Summary
Luke Humphries (born 11 February 1995) is an English professional darts player who plays in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events, where he is the current World No. 1 and World Champion. Nicknamed "Cool Hand Luke" in reference to the 1967 film, he is also the reigning World Grand Prix champion, Grand Slam champion, and Players Championship Finals champion. He also won the 2019 PDC World Youth Championship.
| Luke Humphries | |||||||||||||||||||||
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 Humphries in January 2024 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Nickname | "Cool Hand Luke" | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | 11 February 1995 Newbury, Berkshire, England | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Home town | Wantage, Oxfordshire, England | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Darts information | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Playing darts since | 2010 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Darts | 22g Red Dragon | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Laterality | Right-handed | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Walk-on music | "Cake by the Ocean" by DNCE | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Organisation (see split in darts) | |||||||||||||||||||||
| PDC | 2011– (Tour Card: 2018-) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Current world ranking | 1  (21 April 2024)[1] | ||||||||||||||||||||
| PDC premier events – best performances | |||||||||||||||||||||
| World Ch'ship | Winner (1): 2024 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| World Matchplay | Semi Final: 2023 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| World Grand Prix | Winner (1): 2023 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| UK Open | Runner Up: 2021, 2024 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Grand Slam | Winner (1): 2023 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| European Ch'ship | Quarter Final: 2022, 2023 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Premier League | Participating: 2024 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| PC Finals | Winner (1): 2023 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Masters | Last 16: 2022, 2023, 2024 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| World Series Finals | Semi Final: 2023 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Other tournament wins | |||||||||||||||||||||
European Tour Events
Players Championships
Youth events
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Early life edit
Luke Humphries was born on 11 February 1995 in Newbury, Berkshire and grew up there.[2][3] He later moved to Crewe, Cheshire.[4] His father, a Leeds United FC fan, named him Luke as an acronym for "Leeds United, Kings of Europe". Humphries himself also became a fan of the team.[5] He previously worked as a roofer and retired in 2018 to pursue darts full-time.[6]
Career edit
Humphries won five PDC Development Tour titles in 2017, finishing top of the Development Tour Order of Merit.[7] As a result of this, he qualified for the 2018 PDC World Darts Championship where he lost to Jeff Smith, and received a PDC Tour Card for the 2018 and 2019 season.
2019 edit
Humphries won the Development Tour Order of Merit in 2019, a year which culminated in a fantastic run at the 2019 World Championship for Humphries. He beat Adam Hunt, Stephen Bunting, Dimitri Van den Bergh, and defending champion Rob Cross, before eventually losing 1–5 to Michael Smith in the quarter-finals.
Following Gary Anderson's withdrawal from the 2019 Premier League, Humphries was selected as one of nine 'contenders' to replace him. He played a one-off match against Gerwyn Price on night four in Exeter.
At the age of 24 Humphries won the 2019 PDC World Youth Championship, where he beat Adam Gawlas 6–0.[8]
2020 edit
In the 2020 World Championship, Humphries once again reached the quarter-finals before losing 3–5 to eventual champion Peter Wright. Humphries was once again selected for the Premier League, this time under the tag of 'challenger'. He faced Gary Anderson in Exeter and became the first challenger to win their game.[9]
2021 edit
In the 2021 World Championship, Humphries suffered a shock 2–3 first-round defeat to veteran Paul Lim. Luke Humphries made his first major televised final at the 2021 UK Open in March 2021. His run to the final saw him claim wins over Dave Chisnall in the quarter-final and then-reigning champion Michael van Gerwen in the semi-final. He was defeated 5–11 by James Wade in the final.
2022 edit
In the 2022 World Championship, Humphries reached his third quarter-final in four years before losing 2–5 to Gary Anderson. Humphries reached his first PDC European Tour final at the 2022 German Darts Grand Prix by beating Jeffrey de Zwaan,[10] Michael Smith, Wesley Plaisier and Michael van Gerwen.[11] He beat Martin Lukeman in the final, hitting double 4 to win 8–2.
