HUMPHRIES HITS EIGHT WIN STREAK
06/02/2025 By Aaron Nijjar
By Phil Lanning
LUKE HUMPHRIES made it EIGHT-in-a-row by winning the opening Premier League night.
The World No.1 smashed Chris Dobey 6-1 in the final in Belfast on Thursday night.
‘Cool Hand’, 29, was in a ruthless mood and just four days after victory in the World Masters with five wins, he added three more victories.
He said: “I thought I played pretty well in the first game. Against Michael (Van Gerwen) I was very fortunate. It’s not usually like him to miss that amount of doubles.
“But in the final there was a breeze which was tough to play through. It was blowing my darts in the doubles so I was happy.
“It’s a tough game playing your mates. I played Nathan (Aspinall), Michael and Chris. They are all close friends of mine.
“My goal is to get in the top four, that’s all that matters. Great start for myself.
“Last year I knew it was going to be tough. Already tonight I felt a little bit tired. You just learn all the time. You re always striving to be better, to be a better person.
“I think this is the hardest Premier League for a very long time. Nights like this might not happen as much as you want.
“It’s important to get off to a good start. The last two years I haven’t started well. So this is better than I usually do.
“There’s a lot of players in good form this year. I do think the PDC made the right call with the players who are in. I do think it’s going to be very tough. It’s all going to chop and change.
“Luke Littler the way he’s playing is unbelievable. Watching the Van Gerwen game, it’ll be lucky for anyone to match that.
“He’s by far one the greatest dart players I’ve seen in my career.
“I’m not disrespecting, I just think he’s the best player in the world. If he goes out, then I’m the one to beat. But he’s the man to beat, he’s unbelievable.
“He plays darts at such a great pace. He smashes in the trebles, the doubles. This is what happened to me last year, everyone wants to beat you.
“For me I know I can still play at a decent standard. I can still win things.”
Humphries was in a clinical mood all night and that continued in the final.
He soon zipped into a 5-0 lead with a double 10 finish in a ruthless display.
Finally Dobey got on the board with a 126 finish on bull. But ‘Cool Hand’ then wrapped it up with tops.
The night opened with Dobey beating Gerwyn Price 6-4 then Cross repeated the scoreline in defeating Stephen Bunting.
Then came the match of the night. Michael van Gerwen outgunned Luke Littler in a classic slugfest deciding leg. Incredibly ‘The Nuke’ losing out with a 113.91 average, the second highest losing average in the history of the Premier League.
Humphries then picked up a comfortable win over Nathan Aspinall.
Dobey was the first in the final, edging out Cross 6-4 and Humphries recovered from a mid-match blip to beat MVG in a deciding leg after the Dutchman had missed a lot of doubles.
