FIVE THINGS WE LEARNED FROM THE BELGIAN OPEN
23/03/2026 By Aaron Nijjar
By Phil Lanning
1.Humphries class is permanent…
IT was only a matter of time until Luke Humphries picked up a trophy again.
To be fair, he wasn’t in the middle of a dreadful drought. People forget that he won the World Masters, Premier League, US Masters and Czech Open last year.
It wasn’t up to his high standards of the previous couple of years, but not exactly a disaster!
When it comes to the crunch, he is still the World No.2 and still the player most likely to reach the highest levels to beat Luke Littler in a final.
It’s probably fair to say Cool Hand is only at 75 per cent of his powerhouse best. Yet he can still win trophies, that underlines just how good he is.
Humphries’ demolition of Michael van Gerwen in the semi-final in Wieze illuminated again that he has got so many extra gears.
He remains one of the most charming and classy players ever to grace the sport.
When his doubles start going in second nature like they did in his pomp of late 2023, and they will, he could possibly be unstoppable again.
2.Influencers in darts…
THE biggest story to emerge from Wieze was Humphries defending himself after influencer Charlie Murphy claimed “he doesn’t seem to have that stage aura or confidence” and that he was almost “giving in” to Luke Littler.
Oche180 reported the story and what Murphy had stated with ex-player Matt Edgar on an OLBG podcast.
What Murphy said clearly upset Humphries and he responded in measured fashion. He then won the title, which was the ultimate comeback.
However, it did also prompt PDPA chairman Alan Warriner-Little to comment on the wider issue of online criticism.
He said on X: “Influencers ‘My Arse’ no such thing, it’s a self generated role and means sweet FA.
“As our sport gets bigger we will get more people jumping on the wagon who think they are darts gurus .. Happening to a lot of players just for their click bait .. #SadSacks”.
Of course, Gary Anderson also let rip at influencers back in late January.
The sport has had an influx of this new band of fans with big audiences online.
That’s an incredible boost for the sport because they all have a huge presence with a potentially new young generation of darts fans on YouTube and TikTok.
The likes of Jaackmaate, Bambino Becky and Jessie Sale are extremely good at what they do, mainly now as presenters and they acknowledge their naivety in the sport which has a charm in itself.
The danger, as Murphy has found out the hard way, is if you cross the line from influencer to pundit and criticise a player having not played the game.
A pundit can be anyone who casts an opinion on any subject, whether that be sport or politics.
I’ve been covering sport as a journalist for 37 years, there’s a very fine line with reporting facts while also being constructive over a player’s performance.
TV pundits Wayne Mardle, John Part, Glen Durrant, Mark Webster and Chris Mason have won titles on the biggest stages. They will know what players have to deal with under the most extreme pressure, so they can give us all an insight.
It’s best to leave the opinions to the experts.
3.Littler shock defeat…
NOTHING to see here really. Niels Zonneveld has been rising rapidly over the past few months.
Littler still averaged 103 and seemed to be in control at 3-1 up. But Triple Z’s finishing was outstanding in the latter stages, including that wonderful 147 to win the game.
The most likely reason was that Littler is rarely at his very best in those afternoon matches and was perhaps just caught a tad cold by Zonneveld’s storming comeback over the short format.
The Nuke appears to be cruising along in second gear at the moment. He won the UK Open in a canter and somehow found the extra level to come from 5-0 down to beat Gerwyn Price 6-5 in last week’s Premier League final.
He didn’t need to win in Wieze. When he does need to win, he usually does!
4.Clayton a genuine threat again…
LUKE Humphries stated that he felt that Jonny Clayton was one of the most “underrated players” in his Wieze winning speech.
He was so right.
Clayton flies under the radar on so many occasions. There’s no fuss, no fanfare, just a genuinely lovely bloke who gets on with the game.
We are extremely close to the Clayton class of 2021 when he won four majors.
The Ferret looks a force again.
5.Zonneveld making waves…
WHILE the humdrum of the Premier League plods along every Thursday, it’s refreshing to get other names in the headlines.
Zonneveld was outstanding in Wieze and his progress has been at an alarming rate.
Just like Wessel Nijman the week before in Gottingen, this young Dutchman goes about his business in a quiet and efficient manner.
The Euro Tour continues to offer great opportunities for young players to make the grade, just like it helped Humphries to the top a couple of years ago.
Andy Baetens was also another high class operator in Wieze. On that sort of form, he will be a real danger going forward.