2023 edit
In the 2023 World Championship, Humphries reached the fourth round before losing 1–4 to Stephen Bunting. In October 2023, Humphries won his first major title at the 2023 World Grand Prix, defeating tournament favourite Gerwyn Price, 5–2 in the final.[12] The £120,000 prize money earned through this victory, saw him move into a career-high fourth in the Order of Merit.[13] He won his second major televised title, 42 days later, at the 2023 Grand Slam of Darts, defeating Rob Cross 16–8 in the final, averaging an impressive 104.69.[14] Humphries won his third televised title at the 2023 Players Championship Finals, defeating Michael van Gerwen (who hit a nine-dart finish) 11–9 (Van Gerwen also missed eight darts at doubles in the 19th leg, to set up a deciding leg), before Humphries won the match on double 1.[15]
2024 edit
On 3 January, Humphries won the PDC World Darts Championship, defeating fellow Cheshire talent Luke Littler 7–4 in the final.[16] For that, he was invited to meet Prime Minister Rishi Sunak at Downing Street.[17]
In March 2024, Humphries reached the final of the UK Open for the second time. He missed two match darts to win the title in an 11–10 loss to Dimitri Van den Bergh.[18][19]
Premier League Darts edit
Nights 1–5: Starting off in the bottom-half of the table edit
Humphries started his 2024 Premier League Darts campaign at the Cardiff International Arena in Cardiff, Wales.[20] He went on to lose his debut match to Luke Littler 6–2 in legs.[21] After the match, Humphries wrote on X (formerly Twitter) that he felt "gutted" with the constant whistling and heckling at him during the match.[22]
Humphries started night two at the Mercedes-Benz Arena in Berlin by winning his quarter-final match against Rob Cross 6–5. However, he then suffered another loss to Littler, losing 6–5 in the semi-finals.[23] On night three at the OVO Hydro in Glasgow, Humphries beat Nathan Aspinall 6–3 with a 105.53 average in the quarter-finals, and defeated Gerwyn Price 6–3 in his semi-final match. Humphries lost to Michael van Gerwen 6–5 in the night’s final.[24] On night four at the Newcastle Arena, Humphries lost 6–5 in the quarter-finals to Rob Cross.[25]
Just before the 2024 UK Open weekend, Humphries played at Premier League event five at the Westpoint Arena in Exeter. In the quarter-finals he defeated Michael van Gerwen 6–3, before losing 5–6 to Nathan Aspinall in the semi-finals.[26][27][28]
Nights 6–8: Three consecutive night wins edit
Luke Humphries won his first Premier League night at Brighton Centre on night six. Humphries achieved a three-dart average of over 100 in all three of his wins on the night, with a 6–2 victory over Gerwyn Price,[29] followed by a 6–3 win over Rob Cross, where Humphries averaged 113.71, and a 6–3 defeat of Michael Smith in the final.[30][31] Humphries won a second consecutive night on night seven, at the Motorpoint Arena in Nottingham. Humphries recorded his fifth and sixth consecutive ton+ (100+) Premier League averages in wins over Michael Smith, 6–4, and Peter Wright, 6–1, before beating Nathan Aspinall 6–3 in the final.[32][33] Humphries equalled the record for most consecutive nightly wins in the Premier League, making it three in a row on night eight at the 3Arena in Dublin, Republic of Ireland. Humphries continued to record averages over 100, doing it in all 3 of his wins en route to victory in the night's final. Humphries was the number one seed as the league leader so was up against number 8 seed Peter Wright in the quarter-finals, he defeated Wright 6–1. In the semi-finals Humphries faced Nathan Aspinall, winning 6–4, and in the final Humphries achieved another triumph over Michael Smith, 6–2.[34][35]
Nights 9–13: No night wins, making two-semi-finals edit
Night nine at the SSE Arena, Belfast saw Humphries' winning streak come to an end, losing to Luke Littler 6–5 in a deciding leg.[36] On night ten at the Manchester Arena Humphries lost in the quarter-finals for a second consecutive week, with Michael Smith beating him 6–3.[37] On night eleven at Arena Birmingham and night twelve at Rotterdam Ahoy Humphries made the semi-finals, with a 6–4 over Peter Wright and Michael van Gerwen in the respective quarter-finals being followed by another deciding leg loss to Luke Littler on night eleven and a 6–4 loss to Nathan Aspinall on night twelve in the respective semi-finals.[38][39]
Night thirteen at the Liverpool Arena saw Humphries again defeated by Nathan Aspinall, losing 6–2 in their quarter-final match.[40]
Personal life edit
Humphries started playing darts in his teens, playing for Berkshire county darts, then moving onto Wiltshire county darts before leaving to join the PDC.
