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Luke Humphries completes major title treble at the Players Championship Finals

Jamie Shaw in Players Championship Finals 26 Nov 2023

Luke Humphries is the defending champion (Photo by Kieran Cleeves/PDC)

Luke Humphries claimed his third major title in the space of seven weeks at the Players Championship Finals courtesy of a sensational comeback win over Michael van Gerwen.

Defending champion Van Gerwen had looked set to land his eighth Players Championship Finals crown when he produced his third nine-darter in the history of the event and opened up a 9-5 lead.

However, Humphries incredibly reeled off six straight legs to secure a third televised ranking title in 49 days and scoop the £120,000 top prize in Minehead.

Humphries’ success follows his wins in the World Grand Prix and Grand Slam during a hectic autumn, and sees the 28-year-old move up to a career-high third on the PDC Order of Merit.

“To stand here with my third major title, I can’t put it into words!” said Humphries. “I never dreamed of winning one, let alone three.

“I’d love to have beaten Phil Taylor in a final but I never got that opportunity so the next best thing for me is [to beat] the great of our generation, Michael van Gerwen.

“To beat him in a final is what I always dreamed of. I watched this man seven or eight years ago being at the absolute peak of his career, winning everything [and hitting] 110 averages for fun.

“To beat him in a final, I think this one probably does mean the most to me.

“It means I’m the best player in the world – he said I had to beat him in a final and I did! Michael was fantastic there, but he allowed me in.”

Humphries began the final with a superb 130 checkout on the bull, with Van Gerwen taking out 126 in response before claiming the first break of throw in leg five with his incredible nine-darter; landing back-to-back 180s before finishing 141 on double 12.

The pair then traded 14-darters and Van Gerwen landed a 13-darter to lead 5-3, with Humphries replying on double ten before missing double 18 to level in leg ten, as the reigning champion pinned tops for a 74 outshot.

Van Gerwen then secured a second break of throw by finishing 90 in two darts to punish a missed bull from Humphries for a 164 checkout, before a 13-darter gave the world number two daylight at 8-4.

Humphries responded with back-to-back maximums in a 12-darter to claim his fifth leg, only for Van Gerwen to fire in a ten-darter to restore his cushion.

Another 14-darter saw Humphries hit back before he broke for the first time on double ten, and double five saw the gap reduced to one leg at 9-8.

Humphries then followed a 180 with a stunning 142 checkout to level he final, and continued his momentum with a third-dart double ten to move 10-9 up.

The tension rose as Van Gerwen battled to force a deciding leg, but the Dutchman missed eight darts at doubles to keep his hopes alive before Humphries finally pinned double one to close out a memorable triumph.

Humphries had defeated James Wade 10-7 in Sunday afternoon’s Quarter-Finals and averaged over 106 in his 11-3 Semi-Final rout of Ryan Joyce.

Van Gerwen, who was appearing in his ninth final in 11 years of the event, paid tribute to Humphries after their dramatic contest.

“I had my chances,” admitted Van Gerwen. “I was 9-5 up and from that position, I’m not allowed to lose; simple as that.

“I made it incredibly difficult and when you do that against a player in his form, you only can blame yourself.

“I had opportunities there but he played well at the end, he never gave up and fair play to him.”

Van Gerwen had produced a tournament record average of 118.52 in Saturday’s second round, and began Sunday’s final day of action by recovering from 9-6 down against Stephen Bunting with a stunning burst of 13, 12, 11 and 12-dart legs.

He then averaged over 101 in a dominant 11-6 semi-final win over Gabriel Clemens, and added: “My level is definitely close to my best, but still you have to do it at the right moments.

“Today, I thought I was doing that but fair play to Luke. He played well all tournament, he’s got the confidence, he’s got everything on his side at the moment.”

Clemens followed up his run to the World Championship Semi-Finals 11 months ago by seeing off Luke Woodhouse 10-7 in the Last Eight to match that achievement.

Ryan Joyce joined the German number one after his 10-6 win over Damon Heta secured a first appearance in a major Semi-Final during a resurgent spell for the Tyneside thrower.

Sunday’s action in Minehead also featured the PDC World Youth Championship final, as 16-year-old sensation Luke Littler defeated Dutch star Gian van Veen 6-4 with a 102 average to claim the crown and the £10,000 top prize.

Players Championship Finals 2023 Day Three Results

Sunday November 26

Afternoon Session

Quarter-Finals
Stephen Bunting 9-10 Michael van Gerwen
Luke Woodhouse 7-10 Gabriel Clemens
James Wade 7-10 Luke Humphries
Damon Heta 6-10 Ryan Joyce

Evening Session

Semi-Finals
Michael van Gerwen 11-6 Gabriel Clemens
Luke Humphries 11-3 Ryan Joyce

Final
Michael van Gerwen 11-9 Luke Humphries

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Luke Humphries completes major title treble at the Players Championship Finals

Players Championship Finals 2023 Day Three Results

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