Thu. Dec 19th, 2024
Occasional Digest - a story for you

World champion Luke Humphries followed his victory in Brighton with another night win in Nottingham to move top of the Premier League table.

Humphries defeated Michael Smith and Peter Wright to reach the final, in which he beat Nathan Aspinall 6-3.

The 29-year-old has overtaken Michael van Gerwen at the summit, after the Dutchman lost a high-quality quarter-final to teenager Luke Littler.

Littler then lost 6-3 to fellow Englishman Aspinall in the last four.

In his Premier League debut campaign, Littler has won six of his seven quarter-finals but has reached only one final and is yet to clinch a night win.

Against three-time world champion Van Gerwen, the 17-year-old averaged 114 and narrowly missed out on a nine-dart finish in what proved to be the final leg of his 6-2 victory.

Van Gerwen has followed his three consecutive night wins early in the tournament with three successive quarter-final exits, although he showed close to his best form with an average of almost 111.

Scot Wright won a match for the first time in the 2024 competition, beating Gerwyn Price in the deciding leg of his quarter-final, but Humphries proved too strong in the next round.

Night eight of the league phase will take place in Dublin on Thursday, 21 March.

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