During a 2019 PDC tournament Humphries suffered an anxiety attack. He considered quitting the sport as a result.[41] Humphries and his girlfriend, Kayley, live in Crewe and had a son together in October 2022.[4][42]
World Championship results edit
PDC edit
- 2018: Preliminary round (lost to Jeff Smith 0–2)
- 2019: Quarter-finals (lost to Michael Smith 1–5)
- 2020: Quarter-finals (lost to Peter Wright 3–5)
- 2021: First round (lost to Paul Lim 2–3)
- 2022: Quarter-finals (lost to Gary Anderson 2–5)
- 2023: Fourth round (lost to Stephen Bunting 1–4)
- 2024: Winner (beat Luke Littler 7–4)
Performance timeline edit
PDC
| Tournament | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PDC World Championship | DNQ | PR | QF | QF | 1R | QF | 4R | W | ||||||||||||
| UK Open | DNQ | 3R | 3R | 4R | F | 4R | 6R | F | ||||||||||||
| World Matchplay | DNQ | 2R | 1R | SF | ||||||||||||||||
| World Grand Prix | DNQ | 2R | 1R | W | ||||||||||||||||
| European Championship | DNQ | 2R | QF | QF | ||||||||||||||||
| Grand Slam of Darts | DNQ | RR | RR | SF | W | |||||||||||||||
| Players Championship Finals | DNQ | 1R | 3R | 3R | SF | W | ||||||||||||||
| Non-ranked televised events | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Masters | DNQ | 2R | 2R | 2R | ||||||||||||||||
| Premier League Darts | DNP | C | C | DNP | ||||||||||||||||
| World Series of Darts Finals | DNQ | SF | ||||||||||||||||||
| PDC World Youth Championship | 2R | SF | 2R | W | DNP | |||||||||||||||
| Career statistics | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Year-end ranking | NR | NR | 57 | 35 | 42 | 19 | 5 | 1 | ||||||||||||
PDC Premier League Darts
| Contender | Week 4 |
|---|---|
| 2019 | EXE D |
| Contender | Week 5 |
| 2020 | EXE W |
| Legend: | W | Win | D | Draw |
|---|
| Season | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | CAR QF |
BER SF |
GLA F |
NEW QF |
EXE SF |
BRI W |
NOT W |
DUB W |
BEL QF |
MAN QF |
BIR SF |
ROT SF |
LIV QF |
ABD |
LEE |
SHF |
LON |
PDC European Tour
| Season | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 | EDO 1R |
GDG 3R |
GDO 2R |
ADO 2R |
EDG DNQ |
DDM DNQ |
GDT DNQ |
DDO DNQ |
EDM 2R |
GDC DNQ |
DDC DNQ |
IDO DNQ |
EDT 2R |
| 2019 | EDO DNQ |
GDC 2R |
GDG DNQ |
GDO 2R |
ADO DNQ |
EDG DNQ |
DDM DNQ |
DDO DNQ |
CDO DNQ |
ADC 2R |
EDM DNQ |
IDO DNQ |
GDT DNQ |
| 2020 | BDC 1R |
GDC DNQ |
EDG DNQ |
IDO DNQ | |||||||||
| 2021 | HDT SF |
GDT 1R | |||||||||||
| 2022 | IDO DNQ |
GDC 2R |
GDG W |
ADO 2R |
EDO SF |
CDO W |
EDG W |
DDC WD |
EDM W |
HDT 2R |
GDO QF |
BDO WD |
GDT QF |
| 2023 | BSD F |
EDO WD |
IDO WD |
GDG QF |
ADO 2R |
DDC F |
BDO F |
CDO QF |
EDG F |
EDM W |
GDO 3R |
HDT F |
GDC SF |
| 2024 | BDO 3R |
GDG W |
IDO 3R |
EDG QF |
ADO WD |
BSD |
DDC |
EDO |
GDC |
FDT |
HDT |
SDT |
CDO |
| Performance Table Legend | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| W | Won the tournament | F | Finalist | SF | Semifinalist | QF | Quarterfinalist | #R RR Prel. |
Lost in # round Round-robin Preliminary round |
DQ | Disqualified |
| DNQ | Did not qualify | DNP | Did not participate | WD | Withdrew | NH | Tournament not held | NYF | Not yet founded | ||
