4 hours Ago By [email protected] (Aaron Morris)
Luke Humphries has paid tribute to his supporting fiancee after his victory at Players Championship 26, despite almost bailing on the tournament. The darting star torpedoed through a tough lineup, dispatching George Killington, Callum Goffin, Connor Scutt, Josh Rock, Dave Chisnall , and Luke Woodhouse to march into the final. In a nail-biting showdown, Humphries narrowly edged out Stephen Bunting with an 8-7 win to secure the title, further cementing his position at the top of the PDC Order of Merit .
Currently reigning as the top earner, Humphries boasts an impressive £1,681,750 in winnings over the last two years, comfortably ahead of second-place Michael Smith's £1,069,250. Post-match, Humphries revealed that entering the tournament hadn't been part of his initial plan due to a series of disappointing outcomes in recent times. Reflecting on the turnaround while speaking to the PDC, he said: "It is, and it hasn't been the way the last couple of weeks to be fair.
As you do, you're on Twitter and a lot of people are saying 'No chance, he's not going to retain his title'. "You know, this is what happens in darts, you go through spurts where you're playing fantastic and then you go through spurts where they ain't going very good. You can't buy a win.
Yesterday, I didn't want to be here. Fair play to my fiancee Kayley, because she's like 'Play tomorrow' and I was like 'No, I think it's time for a break. I'm knackered, I really am'.
"But she was like 'No, go and give it a go. You might give yourself some confidence' and obviously she was right," reports the Express . Following his victory, Humphries also gave a heartfelt shoutout to his dad on his 60th birthday, sharing: "That one was for you dad.
A nice one for him, I'm sure he'll raise a pint for himself for that one." It comes after a bout of poor form before Thursday's title win. The day before, Humphries faltered in the first round of Players Championship 25, losing out to 87th ranked Jeffrey de Graaf.
His Euro Tour 12 and World Series Finals campaigns also ended in disappointment at the hands of Josh Rock and Michael van Gerwen respectively earlier in the month. Humphries harked back to his last triumph at the New Zealand Darts Masters in August, where he prevailed 8-2 over Damon Heta in the final match. After his latest win, Humphries is gearing up for the World Grand Prix which starts on Monday, when he'll be hoping to replicate his winning ways against Bunting.
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