Humphries’ Euro triumph
LUKE Humphries won his maiden European Tour title with a remarkable Easter success in the Interwetten German Darts Grand Prix in Zenith, Munich.
Former World Youth Champion Humphries has made huge strides towards establishing himself in the world’s top 16 by the past 18 months, reaching the 2021 UK Open final and winning his first Players Championship earlier this year.
He has taken a further step on the ladder towards the sport’s elite following a stunning German Darts Grand Prix victory, which was capped by an 8-2 defeat of Martin Lukeman in Monday night’s final.
Humphries also achieved the remarkable feat of whitewashing Michael van Gerwen 7-0 in the semi-finals with a brilliant display, averaging 107 and finishing seven doubles from 12 attempts.
The Newbury star had followed up Sunday’s second round win over Jeffrey de Zwaan with ton-plus averages in defeating Michael
Smith and Wesley Plaisier on the final day.
He led 2-0 in the final before Lukeman hit back to trail 3-2, but five straight legs saw Humphries pull clear to close out a memorable win.
“This means the world for me and I’m absolutely over the moon with this win,” said Humphries.
“This is the biggest thing I’ve ever done in darts.
“It’s been a gruelling, long
day and I’ve worked hard. I hit three hundred averages to get myself into the final.
“I think I deserved it, but you don’t always get what you deserve in life.
“I’ve got a ProTour title, a Euro Tour title and the next one’s a major, isn’t it?”
The next PDC European Tour event will be the Austrian Darts Open in Graz from April 29 to May 1.