Luke Humphries wins PDC Czech Darts Open but feels ‘there’s another level in me’
21/10/2024 By Aaron Nijjar
Luke Humphries dominated his way through the field to clinch a second Czech Darts Open title in Prague.
The 29-year-old thrashed Kim Huybrechts 8-1 to win his seventh European Tour title, moving him into fifth on the all-time European Tour winners list.
The Newbury-born star secured comfortable 6-2 wins over Ritchie Edhouse, Gian van Veen and his recent Grand Prix final opponent, Mike De Decker. Humphries averaged 100, 106 and 103 in those three games heading into the final session of the weekend.
His semi-final encounter against Luke Littler was his toughest test of the weekend, with the teenage sensation averaging 116.51 and 110 against Damon Heta and Michael van Gerwen earlier in the day.
Humphries prevailed in a high-quality encounter and won 7-4 in a match where the duo threw 9 180s and 27 140+ scores between them. Humphries recorded an average of 108.56 and booked his place into yet another final.
In the final, Huybrechts ran out of steam while Humphries maintained his sublime weekend form by averaging 105.57 over the nine legs played.
Despite consistently averaging over 100 in all his matches, Humphries said in his post-match interview that “there’s another level in me.”
“When I beat Ritchie Edhouse on Saturday I felt good, but I felt I needed a spark, and I found it today,” reflected Humphries.
“When I beat Gian I felt that spark again, but I still know there’s another level in me, and I believe I can get better.
“It’s nice to bounce back [from the World Grand Prix], because when you lose in major finals it’s not easy; it does hurt you, so this a nice way to finish my ProTour season.
“I’m going to come back next year and I’m going to work harder. I’m going to change things and I’m going to win more – that’s my commitment to the game!”
Quarter-Finals
Niels Zonneveld 6-4 Jonny Clayton
Kim Huybrechts 6-4 Jermaine Wattimena
Luke Littler 6-1 Michael van Gerwen
Luke Humphries 6-2 Mike De Decker
Semi-Finals
Kim Huybrechts 7-6 Niels Zonneveld
Luke Humphries 7-4 Luke Littler
Final
Luke Humphries 8-1 Kim Huybrechts
Image by Taylor Lanning.
