Luke Humphries

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Luke Humphries
Humphries in January 2024
Personal information
Nickname"Cool Hand Luke"
Born (1995-02-11) 11 February 1995 (age 28)
Newbury, Berkshire, England
Home townCrewe, Cheshire, England
Darts information
Playing darts since2010
Darts22g Red Dragon
LateralityRight-handed
Walk-on music"Cake by the Ocean" by DNCE
Organisation (see split in darts)
PDC2011–
(Tour Card: 2018–)
Current world ranking1 Increase 2 (3 January 2024)[1]
PDC premier events – best performances
World Ch'shipWinner (1): 2024
World MatchplaySemi Final: 2023
World Grand PrixWinner (1): 2023
UK OpenRunner Up: 2021
Grand SlamWinner (1): 2023
European Ch'shipQuarter Final: 2022, 2023
Premier LeagueChallenger: 2019, 2020
PC FinalsWinner (1): 2023
MastersLast 16: 2022
World Series FinalsSemi Final: 2023
Other tournament wins
PDC Challenge Tour 2017
PDC Development Tour 2017 (x5), 2018 (x3), 2019 (x3)
PDC Home Tour 2 2020
PDC World Youth Ch'ship 2019

European Tour Events

Czech Darts Open 2022
European Darts Grand Prix 2022
European Darts Matchplay 2022, 2023
German Darts Grand Prix 2022

Players Championships

Players Championship (BAR) 2022 (x2), 2023
Players Championship (LEI) 2023

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 the reigning World Grand Prix champion, Grand Slam of Darts champion, and Players Championship Finals champion. He also won the 2019 PDC World Youth Championship.

Early life

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

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

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

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

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

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

Humphries in 2023

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) for the first time in his career, 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

On 3 January, Humphries won the PDC World Darts Championship 7–4 against fellow Cheshire talent Luke Littler in the final.[16] For that, he was invited to meet Prime Minister Rishi Sunak at Downing Street.[17]

Personal life

During a 2019 PDC tournament Humphries suffered an anxiety attack. He considered quitting the sport as a result.[18] Humphries and his girlfriend, Kayley, live in Crewe and had a son together in October 2022.[4][19]

World Championship results

PDC

Performance timeline

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
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
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 3


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


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

PDC major finals: 5 (4 titles, 1 runner-up)

Legend
World Championship (1–0)
UK Open (0–1)
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 England James Wade 5–11 (l)
Winner 1. 2023 World Grand Prix Wales 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 England Luke Littler 7–4 (s)

Notes

  1. ^ (l) = score in legs, (s) = score in sets.

References

  1. ^ "PDC Order of Merit". PDPA. 3 January 2024. Retrieved 3 January 2024.
  2. ^ "'I honestly cannot put into words how great this feels' – Luke Humphries". 4 January 2024.
  3. ^ "Luke Humphries – Mastercaller".
  4. ^ a b "Calls for Luke Humphries to be given freedom of Cheshire East". 5 January 2024.
  5. ^ Veal, Jonathan (4 January 2024). "World champion Luke Humphries expects long-lasting rivalry with Luke Littler". The Independent. Retrieved 4 January 2024.
  6. ^ 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.
  7. ^ Allen, Dave. "Humphries Seals Glory As Rodriguez Takes Win". PDC. Retrieved 15 November 2017.
  8. ^ "Luke Humphries whitewashes Adam Gawlas to win World Youth Championship title".
  9. ^ "Challengers confirmed for 2020 Unibet Premier League". PDC. Retrieved 8 January 2020.
  10. ^ "2022 Interwetten German Darts Grand Prix Day Two". PDC. Retrieved 18 April 2022.
  11. ^ "2022 Interwetten German Darts Grand Prix Finals Day". PDC. Retrieved 18 April 2022.
  12. ^ "World Grand Prix: Luke Humphries wins biggest title of his career by stunning Gerwyn Price". Sky Sports. 8 October 2023. Retrieved 19 November 2023.
  13. ^ "Emotional Humphries vows to build on BoyleSports World Grand Prix win". www.pdc.tv. 9 October 2023. Retrieved 19 November 2023.
  14. ^ "Unstoppable Humphries races to Mr Vegas Grand Slam of Darts title". www.pdc.tv. 19 November 2023. Retrieved 20 November 2023.
  15. ^ "Humphries denies nine dart van Gerwen with Minehead glory". www.pdc.tv. 26 November 2023.
  16. ^ "Luke Humphries beats Luke Littler to win PDC World Darts Championship". BBC Sport. 3 January 2024. Retrieved 4 January 2024.
  17. ^ "Luke Humphries 'privileged' to meet PM Rishi Sunak after World Championship win". The Independent. 5 January 2024. Retrieved 7 January 2024.
  18. ^ "World Darts Champion Luke Humphries is living by his motto after overcoming anxiety and depression". Sky Sports. Retrieved 8 January 2024.
  19. ^ "Humphries becomes a father for the first time". Dartsnews.com. 11 October 2022. Retrieved 4 January 2024.

External links

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Luke_Humphries&oldid=1194403970"