Humphries Sees Off Littler To Retain The Players Championship

Humphries Sees Off Littler To Retain The Players Championship

Alex Moss |

A Week In Darts - November 25, 2024 - Humphries Sees Off Littler To Defend Players Championship Finals Title

Luke Humphries and Luke Littler battled it out for the Players Championship Finals title in Minehead last night. Here’s our round-up of how the final played out...

HUMPHRIES RETAINS PLAYERS CROWN

Luke Humphries successfully defended the Players Championship Finals title after beating rival Luke Littler in Sunday night’s final at Butlin’s Minehead.

It was the third meeting between the two players in a major final in 2024, with Humphries having won their PDC World Darts Championship showdown in January, before Littler opened his big-stage title account with a victory in the Premier League final in May.

The 17-year-old Littler was aiming for back-to-back major titles after winning the Grand Slam of Darts the previous weekend, but the world number one Humphries proved too strong as he averaged 103 – his highest average of the tournament – to win the final.

The defending champion raced into a 5-1 lead before Littler responded with finishes of 105, 170 and 164 to close the gap to 6-5.

‘The Nuke’ checked out 136 for his fourth 100-plus finish of the final as he kept in touch at 8-7 behind at the final interval, but Humphries took the next three legs to seal an 11-7 victory and the £120,000 top prize.

“I’m really, really proud of that one,” said Humphries, who now boasts a lead of more than £900,000 at the top of the PDC Order of Merit.

“I didn’t feel myself this week, playing-wise, and I felt like I was a dart behind in a lot of the scenarios.

“But Luke really drives me and makes me want to be a better player and I enjoy playing him.

“These big games are what I live for and what I dream of. I travel the world for these moments and I’m really pleased.”

Humphries’ run to his sixth PDC major singles title saw him defeat Gabriel Clemens, Raymond van Barneveld, Damon Heta, Ryan Joyce and Dirk van Duijvenbode to set up a blockbuster clash with Littler in the final.

Meanwhile, Littler showed more of his recent devastating form during his run to Sunday’s finale, averaging above 103 in victories against Rob Cross, Ritchie Edhouse, Danny Noppert, Mike De Decker and Ross Smith.

VAN VEEN LIFTS WORLD YOUTH TITLE

Gian van Veen became the first Dutch winner of the PDC World Youth Championship after surviving five match darts to beat Jurjen van der Velde in Sunday night’s final.

The premier youth title in world darts was first introduced to the calendar in 2011 but had yet to produce a champion from the Netherlands, with Michael van Gerwen, Berry van Peer and van Veen all tasting defeat in previous finals.

World number 28 van Veen had been edged out 6-4 by Luke Littler in last year’s final, and looked on course for another loss in the final at Butlin’s Minehead as van der Velde moved 5-3 in front.

However, van der Velde would miss two match darts to win 6-4 and then another three match darts in the decider, as a reprieved van Veen checked out 80 and 82 to snatch the title.

“To be the first Dutch winner is a massive milestone for me,” van Veen said. “I stole it today.

“Jurjen played fantastic darts and he kept me under pressure for the whole match.

“He deserved to be the winner today – I feel for him, but he missed his chances and I took mine.”

GRBAVAC SEALS ALLY PALLY DEBUT

Croatia’s Romeo Grbavac will make his PDC World Darts Championship debut next month after winning the East Europe Qualifier on Sunday.

The 30-year-old from Makarska has caught the eye in 2024 with a run to the quarter-finals of the PDC World Cup of Darts, alongside PDC tour card holder Boris Krcmar, in the summer.

And the Croatian international is now set for a first appearance at Alexandra Palace in December after battling through a field of 71 players in yesterday’s qualifier in Slovakia.

Grbavac dropped just five legs on his way to the semi-finals where he got the better of PDC ProTour-bound Sebastian Bialecki 6-4 to advance to the final.

In an all-Croatian final, Grbavac raced into a 4-0 lead against Tomislav Rosandic, before closing out a 7-3 victory to secure his World Championship debut.

Pictures: PDC

Alex Moss is a content creator for Darts Corner and the co-host of the Weekly Dartscast podcast. Alex co-founded the Weekly Dartscast in 2017 and has helped produce 350+ episodes of the podcast, with their list of previous guests on the show a who’s who in the world of darts.

Alex also writes content for the Darts Corner blog, including the weekly darts news round-ups and how-to guides.

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