Humphries breezes to Premier League opener after Van Gerwen sinks Littler

Luke Humphries triumphed on the opening night of the Premier League in Belfast as he cruised to a 6-1 win against Chris Dobey in the final. The world No 1, who won the World Masters on Sunday, produced a finishing masterclass against Dobey, having earlier beaten Nathan Aspinall and Michael van Gerwen at the SSE Arena. After both players complained about a draught on the stage early on, Humphries raced into a 5-0 lead in a one-sided final and although Dobey, the world No 11, took out a 126-finish in the sixth leg to avoid a whitewash, the outcome was inevitable.

“There was a bit of a breeze but it was blowing my darts into the doubles so I was happy,” Humphries joked earlier after hitting six out of seven attempts at the outer ring. “I’m happy to get off to a good start, the aim is just to get into the top four. I think this is the hardest Premier League for a very, very long time.’. Van Gerwen had reached the semi-finals with a thrilling 6-5 win over Luke Littler, gaining some revenge for his World Championship final defeat by the teenager last month. Littler averaged 113.91 – the second-highest losing average in Premier League history – but was edged out by Van Gerwen, who averaged 105.91 in victory.

There was perhaps some extra needle to the contest after Van Gerwen criticised Littler for being late to a media event on Wednesday. “They need to stop treating him like a baby … he’s 18 years old now,” Van Gerwen said. Littler played down the row before the match, saying: “He’s not wrong, I was late. I did get a little telling off.”. Van Gerwen carved out a 5-3 lead over Littler with two breaks of throw but wobbled at the finish line, almost allowing his opponent to snatch the win before holding throw in the 11th and final leg.

Humphries, who lost to Littler in last year’s Premier League final, launched his campaign with a 6-2 defeat of Nathan Aspinall. In their semi-final, Van Gerwen outscored Humphries but was erratic on doubles, missing 11 including a match dart on the bullseye. By contrast, his opponent was clinical, landing 140 and 120 checkouts before holding his nerve in a deciding leg to edge through 6-5. “I was very fortunate,” Humphries admitted.

Sign up to The Recap. The best of our sports journalism from the past seven days and a heads-up on the weekend’s action. after newsletter promotion. Humphries may have reminded everyone who is top of the PDC order of merit with his victory, but he was happy to label Littler as the world’s best afterwards. “​He’s definitely the man to beat, he’s the best player in the world,” Humphries told Sky Sports. “If he goes out, then I’m the one to beat … [but ] he’s one of the greatest darts players I’ve seen in my career.”.

Dobey had opened the night with a 6-4 victory over the Welshman Gerwyn Price, with Rob Cross defeating the World Championship semi-finalist Stephen Bunting by the same scoreline. It was the man from Newcastle who advanced to the final, landing checkouts of 170 and 120 to beat Cross 6-4 in the semi-finals. The Premier League moves on to the Hydro in Glasgow next Thursday for the second of 16 league stage nights, where Humphries will face Dobey in the quarter-finals. The top four players advance to the finals night at the O2 Arena in London on 29 May.