Comeback kid Luke Humphries defied a nine-darter from Michael van Gerwen to storm to Cazoo Players Championship Finals glory in Minehead on Sunday night with an astonishing 11-9 triumph in the final.<\/p>\n
Reigning champion Van Gerwen had looked set to claim his eighth Players Championship Finals crown when he achieved his third nine-darter in the event’s history and opened up a 9-5 lead at Butlin’s Minehead Resort.<\/p>\n
However, Humphries incredibly reeled off six successive legs to secure a third televised title inside two months and scoop the \u00a3120,000 top prize.<\/p>\n
Humphries’ success follows his wins in the World Grand Prix and Grand Slam of Darts during a hectic autumn, and sees the 28-year-old move up to a career-high third on the PDC Order of Merit.<\/p>\n
“To stand here with my third major title, I can’t put it into words!” said Humphries. “I never dreamed of winning one, let alone three.<\/p>\n
“I’d love to have beaten Phil Taylor in a final but I never got that opportunity so the next best thing for me is [to beat] the great of our generation, Michael van Gerwen.<\/p>\n
“To beat him in a final is what I always dreamed of. I watched this man seven or eight years ago being at the absolute peak of his career, winning everything [and hitting] 110 averages for fun.<\/p>\n
“To beat him in a final, I think this one probably does mean the most to me.<\/p>\n
“It means I’m the best player in the world – he said I had to beat him in a final and I did! Michael was fantastic there, but he allowed me in.”<\/p>\n
Humphries opened the final with a superb 130 bull finish, with Van Gerwen taking out 126 in response before claiming the final’s first break of throw in leg five with his incredible nine-darter; landing back-to-back 180s before finishing 141 on double 12.<\/p>\n
The pair then traded 14-darters and Van Gerwen landed a 13-darter to lead 5-3, with Humphries replying on double ten before missing double 18 to level in leg ten, as the reigning champion pinned tops for a 74 combination.<\/p>\n
Van Gerwen then secured a second break of throw by finishing 90 in two darts to punish a missed bull from Humphries for a 164 checkout, before a 13-darter gave the world number two daylight at 8-4.<\/p>\n
Humphries responded with back-to-back maximums in a 12-darter to claim his fifth leg, only for Van Gerwen to fire in a ten-dart leg to restore his cushion.<\/p>\n
Another 14-darter saw Humphries hit back before he broke for the first time on double ten, and double five saw the gap reduced to one leg at 9-8.<\/p>\n
Humphries then followed a 180 with a stunning 142 checkout to level he final, and continued his momentum with a third-dart double ten to move 10-9 up.<\/p>\n
The tension rose as Van Gerwen battled to force a deciding leg, but the Dutchman missed eight darts at doubles to keep his hopes alive before Humphries finally pinned double one to close out a memorable triumph.<\/p>\n
Humphries had defeated James Wade in Sunday afternoon’s quarter-finals and averaged over 106 in his semi-final romp against Ryan Joyce, but admitted that he had to dig deep in the title decider.<\/p>\n
“When I was playing that game, I felt flat,” he added. “Against Ryan I was so tired and in that game there I felt I had nothing to give but I kept grinding.”<\/p>\n
Van Gerwen, who was appearing in his ninth final in 11 years of the event, paid tribute to Humphries after their dramatic contest.<\/p>\n
“I had my chances,” admitted Van Gerwen. “I was 9-5 up and from that position, I’m not allowed to lose; simple as that.<\/p>\n
“I made it incredibly difficult and when you do that against a player in his form, you only can blame yourself.<\/p>\n
“I had opportunities there but he played well at the end, he never gave up and fair play to him.”<\/p>\n
Van Gerwen had produced a tournament record average of 118.52 in Saturday’s second round, and began Sunday’s final day of action in Minehead by coming from 9-6 down against Stephen Bunting with a stunning burst of 13, 12, 11 and 12-dart legs.<\/p>\n
He then averaged over 101 in a dominant 11-6 semi-final win over Gabriel Clemens, and added: “My level is definitely close to my best, but still you have to do it at the right moments.<\/p>\n
“Today, I thought I was doing that but fair play to Luke. He played well all tournament, he’s got the confidence, he’s got everything on his side at the moment.”<\/p>\n
Clemens followed up his run to the World Championship semi-finals 11 months ago by seeing off Luke Woodhouse 10-7 in the last eight to match that achievement.<\/p>\n
Ryan Joyce joined the German ace after his 10-6 win over Damon Heta secured a first appearance in a televised semi-final during a resurgent spell for the Newcastle thrower.<\/p>\n
Sunday’s action in Minehead also featured the Winmau World Youth Championship final, as 16-year-old sensation Luke Littler defeated Gian van Veen 6-4 to claim that title and a \u00a310,000 top prize.<\/p>\n
2023 Cazoo Players Championship Finals Evening Session PDC Winmau World Youth Championship Final Final Comeback kid Luke Humphries defied a nine-darter from Michael van Gerwen to storm to Cazoo Players Championship Finals glory in…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":5753,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[943,1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5752","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\n
\nSunday November 26
\nAfternoon Session
\nQuarter-Finals
\n<\/strong>Michael van Gerwen 10-9 Stephen Bunting
\nGabriel Clemens 10-7 Luke Woodhouse
\nLuke Humphries 10-7 James Wade
\nRyan Joyce 10-6 Damon Heta<\/p>\n
\n<\/strong>Semi-Finals
\n<\/strong>Michael van Gerwen 11-6 Gabriel Clemens
\nLuke Humphries 11-3 Ryan Joyce<\/p>\n
\n<\/strong>Luke Littler 6-4 Gian van Veen<\/p>\n
\n<\/strong>Luke Humphries 11-9 Michael van Gerwen<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"