Luke Humphries lands Players Championship 4 title

Luke Humphries scooped the Players Championship 4 title courtesy of an 8-6 victory over Wessel Nijman in the final in Wigan on Tuesday.

Humphries – who was without a Players Championship title since October 2024 – claimed his first ranking title of the year with a dazzling display at the Robin Park Sports Centre.

The world number two scooped the £15,000 top prize after recovering from 5-3 down to deny Nijman his second ProTour title of the season.

Nijman kicked off with back-to-back legs in the final, before Humphries responded in kind to level the contest.

Nijman, who claimed glory in Hildesheim last week, took the lead once again with a trio of five-visit legs, before Humphries hit back with four legs on the spin in 12, 12, 14 and 12 darts to move 7-5 ahead.

Humphries sealed the victory two legs later, pinning a brilliant 13-dart leg to claim his fifth straight win over the Dutchman.

“Except for that first game, I thought I was really good today,” reflected Humphries, who recorded a tournament average of 102.2.

“I’ve had some really, really tough games to play today. A couple of really tough ones early on, and then Stephen Bunting and Gerwyn Price; these are Premier League players.

“I missed a few doubles today, but I’m really pleased with myself and feeling really good about my game.

“I feel elated! For me, these are big. It gives me a lot of confidence because it’s the first tournament I’ve won in a long time.

“I think my son will be watching me at home. He loves watching on the screen, I’m sure he will be very happy as well!

“There’s going to be a lot of graft this year, but if I keep playing like that then the rewards will come.”

Having kicked off his campaign with a deciding-leg victory over Martijn Dragt, Humphries registered averages of 103 and 104 to reach the Last 32, with wins over Marvin Kraft and Luke Woodhouse respectively.

The 2024 World Champion then saw off Premier League counterpart Stephen Bunting 6-3, before producing a sublime 108 average in a 6-2 victory over Niels Zonneveld to book his place in the semi-finals.

This set-up a mouth-watering clash against Gerwyn Price, as the 31-year-old found yet another ton-plus average to deny the Welshman 7-4.

Nijman, meanwhile, registered two ton-plus averages of his own, his first coming in his opening round game against Yorick Hofkens, before beating Ryan Meikle and Cor Dekker to book his place in the Last 16.

The 25-year-old then averaged 107 in a whitewash victory over Marvin van Velzen, before denying Daryl Gurney and Callan Rydz prior to coming up short against Humphries.

Price edged closer to his first ranking title of the season, defeating the likes of Sebastian Bialecki, Kim Huybrechts and Ricky Evans, before falling to Humphries with yet another ton-plus average.

Rydz also impressed in Wigan, defeating former major winners Noppert and De Decker on his way to reaching his first ProTour semi-final in 12 months.

Rydz registered back-to-back ton-plus averages against Ryan Joyce and Andrew Gilding, registering an average of 107 in his whitewash of fellow North East thrower Joyce.

Price and Rydz were joined in the quarter-finals by Niels Zonneveld – who found himself continuing his good form into the new year, while a resurgent De Decker made it to the quarter-finals for the first time in nine months.

Former World Grand Prix champion Gurney dispatched Dominik Gruellich and Dave Chisnall en route to the quarter-finals, before succumbing to a deciding-leg defeat against Nijman.

Bialecki, meanwhile, recovered from his opening round defeat against Nathan Aspinall on Monday by advancing to the Last Eight, claiming an early victory against his compatriot Krzysztof Ratajski, before averaging upwards of 104 to see off Alan Soutar in the Last 16.

