst which turned the game on its head and moved him 3-1 up at Leicester’s Morningside Arena.<\/p>\n
Price defied a 170 from Humphries to hit back by winning the fifth set in a decider, but the next two went to the Englishman as he went on to seal a memorable triumph with a sensational 138 checkout.<\/p>\n
“I’ve imagined this moment for my whole career – it’s very emotional,” admitted Humphries, who averaged 93.30 in the double-start format in the final.<\/p>\n
“Regardless of anything else I’ve done in my career, that was the greatest game I’ve ever played in my life.<\/p>\n
“That 138 is probably one of the best shots I’ve ever seen in my career, let alone [to win] the title. If I didn’t hit that, we go off to the break and Gezzy feels that he’s back in the game.<\/p>\n
“I couldn’t have picked a better ending for my first major title. I think a lot of people wrote me off tonight, they thought Gezzy would steamroll me, but I’ve got a bit of bottle about me, I have got the ability to play well.<\/p>\n
“As much as I played well, that was a great final and I think Gezzy played his part there. He was a massive part of such a great game and credit goes to him.”<\/p>\n
Price punished some nervy starting doubles from Humphries in set one, taking the set without reply, before a sparkling 12-darter – which featured just ten scoring darts – saw the Englishman get off the mark in set two.<\/p>\n
Humphries took the set 3-1 and matched that score in set three, despite an 11-darter from Price, before taking the fourth without reply to move 3-1 up in the match.<\/p>\n
Humphries opened the fifth with a rousing 170 checkout, but Price responded with a 117 checkout and punished misses from his rival to claim the set in a decider to hit back.<\/p>\n
The sixth set also went to a deciding leg, with the pair trading 180s before Humphries pinned double eight to move 4-2 up and close in on glory.<\/p>\n
Price led 1-0 and 2-1 in the seventh set, but Humphries levelled and then took out an unforgettable 138 checkout to seal the title.<\/p>\n
Humphries had lost in the 2021 UK Open final, but has made sustained progress up the rankings since – producing a string of successes on the European Tour to consolidate his stage experience.<\/p>\n
“I said [after the semi-finals] that we will see what Luke Humphries is made of tomorrow; whether I’ve got or I ain’t – and I think I proved now to myself that I have got it,” he added.<\/p>\n
“Sometimes in my career, my Achilles heel has been my doubles and it’s quite funny that the major championship I pick up is the double start!<\/p>\n
“I think this is the first in a lot [of titles] that will come over the years, but we’re in an era where there’s so many great players and these are hard to come by.<\/p>\n
“I dedicate this to my dad, because without him I wouldn’t be here right now. It’s been 13, 14 years since I first picked up a dart and now I’m a major champion.<\/p>\n
“I’ve worked extremely hard in the last few years, lost a lot of weight, battled many things in my head to get to this point and it makes it all worth it having this trophy.”<\/p>\n
Price averaged 91 in reply to Humphries, and the Welshman hit half of his attempts at a starting double and 52% of his finishing doubles as he fought bravely to regain the coveted trophy.<\/p>\n
However, the Welshman admitted: “I’m absolutely gutted.<\/p>\n
“I didn’t help myself early on. Luke played fantastic and he’s a worthy winner. I think I played better than him tonight, he just played really well at the right times.<\/p>\n
“Fair play to Luke, he deserves the win.”<\/p>\n
2023 BoyleSports World Grand Prix<\/strong> Luke Humphries produced the performance of his career to claim BoyleSports World Grand Prix glory in Leicester on Sunday, overcoming…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":5535,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[943,124],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5537","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","category-results"],"yoast_head":"\n
\nSunday October 8<\/strong>
\nFinal<\/strong>
\nLuke Humphries 5-2 Gerwyn Price (1-3, 3-1, 3-1, 3-0, 2-3, 3-2, 3-2)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"