Premier League Darts: Luke Humphries wins opening night after Michael van Gerwen beats Luke Littler in epic
Premier League Darts: Luke Humphries wins opening night after Michael van Gerwen beats Luke Littler in epic
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Luke Humphries dominated on the opening night of the Premier League in Belfast as he thrased Chris Dobey 6-1 in the final. World number one Humphries, who won the Winmau World Masters title on Sunday, was in relentless form against Dobey, having swept Nathan Aspinall before edgining a final-leg decider against Michael van Gerwen at the SSE Arena. Humphries raced into a 5-0 lead in a one-sided final over Dobey, who took out a 126-finish in the sixth leg to avoid a whitewash, but the outcome was inevitable.
Luke Littler's first match in defence of his Premier League crown ended in a thrilling 6-5 defeat to Van Gerwen, who gained some revenge for his World Championship final defeat to the teenager last month. Littler was in sparkling form, averaging 113.91 - a new record in Belfast and the second highest losing average in Premier League history - and produced a 161-checkout on the bull to level the match at 2-2.
But an inspired Van Gerwen, a seven-time Premier League champion, edged a classic, averaging 105.91, while both players landed six 180s. Van Gerwen failed to back up his opening win as he missed match dart on the bull in his semi-final against Humphries, who landed 140 and 120 checkouts before holding his nerve in a deciding leg to edge through 6-5. Dobey overcame world number four Rob Cross in the first semi-final, completing checkouts of 170 and 120 on his way to a 6-4 win.
Humphries, who lost to Littler in last year's Premier League final, launched his campaign with a 6-2 defeat of 2023 World Matchplay champion Nathan Aspinall. Cross opened with a 6-4 win against World Championship semi-finalist Stephen Bunting and Dobey beat world number nine Gerwyn Price by the same score in his quarter-final. The Premier League moves on to the OVO Hydro in Glasgow for its second night next Thursday.
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