HUMPHRIES: WORLD WANTED LITTLER TO TAKE NO1 SPOT

LUKE HUMPHRIES admits it felt like the whole darts world was waiting for Luke Littler to knock him off top spot.

‘Cool Hand’ saw his 682-day reign as world No1 ended by his young rival at the Grand Slam before falling 16-11 in the showpiece.

Cheshire thrower Humphries has had a brilliant campaign reaching three major finals and winning the World Masters and Premier League.

But Humphries says there were moments this year where it felt like the spotlight was fixed on Littler and the expectation was for the teen sensation to sit at the summit of the sport.

He told talkSPORT: “It just felt like the world was waiting for Luke to overtake me. There were no things about how I could stay at world No1.

“It was all about how Luke could get to world No1.

“There were no graphs out there from the media saying ‘this is what Luke needs to do to stay at world No1.’

“I felt like: why aren’t I getting that chance to be like ‘this is what I need to do to stay’?

“So, I showed a lot of bottle, to be honest. I made three finals, I defended as best as I could, but obviously when you are against Luke he is a tough player to beat.

“The Gian loss as well, it didn’t go my way.

“If we are going on fairness over the last two years, I think he has definitely been the No1 player.”

Eight-time major winner Humphries opens up his World Championship account against Ted Evetts in round one.

Humphries is confident he can reclaim the Sid Waddell Trophy which he won back in 2024 after beating Littler in the final.

He added: “I feel like my game is in such a good place. I feel more confident and I feel like I am going to start winning things.

“I’ve enjoyed the last couple of years and everything that has come with it. I’m just ready to push my career on and win more titles.

“I’m fully focused, and whatever happens in this Worlds, going into next year I am going to work on this new throw that I have adapted, and that seems to be working really well.

“I just want to try and smash it and win as much as I can to try and put Luke under pressure for that world No1 spot.”

Humphries is also eyeing up a big treat for himself if he wins the £1million top prize at Ally Pally.

He continued: “The hard thing is when the money hits your account you can’t just rip it all out.

“Lamborghini Urus, the new one, is going to be the one.

“To celebrate I would put the trophy on top of the car, we need some heavy-duty tape!”

Image by Taylor Lanning.