Luke Humphries, the world number 1 dart player, may be the only person able to keep wonderkid Luke Littler at bay. Humphries (aged 29) and Littler (aged 17) faced each other at the 2024 World Cup of Darts, where the older Luke, no. 1 at Professional Darts Corporation (PDC), defeated the younger Luke.
However, Littler has amazed in his first year as a professional player, exiting prematurely the youth circuit, and dispatching rivals twice his age and experience.
The Lukes met again last Sunday, a rematch from last year's World Cup, and Humphries took the win again in the Ladbrokes 2024 Players Championship Finals, 11-7. "Cool Hand", as Humphries is known, took the lead all the game, and even when Littler got close to a comeback (he went from 4-1 to 7-).
Despite his loss, Littler has performed at an incredibly high level at his first Players Championship Finals, scoring the highest average of the tournament at 112.73. Both averaged over 100 in the final, too, and Humphries takes off his hat: "He's probably the best player in the world right now, but there's something about me that never gives up. I know I can beat him and he knows he can beat me".