PDC career finals edit
PDC major finals: 6 (4 titles, 2 runner-up) edit
| Legend |
| World Championship (1–0) |
| UK Open (0–2) |
| World Grand Prix (1–0) |
| Grand Slam of Darts (1–0) |
| Players Championship Finals (1–0) |
| Outcome | No. | Year | Championship | Opponent in the final | Score[N 1] |
| Runner-up | 1. | 2021 | UK Open |  James Wade
|
5–11 (l) |
| Winner | 1. | 2023 | World Grand Prix |  Gerwyn Price
|
5–2 (s) |
| Winner | 2. | 2023 | Grand Slam of Darts | Rob Cross
|
16–8 (l) |
| Winner | 3. | 2023 | Players Championship Finals |  Michael van Gerwen
|
11–9 (l) |
| Winner | 4. | 2024 | World Darts Championship | Luke Littler
|
7–4 (s) |
| Runner-up | 2. | 2024 | UK Open (2) |  Dimitri Van den Bergh
|
10-11 (l) |
Notes edit
- ^ (l) = score in legs, (s) = score in sets.
References edit
- ^ "PDC Order of Merit". PDPA. 21 April 2024. Retrieved 21 April 2024.
- ^ "'I honestly cannot put into words how great this feels' – Luke Humphries". Newbury Today. 4 January 2024.
- ^ "Luke Humphries – Mastercaller".
- ^ a b Price, Richard (5 January 2024). "'Give Luke Humphries freedom of borough' - Tories". BBC News.
- ^ Veal, Jonathan (4 January 2024). "World champion Luke Humphries expects long-lasting rivalry with Luke Littler". The Independent. Retrieved 4 January 2024.
- ^ Liew, Jonathan (17 December 2023). "Luke Humphries: 'If I've got to be boring to win majors, no problem'". The Observer. ISSN 0029-7712. Retrieved 4 January 2024.
- ^ Allen, Dave. "Humphries Seals Glory As Rodriguez Takes Win". PDC. Retrieved 15 November 2017.
- ^ Gorton, Josh (25 November 2019). "Luke Humphries whitewashes Adam Gawlas to win World Youth Championship title". Sky Sports.
- ^ "Challengers confirmed for 2020 Unibet Premier League". PDC. Retrieved 8 January 2020.
- ^ "2022 Interwetten German Darts Grand Prix Day Two". PDC. Retrieved 18 April 2022.
- ^ "2022 Interwetten German Darts Grand Prix Finals Day". PDC. Retrieved 18 April 2022.
- ^ "World Grand Prix: Luke Humphries wins biggest title of his career by stunning Gerwyn Price". Sky Sports. 8 October 2023. Retrieved 19 November 2023.
- ^ Gorton, Josh (9 October 2023). "Emotional Humphries vows to build on BoyleSports World Grand Prix win". www.pdc.tv. Retrieved 19 November 2023.
- ^ Allen, Dave (19 November 2023). "Unstoppable Humphries races to Mr Vegas Grand Slam of Darts title". www.pdc.tv. Retrieved 20 November 2023.
- ^ Allen, Dave (26 November 2023). "Humphries denies nine dart van Gerwen with Minehead glory". www.pdc.tv.
- ^ "Luke Humphries beats Luke Littler to win PDC World Darts Championship". BBC Sport. 3 January 2024. Retrieved 4 January 2024.
- ^ "Luke Humphries 'privileged' to meet PM Rishi Sunak after World Championship win". The Independent. 5 January 2024. Retrieved 7 January 2024.
- ^ Gorton, Josh (3 March 2024). "Van den Bergh topples Humphries to claim UK Open glory". PDC. Retrieved 3 March 2024.
- ^ "PDC UK Open 2024". DartConnect.
- ^ Burnett, Johnathan (1 February 2024). "How to watch Premier League Darts 2024: Live stream, TV channel, schedule for Luke Littler's debut season | Sporting News United Kingdom". Sporting News.
