When Luke Humphries won the PDC World Championship in January, he did it without being quite at his best. In the early rounds he looked nervy and occasionally scraped through matches he was expected to win comfortably. At the time we all thought, if this is him in second gear, what's it going to be like when he is at his best? Well, at the 2024 PDC World Matchplay, 'Cool Hand Luke' answered that question.
Humphries was quite simply unplayable in this event, beating Ricardo Pietreczko, Stephen Bunting, Dimitri van den Bergh, James Wade and Michael van Gerwen to win his first ever Matchplay title. It is fitting that Humphries lifted the Phil Taylor Trophy, as there have been many parallels drawn with 'The Power' after his performance. 'Cool Hand Luke' became the first player since Taylor to average over 100 in each of his matches, one of many milestones he completed on his way to victory in Blackpool.
His win sees him join an illustrious list of players to win the World Championship and Matchplay in the same year. Before the tournament, it was only Humphries' final opponent, van Gerwen, Taylor and Peter Wright who'd achieved this feat.
But is it a surprise he's rubbing shoulders with these giants? Well in terms of the Matchplay, no, as the long format of matches suits the consistent style of the world number one.
Furthermore, The Winter Gardens is always a venue held in high regard by players for the atmosphere the fans generate. Against Luke Littler in this year's World Championship final, every man and his dog in the Ally Pally longed for the fairytale ending, for Littler to win the title at the age of just sixteen. However, the atmosphere in Blackpool was a lot different, as it looked as if the crowd were happy to see Humphries win. Perhaps, he is starting to distance himself from his 'boring' label, especially after the infamous shrugging shoulders incident against Dimitri van den Bergh.
With the current plethora of darting talent, it would be hard to picture someone in this era 'dominating' the sport. But if Humphries can replicate his Matchplay form at the World Grand Prix and Grand Slam of Darts, we could be witnessing one of the all time great calendar year performances.
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