LUKE HUMPHRIES won a dream final against nine-dart king Michael van Gerwen and then roared: I’m the best player on the planet.
Cool Hand Luke won SIX legs on the bounce to come from 9-5 down to stun the Dutchman 11-9 in a thrilling final of the Players Championship Final at Butlins’ Minehead.
It was an incredible fightback as the Berkshire star, 28, lifted a third major TV crown within seven weeks, banking him a whopping £390,000.
It means he will head to next month’s PDC World Darts Championship at Ally Pally as the favourite – the draw for that event takes place today at 4.30pm.
Humphries said: “I don’t know what has just happened – I’ll have to watch that back!
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“When I was playing that game, I felt flat. I thought: ‘I don’t want to make a fool of myself.’
“This has been the toughest three, four, five, six weeks of my whole life. I’ve been away so much, away from my family.
“Every day it has been darts, darts, darts. I was so tired.
“But I kept grinding away. Determination and resilience to keep going.
“This means I’m the best player in the world. That’s what Michael said – I had to beat him in the final and I did.
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“I’d have loved to have beaten Phil Taylor in a final but I never got that opportunity.
“So the next best thing for me is to best the great of our generation, Michael van Gerwen, who gave the crowd a nine-darter.
“This is what I’ve always dreamed of. I watched this man 7-8 years ago, being at the absolute peak of his career, winning everything, 110 averages for fun.
“And to beat him in a final, I think this one probably does mean the most to me.”
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Van Gerwen hit a perfect leg in leg five but somehow could not stop the astonishing comeback from the Englishman, missing multiple darts to take the contest into a final, 21st leg.
Mighty Mike, 34, has not won a major ranking title on TV this year and he said: “I made it incredibly difficult for myself.
“When you do that against a player in his form, you can only blame yourself. I had opportunities there.
“Fair play to him. I think I can scratch myself behind the ears.
“I had more than one chance. I was 9-6 up and from that position, I’m not allowed to lose, simple as that. You can only blame yourself.”
++ Warrington’s Luke Littler, 16, became world youth champion with a 6-4 win over Dutchman Gian van Veen.
