Only days after his miraculous comeback in Premier League Darts in Dublin against Gerwyn Price, Luke Littler suffered a shocking elimination at the Belgian Darts Open, and his first defeat in a ranking event since last October. Littler was defeated 6-5 by the Dutchman Niels Zonneveld, ranked 39 in the world, in third round, that ended a streak of 12 unbeaten matches in the tournament, and frustrated his hopes of a hat-trick in Belgium after his victories in 2024 and 2025.
Instead, it was Luke Humphries who ended up taking the prize in Wieze, defeating Jonny Clayton 8-6, after defeating Chris Dobey in quarter-finals and Michael van Gerwen in semis.
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After the victory, he joked that he will "keep trying to be the second-best player in the world, apparently", as reported by BBC, a nod to the teenager that pushed him out of the PDC World Ranking in November. "I'm just dedicated and working so hard to push every dart player and be the best version of myself".