- ^ Wood, Kieran (1 February 2024). "Luke Littler blitzes past Luke Humphries on Premier League debut to set up semi-final with Michael Smith, after BullyBoy takes victory over van Gerwen in Cardiff". Darts News.
- ^ Gill, Samuel (3 February 2024). "Luke Humphries left 'gutted' with Luke Littler whistling as he vows to 'get better' at dealing with situation after Premier League opener". Darts News.
- ^ Wood, Kieran (8 February 2024). "Michael van Gerwen vs Luke Littler set for final on Night 2 of Premier League Darts in Berlin". Darts News.
- ^ "Premier League Darts: Michael van Gerwen wins in Glasgow after Luke Littler is beaten in thriller". Sky Sports. 16 February 2024. Retrieved 22 February 2024.
- ^ "Premier League Darts: Michael van Gerwen secures third night win in a row with victory over Nathan Aspinall in Newcastle". Sky Sports. 22 February 2024. Retrieved 22 February 2024.
- ^ Stanley, Lawrence (29 February 2024). "Premier League: Cross and Littler produce sensational performances to book place in Exeter semi finals". Darts News. Retrieved 1 March 2024.
- ^ Stanley, Lawrence (29 February 2024). "Aspinall survives Humphries scare to reach consecutive Premier League night finals in Exeter". Darts News. Retrieved 1 March 2024.
- ^ "Premier League Darts: Nathan Aspinall wins night five in Exeter". BBC Sport. 29 February 2024. Retrieved 1 March 2024.
- ^ Stanley, Lawrence (7 March 2024). "Premier League Night Six quarter-finals: Humphries produces brilliant performance against Price and Cross defeats underwhelming van Gerwen in Brighton". Darts News. Retrieved 13 March 2024.
- ^ "Premier League: Luke Humphries beats Michael Smith in Brighton final after Luke Littler's semi-final exit". Sky Sports. 8 March 2024. Retrieved 13 March 2024.
- ^ "Premier League Darts: Luke Humphries wins night for first time". BBC Sport. 7 March 2024. Retrieved 13 March 2024.
- ^ "Premier League Darts: Luke Humphries secures second night win in a row as Luke Littler comes close to nine-darter". Sky Sports. 15 March 2024. Retrieved 15 March 2024.
- ^ "Premier League Darts: Luke Humphries wins night seven in Nottingham". BBC Sport. 14 March 2024. Retrieved 15 March 2024.
- ^ "Premier League Darts: Luke Humphries demolishes Michael Smith in Dublin for third win in a row". Sky Sports. 21 March 2024. Retrieved 21 March 2024.
- ^ "Premier League Darts: Luke Humphries wins night eight in Dublin". BBC Sport. 21 March 2024. Retrieved 21 March 2024.
- ^ Wellens, Megan (3 April 2024). "Premier League Darts: Luke Littler fights back against Nathan Aspinall to seal epic Premier League night win in Belfast". Sky Sports. Retrieved 18 April 2024.
- ^ "Premier League Darts: Luke Littler secures back-to-back night wins as Gerwyn Price hits nine-dart finish". Sky Sports. 5 April 2024. Retrieved 18 April 2024.
- ^ Matthews, Callum (11 April 2024). "Premier League Darts: Luke Littler beaten by Michael van Gerwen in night 11 final in Birmingham". BBC Sport. Retrieved 19 April 2024.
- ^ Wellens, Meg (19 April 2024). "Premier League Darts: Nathan Aspinall boosts play-off hopes with Rotterdam win over Michael Smith". Sky Sports. Retrieved 26 April 2024.
- ^ Wellens, Meg (26 April 2024). "Premier League Darts: Luke Littler moves clear at top of table with 6-2 Rob Cross demolition in Liverpool". Sky Sports. Retrieved 26 April 2024.
- ^ "World Darts Champion Luke Humphries is living by his motto after overcoming anxiety and depression". Sky Sports. Retrieved 8 January 2024.
- ^ "Humphries becomes a father for the first time". Dartsnews.com. 11 October 2022. Retrieved 4 January 2024.
External links edit
Media related to Luke Humphries at Wikimedia Commons- Luke Humphries player profile at Darts Orakel
