Luke Humphries defies injury scare to storm into Grand Slam quarter-finals as Smith denies Dobey in dramatic decider

Luke Humphries defied an injury scare to surge into the quarter-finals of the Grand Slam of Darts in Wolverhampton on Wednesday, as Michael Smith Gerwyn Price and Ricky Evans also progressed.

Humphries’ hopes were almost curtailed by a neck injury sustained overnight which left the world number one considering pulling out of the tournament.

However, he played through the pain barrier and produced a spellbinding display to thrash Jurjen van der Velde 10-3 with a 108.5 average, seven 180s and ten from 13 on the doubles.

The 2023 champion raced to a 5-0 lead, averaging north of 119 after five legs, which included a ten-darter where Humphries took out the traditional nine-dart checkout of 141 to leave and then convert tops.

Despite a spirited performance from Dutch debutant Van der Velde – who landed a 164 checkout – Humphries blitzed through to maintain his hopes of regaining the Eric Bristow Trophy and retaining the world number one spot.

“It was probably one of the best performances I’ve ever had in my life,” admitted Humphries.

“I woke up this morning and couldn’t get my head off the pillow, I’ve had a bad neck for a few days.

“It’s been a struggle for me all day. It’s crazy how you can perform like that with an injury I’ve had to deal with.

“I cannot believe I’ve done that. I’m in a lot of pain now, it’s hurting me, but I’m a fighter. I put everything on the line tonight.”

Humphries will now face Michael Smith in Friday’s quarter-finals after the 2022 champion came through an astonishing last-leg decider to snatch victory over Chris Dobey.

A staggering 20 match darts were missed between the pair before Smith finally got over the line to extend his comeback campaign in his first appearance in a TV major since March.

After Dobey opened up a 5-2 lead, Smith hit back to level up at 5-5 courtesy of a terrific 164 checkout, before hitting the front for the first time in the match at 7-6.

The St Helens star then missed two match darts before Dobey forced a deciding-leg, where 18 more match darts were missed between them – including a whopping 11 from Dobey – before Smith eventually found double four to stumble into the quarter-finals.

“He kept missing and I was thankful for that,” said Smith, “I should never have been in that match or been in front, I should never have won, but I will take it.

“Every game I play now, they always go to last legs, and I hate it, it’s doing my head in.

“Something was on my side tonight, I’ll take it. I came to this tournament to win it and I know I’ve still got a shot.

“I’ve always believed I’ll win tournaments. I might not be physically fit, but mentally I’m still the same person.”

Three-time champion Price also secured his spot in the Last Eight following a 10-6 victory over Martin Schindler.

Price powered into a 5-1 lead but took his foot off the gas as Schindler reduced the deficit to 6-5.

The Welshman, however, piled in a sensational 170 checkout to regain command before wrapping up the win with an 11-darter.

“I think that was a difficult game,” admitted Price. “Towards the end, I started to play a little bit better and so did he, but I was just happy to get over the winning line.

“This is my favourite tournament, and I always seem to do well here. With the crowd behind me now, I think I’ll do even better.

“I know Ricky [Evans] has been playing fantastic this year. Over the longer format as first to 16, I think it goes in my favour a little bit as I’ve been in this situation before.”

Evans broke new ground to reach his first Grand Slam quarter-final by overcoming Luke Woodhouse in a tense last-leg decider.

Woodhouse produced a mid-game burst to open up an 8-5 advantage, but after missing two darts to go 9-5 ahead, Evans rattled off five of the next six legs to complete the comeback.

“I don’t think that’s it’s hit me that I’ve won yet,” said Evans. “I always seem to win the scrappy ones.

“I just threw fast and they seemed to go in, and the crowd got behind me again.

“I think Luke is one of the most underrated players in world darts, he is a proper darts player. It was good fun.”

Grand Slam of Darts 2025 Day Five Results

Wednesday November 12

Second Round

Luke Woodhouse 9-10 Ricky Evans
Gerwyn Price 10-6 Martin Schindler
Luke Humphries 10-3 Jurjen van der Velde
Chris Dobey 9-10 Michael Smith