Luke Humphries retained the US Darts Masters title in New York by beating Luke Littler 8-7 in a deciding-leg final, then said his latest win was exactly what their rivalry needed. Humphries had already survived a last-leg shootout against Gian van Veen in the semi-finals before facing Littler at Madison Square Garden. In the final, he led 4-1, missed chances to move further clear, fell 5-4 behind and then recovered to finish the match with an 11-dart leg.
The win made Humphries the first player to defend the US Darts Masters title and only the second multiple winner of the event after Michael van Gerwen. It also gave him a timely answer to Littler after a run of painful deciding-leg defeats in major moments. “It’s not a good rivalry if you’ve got one person winning all the time and the other one is just playing well but not winning,” said Humphries post-match. “I’ve won a few games against him now quite consistently, so it’s good for the sport.”
Humphries’ frustration with tight defeats had been building. He referenced last-leg losses at the Masters, Premier League and Nordic Darts Masters, with the Premier League final defeat to Littler still fresh after the world number one beat him 11-10 at the O2. New York gave him the finish that had been missing. Littler threatened to repeat the pattern when he recovered from 4-1 down and then forced another deciding leg, but Humphries produced his best leg of the final when it mattered most. “I think it was important for myself,” Humphries said. “The Masters, I lost in the last-leg decider. The Premier League, last-leg decider. Copenhagen, last-leg decider. It kind of feels like you can’t get over the line a little bit. Maybe I needed that sort of game, that sort of experience getting over the line in a last-leg decider, to maybe believe that it isn’t just an omen or something that’s against me all the time, that I can actually do it.”
Humphries had darts to lead 5-1 in the final, but instead went into the break 4-2 ahead and gave Littler a route back into the contest. Littler then moved 5-4 up, threatening to punish the missed chances, before Humphries forced his way back in front. “It was ebbs and flows, ups and downs,” said Humphries. “I knew to go 5-1 up at the break, with a break of throw and then being on my throw when I came back, probably would have drained his spirits a little bit. When you go 4-2 into the break, you give him a little bit of hope that there’s still that option to win. It was disappointing, but a few of the doubles I missed were just on the wires.” For Humphries, retaining the title also repaired part of the disappointment from the Premier League. He had wanted a back-to-back triumph at one of the biggest PDC events, only for Littler to deny him at the O2. The US Darts Masters is not a ranking major, but defending a title in New York still mattered. “Great. More than great, it’s amazing,” Humphries said of going back-to-back in the US Darts Masters. “It’s something that I just wanted to win once in my career, at such an iconic venue. To go and do it twice, back-to-back, it’s amazing. It kind of slightly makes up for me not doing it in the Premier League, because that was the dream, to do a World Matchplay or Premier League back-to-back. Unfortunately, I felt so close to doing it. I guess this is the next best thing for me. It’s still not a big ranking major. I feel like I’m due. But it’s a step in the right direction and hopefully, for the rest of the year, I will pick up some ranking majors.”
Humphries’ route to the title was not straightforward. He beat Stephen Bunting 6-3 in the quarter-finals, edged Van Veen 7-6 in the semi-finals, then survived Littler in another deciding-leg final. Littler had reached the final by beating Jim Long 6-1 and James Wade 7-4, but his wait for a first US Darts Masters title continues. The latest meeting also strengthened Humphries’ belief that he and Littler remain the clearest benchmark at the top of the sport, regardless of how the rankings move in the months ahead. “You can only really go on stats and things like that,” Humphries said. “The yearly average, the amount of finals we’re in. In two, three, four months, I could be world number three and I wouldn’t sit there and feel like I was the third-best player in the world. I’d still think I was the second. The rankings sometimes don’t tell the tale. It’s more about who is actually firing for the big major tournaments and being in consistent finals like I am and like Luke is. All I’ve got to do is keep fighting, keep working hard, hopefully retain that world number two spot and push Luke next year for that world number one spot.” Humphries leaves New York with the US Darts Masters title retained, a deciding-leg win over Littler banked, and another piece of proof that their rivalry is not moving in only one direction.
