Premier League: Luke Humphries beats Michael Smith in Brighton final after Luke Littler’s semi-final exit | Darts News
World Champion Luke Humphries secured his first night victory of the Premier League season with a 6-3 win over Michael Smith in the Week Six final in Brighton.
Humphries rattled off four straight legs to brush aside Gerwyn Price 6-2 in the quarter-finals and fired a 113.71 average to see off Rob Cross 6-3 to set up a showdown with Smith, who defeated Peter Wright in a final-leg decider before beating Luke Littler in the semi-finals.
The world No 1 opened with a 14-darter and responded to Smith taking the next leg by firing in a stunning 143 finish, then opened with five perfect darts against throw on his way to an 11-dart break.
A stunning 143 checkout saw Luke Humphries edge ahead in the final versus Michael Smith
Humphries posted a 68 checkout and added another 14-darter to move 5-1 ahead and within a leg of victory, before Smith delivered a 13-darter for the first of back-to-back legs to keep his hopes alive.
Both players averaged over 100 and scored five maximums in a high-scoring final, where Humphries secured his Night Six victory with a 74 checkout to close the gap on Michael van Gerwen at the top of the season-long standings.
Luke Humphries overcame Michael Smith 6-3 to pick up his first nightly win in the Premier League
“I’m a good winner and a good loser,” Humphries said. “I’m not going to win nine nights out of 16. People expected me to win everything but that’s not going to happen.
“That was the best I’ve played since the Worlds. The fans are starting to take to me more. My target is to be in the top four. I want to make finals night.”
Luke Humphries was thrilled after beating Michael Smith to pick up his first nightly victory in the Premier League
Littler suffers semi-final exit
Littler was far from his brilliant best during a 6-3 win over an out-of-sorts Nathan Aspinall, only averaging 93 and squandering 14 of his 20 attempts at double, with the 17-year-old missing match darts in the seventh leg before eventually seeing out victory with a 14-darter in the ninth.
The teenage sensation also experienced troubles with his finishing against Smith in the semi-finals, where he recovered from 3-0 down to win back-to-back legs but wasted two chances to level the match.
Michael Smith’s shanghai finish saw him take an early 2-0 lead over Luke Littler in their last-four clash
‘Bully Boy’ took out tops the first of successive legs, then cancelled out a 13-dart hold from Littler to take out D10 at the second attempt in the ninth leg and reach his first final since the opening week of the season.
Smith had survived two match darts earlier in the evening to extend Wright’s winless start to the season, where a scrappy contest with throw throughout, while league leader Michael van Gerwen suffered a quarter-final exit after a 6-2 defeat against Cross.
Peter Wright missed two match darts as Michael Smith prevailed 6-5 in a deciding-leg thriller
What’s next?
Premier League Darts now heads to the Motorpoint Arena, Nottingham on Thursday March 14.
Night Seven starts with Peter Wright vs Gerwyn Price, followed by Luke Humphries vs Michael Smith, Michael van Gerwen vs Luke Littler, and Rob Cross vs Nathan Aspinall.
Luke Humphries is within three points of Michael van Gerwen after his night victory
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Premier League Darts continues on Sky Sports on Thursday March 14 as Nottingham is the next stop on the 17-week extravaganza all the way through to the Play-Offs at the O2 Arena in London on Thursday, May 23. Stream Sky Sports Darts without a contract through NOW
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