Players Championship 4 Results

Tuesday February 17

First Round
Karel Sedlacek 6-1 Adam Gawlas
Madars Razma 6-5 Jim Long
Stephen Bunting 6-1 Chris Landman
Jack Tweddell 6-3 Dimitri Van den Bergh
Luke Humphries 6-5 Martijn Dragt
Marvin Kraft 6-3 Dennie Olde Kalter
Luke Woodhouse 6-4 Jeffrey Sparidaans
Stephen Burton 6-4 Ian White
Niels Zonneveld 6-2 Beau Greaves
Greg Ritchie 6-4 Maximilian Czerwinski
Josh Rock 6-5 James Hurrell
Rob Cross 6-4 Andy Boulton
Joe Cullen 6-4 Keane Barry
Scott Waites 6-2 Tom Bissell
Damon Heta 6-4 Kai Gotthardt
Scott Williams 6-3 Carl Sneyd
Adam Warner 6-3 Ricardo Pietreczko
Stephen Rosney 6-0 Pero Ljubic
Gerwyn Price 6-4 Mensur Suljovic
Ricky Evans 6-1 Martin Lukeman
Kim Huybrechts 6-4 William O’Connor
Adam Paxton 6-2 Viktor Tingstrom
Leon Weber 6-0 Cameron Menzies
Jeffrey De Graaf 6-0 Tyler Thorpe
Darryl Pilgrim 6-5 Raymond van Barneveld
Tom Sykes 6-2 Wesley Plaisier
Gian van Veen 6-5 Jimmy van Schie
Alan Soutar 6-3 Bradley Brooks
Sebastian Bialecki 6-4 Krzysztof Ratajski
Pascal Rupprecht 6-1 Stefan Bellmont
Chris Dobey 6-1 Tommy Morris
Mervyn King 6-4 Maik Kuivenhoven
Thomas Lovely 6-4 Peter Wright
Cor Dekker 6-3 Joe Hunt
Wessel Nijman 6-1 Yorick Hofkens
Ryan Meikle 6-2 Steve Lennon
Marvin van Velzen 6-4 Niko Springer
Benjamin Pratnemer 6-4 Filip Bereza
Rhys Griffin 6-4 Dirk van Duijvenbode
Tavis Dudeney 6-2 Richard Veenstra
Daryl Gurney 6-1 Dominik Gruellich
David Sharp 6-4 Rusty-Jake Rodriguez
Max Hopp 6-3 Jonny Clayton
Arno Merk 6-3 Tytus Kanik
Dave Chisnall 6-3 Cristo Reyes
Shane McGuirk 6-3 Jurjen van der Velde
Cam Crabtree 6-1 James Wade
Alexander Merkx 6-4 Michael Smith
Andrew Gilding 6-2 Stefaan Henderyck
Gabriel Clemens 6-4 Mario Vandenbogaerde
Nathan Aspinall 6-5 Thibault Tricole
Darius Labanauskas 6-4 Mickey Mansell
Ryan Joyce 6-1 Derek Coulson
Niall Culleton 6-3 Brendan Dolan
Danny Noppert 6-3 Justin Hood
Callan Rydz 6-5 Connor Scutt
Kevin Doets 6-3 Rob Owen
Ritchie Edhouse 6-3 Owen Bates
Ross Smith 6-4 Jeffrey De Zwaan
Sietse Lap 6-5 Adam Leek
Mike De Decker 6-2 Nick Kenny
Charlie Manby 6-0 Adam Lipscombe
Jermaine Wattimena 6-3 Samuel Price
Lukas Wenig 6-5 Oskar Lukasiak

Second Round
Karel Sedlacek 6-3 Madars Razma
Stephen Bunting 6-4 Jack Tweddell
Luke Humphries 6-2 Marvin Kraft
Luke Woodhouse 6-5 Stephen Burton
Niels Zonneveld 6-0 Greg Ritchie
Josh Rock 6-1 Rob Cross
Joe Cullen 6-5 Scott Waites
Damon Heta 6-1 Scott Williams
Stephen Rosney 6-1 Adam Warner
Gerwyn Price 6-2 Ricky Evans
Kim Huybrechts 6-4 Adam Paxton
Leon Weber 6-3 Jeffrey De Graaf
Tom Sykes 6-0 Darryl Pilgrim
Alan Soutar 6-5 Gian van Veen
Sebastian Bialecki 6-2 Pascal Rupprecht
Mervyn King 6-4 Chris Dobey
Cor Dekker 6-2 Thomas Lovely
Wessel Nijman 6-2 Ryan Meikle
Marvin van Velzen 6-3 Benjamin Pratnemer
Tavis Dudeney 6-5 Rhys Griffin
Daryl Gurney 6-5 David Sharp
Arno Merk 6-4 Max Hopp
Dave Chisnall 6-5 Shane McGuirk
Alexander Merkx 6-3 Cam Crabtree
Andrew Gilding 6-3 Gabriel Clemens
Darius Labanauskas 6-4 Nathan Aspinall
Ryan Joyce 6-2 Niall Culleton
Callan Rydz 6-3 Danny Noppert
Ritchie Edhouse 6-5 Kevin Doets
Ross Smith 6-0 Sietse Lap
Mike De Decker 6-1 Charlie Manby
Jermaine Wattimena 6-2 Lukas Wenig

Last 32
Stephen Bunting 6-3 Karel Sedlacek
Luke Humphries 6-3 Luke Woodhouse
Niels Zonneveld 6-4 Josh Rock
Joe Cullen 6-3 Damon Heta
Gerwyn Price 6-1 Stephen Rosney
Kim Huybrechts 6-3 Leon Weber
Alan Soutar 6-5 Tom Sykes
Sebastian Bialecki 6-1 Mervyn King
Wessel Nijman 6-5 Cor Dekker
Marvin van Velzen 6-1 Tavis Dudeney
Daryl Gurney 6-1 Arno Merk
Dave Chisnall 6-5 Alexander Merkx
Andrew Gilding 6-5 Darius Labanauskas
Callan Rydz 6-0 Ryan Joyce
Ross Smith 6-5 Ritchie Edhouse
Mike De Decker 6-4 Jermaine Wattimena

Last 16
Luke Humphries 6-3 Stephen Bunting
Niels Zonneveld 6-5 Joe Cullen
Gerwyn Price 6-2 Kim Huybrechts
Sebastian Bialecki 6-2 Alan Soutar
Wessel Nijman 6-0 Marvin van Velzen
Daryl Gurney 6-4 Dave Chisnall
Callan Rydz 6-4 Andrew Gilding
Mike De Decker 6-2 Ross Smith

Quarter-Finals
Luke Humphries 6-2 Niels Zonneveld
Gerwyn Price 6-4 Sebastian Bialecki
Wessel Nijman 6-5 Daryl Gurney
Callan Rydz 6-2 Mike De Decker

Semi-Finals
Luke Humphries 7-4 Gerwyn Price
Wessel Nijman 7-3 Callan Rydz

Final
Luke Humphries 8-6 Wessel Nijman