Luke Humphries

How Humphries got here

Cool Hand has lost just five sets on his way to tonight’s final.

• Luke Humphries 2-0 Nathan Aspinall (first round)
• Luke Humphries 3-1 Krzysztof Ratajski (second round)
• Luke Humphries 3-1 Cameron Menzies (quarter-final)
• Luke Humphries 5-3 Danny Noppert (semi-final)

Elite company

Luke Humphries has joined an exclusive club by making tonight’s final.

The world No1 has reached the final of the World Grand Prix three times in a row!

Only Phil Taylor and Michael van Gerwen have done that before.

Humphries beat Gerwyn Price two years ago and lost to Mike De Decker 12 months ago.

Head-to-head record

Luke Littler edges this match-up after 24 meetings.

‘I get too relaxed’

Luke Humphries came through a tense battle with Danny Noppert in the semi-final last night.

Cool Hand raced into the lead before the Dutchman staged a comeback.

Humphries held him off and has explained how he managed to re-find his range after a mid-match blip.

He said: “I just splashed my face with a bit of water and said, I’ve got to fire myself up.

“Sometimes the body gets a little bit too relaxed and I’m kind of just pushing the darts. I said to myself, ‘Now or never — you really have to show Danny you still want to win this.’

“Because if I come out 4–3 down thinking, ‘I’ve still got two sets, I can afford to lose this one,’ that’s the wrong mindset.

“I didn’t want to lose that set.

“I came out a bit more aggressive — come on, get my head on, get the energy level up and it seemed to work.”

Out for revenge

The last time Luke Littler played Luke Humphries, the teenage star won the New Zealand Masters final 8-4 in August.

But that was not enough to count as revenge for Littler as he brought up the 11-8 Premier League final defeat he suffered to Humphries in May.

He said: “That’s the last big one we met in, apart from New Zealand.

“But on the major stage, I owe him one tomorrow night.

“When it’s Luke Humphries in the opposite corner in a final, it feels even bigger.

“We’ve both beaten each other in major finals.

“But this one’s very different — double start.

“Whoever gets off first tomorrow probably wins.”

‘Biggest clash in darts’

We are nearly ready for the latest chapter of the two Luke rivalry.

And Littler knows it is the final everyone hoped for at the beginning of the week, saying: “I think me and Luke is the biggest game in darts.

“Whether it’s a final, a first round, or a semi-final, we bring the best out of each other.

“Another Luke vs Luke final doesn’t get boring.”

The Nuke’s comment comes after he labelled his match with last year’s champ Mike De Decker as “boring” due to the Belgian not playing his best.

Littler wants £1m Saudi nine-darter

Darts is heading to Saudi Arabia for the first time on January 19 and 20 next year.

When the snooker headed to the kingdom, entertainment chief Turki Alalshikh added a golden ball to the table to open up the possibility of a 167 super-maximum and a £1milion reward for players that achieve it.

Littler is hoping a new lucrative concept is added to darts like rewarding a nine-darter with a massive cheque.

Littler a ‘different animal’

Luke Littler’s semi-final opponent Jonny Clayton knows how big his task is tonight.

The Welshman said: “An honest answer is you have to be scared of him.

“The two Lukes, they’re both pushing the bar and the rest of us are following.

“Gezzy’s been putting in some awesome performances, and we’re all trying to keep up.

“But Luke [Littler] is the hottest player on the planet right now.

“He’s class, the world can see it. He’s a different animal.

“But we can all play darts. My first game on stage against Luke, I beat him. So you never know.”

Van Gerwen the inspiration

Danny Noppert is trying to emulate his compatriot Michael van Gerwen.

Ahead of his semi-final against Luke Humphries tonight, the world No13 revealed his admiration for MVG.

He said: “I try to be as good as Michael. But of course he’s the best player there’s ever been. I try to be like him, but not yet.”

Van Gerwen suffered a shock defeat to Dirk van Duijvenbode is round one.

De Decker responds to ‘boring’ claim

Luke Littler was not challenged in his round two victory over Mike De Decker and claimed the clash was “boring”.

The world champion said: “Mike didn’t play his best there and I just had to play along.

“It was a bit boring at times, obviously I expected something from the reigning champion, but he just couldn’t get those doubles to get him going on the scoring most of the time.

De Decker has now responded, saying: “That he found the match ‘boring’? Well, if that’s what he thinks… Good for him. That’s his opinion.”

Littler ‘definitely beatable’

Defending champion Mike De Decker was knocked out in the second round 3-0 by Luke Littler.

The Belgian struggled to land doubles at the start and it allowed The Nuke to cruise to a routine win.

Reflecting on his performance, De Decker said: “I was incredibly disappointed. Look at my average. After the second set, I saw on the screen that I’d thrown 8 out of 42 doubles or something.

“It doesn’t matter who you’re playing against. That way, you’ll have problems against anyone.

“It was just a bad match for me. He wasn’t great either, but it just didn’t fly.

“Those doubles just wouldn’t work. When you do that with this format it becomes difficult.

De Decker went on to add: “So Littler was definitely beatable. Everyone’s always beatable, sometimes it’s just harder than others.”

Rollercoaster of emotions

Luke Littler felt every emotion during last night’s quarter-final clash with Gerwyn Price.